Investigation of soil Gamasina mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) as indicator of environmental impacts on soils in the Police park of Tehran

Subject Areas : entomology and othea arthropods

Sh. Maleki ¹ , H. Ostovan ² , V. Baniameri ³ , O. Joharchi ⁴

1 - Department of Entomology, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
2 - Department of Entomology, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
3 - Iranian Research Institute of plant protection, P. O. Box 19395-1454, Tehran, Iran
4 - Department of Plant Protection, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran

Received: 2015-10-07 Accepted : 2016-11-16 Published : 2016-11-21

Keywords:

Abstract :

Biodiversity is an expression of the biological community and ecosystem levels of organized life, Mesostigmata are the predators of small arthropods and nematodes in soil habitats, Quality and quantity of the species and number each individual depending on soil and vegetation management strategies or the presence of other disorders such as human activities. In this study, soil quality studied with indicators of biodiversity in a 52 Hectare park in the north east of Tehran. The location divided to the 7 areas that was representative of vegetation and geographical location, regular sampling of the soil areas performed as a year. The total number of mites was 6167 belonging to 80 species. Species diversity in areas 1-7 and the whole area using Simpsons index of diversity and Shannon-Wiener index, species richness with Menhinicks index and Margalefs diversity index and evenness with Peet and Hill was calculated. The highest and lowest species diversity observed in   areas 1 and 3, respectively, which correlated with soil moisture, pH and diversity of vegetation and management practices applied on the soil. The greatest species diversity in the region in the third quarter and the lowest species diversity were observed in the first quarter of the year, which is consistent with weather conditions and soil moisture. To determine correlations between each indicator of species richness and diversity with both evenness index in each sampling point the Pearson test was used.