Abundance and diversity of soil mite (Acari) communities after conversion of tropical secondary forest into rubber plantations in Grand‐Lahou, Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to understand the modification of mite communities and soil physico‐chemical parameters after conversion of secondary forests into rubber plantations and how these change with the aging of the plantations. The sampling was performed in a humid period and samples were taken from three of each age of secondary forests, 7‐year‐old rubber plantations, 12‐year‐old rubber plantations and 25‐year‐old rubber plantations. We hypothesized that the stress imposed on mite communities during site preparation and planting would be compensated for by the reduction of the soil degradation index as the rubber plantations age. Across the 12 sampling areas, 120 soil cores were taken at 10 cm soil depth over a 40 m transect. Soil physico‐chemical parameters were characterized and soil mites were extracted with a modified Berlese‐Tullgren funnel over the course of 10 days. The results showed that conversion of secondary forests into rubber plantations leads to a modification in the density of mites (−60 and +1%), species richness (−48 and −15%), water content (−62 and −31%), soil organic carbon (−67 and −51%) and total nitrogen (−64 and −52%) respectively after about 7 and 25 years of conversion. The investigation pointed out an improvement in soil ecological quality with the aging of rubber plantations over time and this was characterized by an increase in the density of mites (+150%), species richness (+63%), water content (+84%), organic carbon (+50%) and total nitrogen (+33%) in the 25‐year‐old plantations compared to the 7‐year‐old plantations.

Abundance and diversity of edaphic mites (Arachnida, Acari) under different forest management systems in Indonesia

“…It indicates that conversion of secondary forests to production forests and agroforestry may still preserve edaphic mite communities, as long as management systems with low inputs and minimum tillage are used. Our findings agreed with previous studies that found that edaphic mite abundance and richness in artificial forests were equal or could be higher than in natural forests (Bedano et al 2006;N'Dri et al 2017). Nevertheless, we found that higher density and richness of edaphic mites, especially litter-dwelling mites, were recorded in forest management systems with pine as the dominant tree species.…”

“…Extracted mites were stored in alcohol-glycerol-lactic acid solution (Zhang 2003). Specimens were mounted semi-permanently using 85% lactic acid for three days to ensure maximum transparency of specimens (Urbanowski et al 2021) or permanently using Hoyer's medium (N'Dri et al 2017). Extracted mites were counted and identified to the family level using the keys of Balogh and Balogh (1992), Evans (1992), and Krantz and Walter (2009).…”

“…Significant reduction in secondary forests caused by deforestation and their conversion into arable lands is a serious issue in most tropical countries (N'Dri et al 2017). This problem coupled with agricultural intensification can adversely affect the soil fauna communities (Mori et al 2015).…”

“…The term production forest refers to a forest dominated by certain tree species that are intentionally planted, while agroforestry is a mixture of trees and perennial shrubs or annual crops. In addition to providing harvestable goods, these forest management systems could preserve soil biodiversity and may have resilience comparable to a secondary or even a primary forest (N'Dri et al 2017).…”

Spatial variation of soil organic carbon under major rubber planting regions in China

“…In general, this land‐use conversion can lead to significant soil disturbance and a reduction in SOC. However, the extent of the decrease may gradually decrease with the increase in the age of rubber forests (Nath et al, 2018; N'Dri et al, 2017). In contrast, some studies have found no significant effect of stand age on SOC storage in Hainan (Wu et al, 2010) and Xishuangbanna (Liu et al, 2018).…”