Upland grassland habitats and agri‐environment schemes change soil microarthropod abundance

Abstract

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Effect of Grazing Management on Predator Soil Mite Communities (Acari: Mesotigmata) in Some Subalpine Grasslands from the Făgăraş Mountains—Romania

“…All studies revealed that the structures and dynamics of mite communities differ in accordance with the type of grassland management. The number of species obtained by us in ungrazed grasslands from the Făgăraş Mountains, Romania, is comparable with that obtained in upland seminatural or improved conventional ecosystems in Ireland (where between 20 and 27 species of mesostigmatid mites were identified) or with that from inland meadows in Latvia [13,55]. The results from Romanian intensively grazed grasslands are comparable with those from Germany or from semi-improved upland grasslands in the United Kingdom, where 13-15 mite species were identified [56,57].…”

“…The intensity of grazing by livestock also affects soil mesofauna and the soil processes that they drive, such as decomposition of soil organic matter, nutrient cycling and soil structure [8][9][10][11]. Mites in grasslands are one of the most abundant soil invertebrate groups, being valuable bioindicators for the terrestrial environment [8,[12][13][14]. They belong to a broad range of trophic categories, i.e., parasites, herbivores, fungivores, detritivores, microbivores, scavengers or omnivores and predators [8,15].…”

“…Grazing management has also had an impact on soil mite communities, such as the predominantly predatory Mesostigmata. In Europe, studies have revealed that intense grazing affects these populations, decreasing their abundance and species richness [12,13,[16][17][18][19][20].…”

Aerial invertebrate functional groups respond to landscape composition with only detritivores and predators responding to agri-environment scheme management

“…Field surveys were conducted under dry weather conditions between June and September 2018, where paired fields were sampled within the same week, in 88 fields across upland regions of County Antrim, Northern Ireland (see Arnott, A et al (2021) for a map of study sites). Fields were categorized by management (conventional or Agri-Environment Scheme) and habitat type (semi-improved and improved grassland).…”

Agri-environment schemes are associated with greater terrestrial invertebrate abundance and richness in upland grasslands

“…Through long-term AES management, biodiversity-poor improved grasslands can be restored enhancing biodiversity and ecological integrity with notable benefits for farmland specialist species (Woodcock et al 2010;Steiner et al 2016). However, the efficacy of AESs for biodiversity conservation is highly variable differing between species (Reid et al 2007;Arnott et al 2021) and prevailing management systems. Most studies have focussed on assessing AESs with respect to plant, pollinator and bird species richness (Kleijn and Sutherland 2003;Haaland et al 2011;Kampmann et al 2012).…”