Importance of different types of beech dead wood for soil microarthropod fauna

Dead wood is an integral part of a forest ecosystem, numerously settled by soil microarthropods (Acari and Collembola), but these animals are rarely studied and often absent from publications dealing with this habitat. Five microarthropod groups in four different types of dead wood (log, stump, snag and tree hollow) and a forest floor were analysed. A core question was to determine the differences in the microarthropod communities, especially oribatid mites, between different types of beech dead wood. The study was carried out in the lowland acidophilus beech forest Luzulo pilosae-Fagetum association. Different types of beech dead wood prove to be a more favourable microhabitat for mites and collembolans than forest soil and litter. Oribatid mites of different dead wood microhabitats represent diverse and partly distinct sub-communities of mites in a forest ecosystem. Oribatid communities of beech dead wood were over 50% distinct. Most oribatid species appeared to be largely restricted to a certain type of beech dead wood.