Microhabitat distribution of arboreal oribatid mites (Oribatida), associated with the Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica) of Western Siberia

Subfossil oribatid mite communities indicate Holocene permafrost dynamics in Canadian mires

“…2014). This species is also commonly found under tree bark (Salvatulin 2019) and in tree canopies (Behan‐Pelletier & Walter 2000), suggesting tolerance to very dry conditions. C. labyrinthicus has a wide geographical distribution and is found in boreal forests both in Central Europe (Nicolai 1986) and North America (Reeves 1988), and is recorded from e.g.…”

Revisiting the Evolution of Arboreal Life in Oribatid Mites

“…We expect a considerably higher number of microhabitats in rainforests, even considering the suspended soils, the variety of epiphytes or the growth of the trees. Previous studies have already shown that species found on trees are rather microhabitat specific than tree specific [24,27,30,62], pointing to the need of standardized classification schemes of microhabitats that will allow for a more straight forward and, importantly, comparable classification of tree-living taxa. This in turn will facilitate a more accurate comparison between microhabitats of different tree species, geographic areas, etc.…”

“…Compared to their soil-living relatives, tree-living microarthropods often have to cope with markedly different climatic conditions, though this difference appears to be only minor in some ecosystems. Salavatulin [27] hypothesized that only a few oribatid mite species adapted to a life on trees. Reasons therefore would be an increased vulnerability of microhabitats to wind or solar radiation, but also a more frequent change of dryness and moisture [27].…”

“…Salavatulin [27] hypothesized that only a few oribatid mite species adapted to a life on trees. Reasons therefore would be an increased vulnerability of microhabitats to wind or solar radiation, but also a more frequent change of dryness and moisture [27]. While this holds true for habitats with extreme conditions, like forest-tundra [27] or exposed tree stands in alpine regions, drought and drought resistance should not play an important role as limiting factor in tropical and temperate rainforests.…”

“…Therefore, it is important to recognize and conserve these microhabitats [6,7]. So far, several studies have demonstrated the important role of tree-associated microhabitats for the taxonomic diversity in oribatid mites [22][23][24][25][26][27]. In all these studies, the authors use the term "arboreal" (= corticolous or arboricole), which means growing on or living in trees, to indicate that a specimen/species was collected on a tree.…”