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Item Biodiversity in mountain soils above the treeline(John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2025-05-14) Praeg N; Steinwandter M; Urbach D; Snethlage MA; Alves RP; Apple ME; Bilovitz P; Britton AJ; Bruni EP; Chen T-W; Dumack K; Fernandez-Mendoza F; Freppaz M; Frey B; Fromin N; Geisen S; Grube M; Guariento E; Guisan A; Ji Q-Q; Jiménez JJ; Maier S; Malard LA; Minor MA; Mc Lean CC; Mitchell EAD; Peham T; Pizzolotto R; Taylor AFS; Vernon P; van Tol JJ; Wu D; Wu Y; Xie Z; Weber B; Illmer P; Seeber JBiological diversity in mountain ecosystems has been increasingly studied over the last decade. This is also the case for mountain soils, but no study to date has provided an overall synthesis of the current state of knowledge. Here we fill this gap with a first global analysis of published research on cryptogams, microorganisms, and fauna in mountain soils above the treeline, and a structured synthesis of current knowledge. Based on a corpus of almost 1400 publications and the expertise of 37 mountain soil scientists worldwide, we summarise what is known about the diversity and distribution patterns of each of these organismal groups, specifically along elevation, and provide an overview of available knowledge on the drivers explaining these patterns and their changes. In particular, we document an elevation-dependent decrease in faunal diversity above the treeline, while for cryptogams there is an initial increase above the treeline, followed by a decrease towards the nival belt. Thus, our data confirm the key role that elevation plays in shaping the biodiversity and distribution of these organisms in mountain soils. The response of prokaryote diversity to elevation, in turn, was more diverse, whereas fungal diversity appeared to be substantially influenced by plants. As far as available, we describe key characteristics, adaptations, and functions of mountain soil species, and despite a lack of ecological information about the uncultivated majority of prokaryotes, fungi, and protists, we illustrate the remarkable and unique diversity of life forms and life histories encountered in alpine mountain soils. By applying rule- as well as pattern-based literature-mining approaches and semi-quantitative analyses, we identified hotspots of mountain soil research in the European Alps and Central Asia and revealed significant gaps in taxonomic coverage, particularly among biocrusts, soil protists, and soil fauna. We further report thematic priorities for research on mountain soil biodiversity above the treeline and identify unanswered research questions. Building upon the outcomes of this synthesis, we conclude with a set of research opportunities for mountain soil biodiversity research worldwide. Soils in mountain ecosystems above the treeline fulfil critical functions and make essential contributions to life on land. Accordingly, seizing these opportunities and closing knowledge gaps appears crucial to enable science-based decision making in mountain regions and formulating laws and guidelines in support of mountain soil biodiversity conservation targets.Item Micro Gondwana: soil and litter mesofauna in the subalpine and alpine of North-West Nelson, southern New Zealand(Taylor and Francis Group on behalf of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2025-05-21) Minor MA; Robertson AW; Ashwood FAlpine ecosystems are vulnerable to the warming climate, yet alpine soil mesofauna remains the less studied part of NZ biodiversity. Here we present a survey of soil mesofauna communities of three mountain peaks in the Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough regions of the South Island of New Zealand. We assessed changes in abundance, diversity and trophic composition along the elevational gradient from subalpine forests to alpine herb fields (800–1600 m a.s.l.) and analysed the influence of selected environmental factors on mesofauna. Taxon richness was expected to decrease and the proportion of predators to increase in alpine habitats, as has been observed elsewhere. Sub-alpine beech forests harboured a high diversity of soil mesofauna, many of which are Gondwanan relics. There was a decline in abundance and taxonomic richness of mesofauna with increasing elevation. However, no proportional increase in predators with increasing elevation was seen–alpine mesofauna assemblages had lower predator-to-herbivore ratios than upland forests. Several interesting taxa–harpacticoid copepods, moss bugs (Hemiptera: Peloridiidae), unique-headed bugs (Hemiptera: Enicocephalomorpha), micro-spiders, mite harvestmen, Neelidae springtails and acarifauna are discussed in more detail. Baseline data such as these advance the knowledge of native fauna and provide a baseline for ecological monitoring in the alpine zone.Item Three new species of flat mites (Acari: Tetranychoidea: Tenuipalpidae) from alpine New Zealand(Acarologia, 2025-01-27) Khaustov AA; Minor MA; Auger PFemale, male and deutonymph of Acaricis brevicaudus sp. nov., female and deutonymph of Dolichotetranychus tuberculatus sp. nov., and female of Pentamerismus corniger sp. nov. are described and illustrated from alpine cushion fields in New Zealand. Both A. brevicaudus sp. nov. and D. tuberculatus sp. nov. are associated with the cushion-forming ultra-dwarf shrub Dracophyllum muscoides Hook. f. (Ericaceae). The host plant for P. corniger sp. nov. is currently unknown. The diagnosis of Acaricis Beard and Gerson is modified. Additionally, Pentamerismus is recorded from New Zealand for the first time.Item The number of larval instars in the flax weevil (Anagotus fairburni) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)(Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, 2023-09-20) Brockelsby WD; Miskelly CM; Glare TR; Minor MAThe flax weevil Anagotus fairburni is a large flightless beetle, that is one of the members of the endemic insect ‘megafauna’ of New Zealand. It is a protected species that currently persists only on predator-free islands or in remote and difficult to access alpine areas. Little is documented about the ecology of the flax weevil. In this study we estimated the number of instars in the A. fairburni life cycle by measuring the head capsule widths of larvae collected in the field on Mana Island Scientific Reserve. We used kernel density function estimates to predict average head-capsule widths and the number of larval instars. We then used Brooks-Dyar’s law on the head capsule width data and analysed Brooks and Crosby indexes to refine the estimated number of instars based on imperfect data. Results from sampling of 86 larvae suggested four instar groupings, but further analysis based on Brooks-Dyar’s law found that A. fairburni likely passes through 6 or 7 larval stages prior to pupation, with some uncertainty for smaller instars. Our method provides new data on ecology of an endemic species and provides a framework for further work on similar endangered species where data is imperfect or difficult to gather.Item Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails(Springer Nature Limited, 2023-02-07) Potapov AM; Guerra CA; van den Hoogen J; Babenko A; Bellini BC; Berg MP; Chown SL; Deharveng L; Kováč Ľ; Kuznetsova NA; Ponge J-F; Potapov MB; Russell DJ; Alexandre D; Alatalo JM; Arbea JI; Bandyopadhyaya I; Bernava V; Bokhorst S; Bolger T; Castaño-Meneses G; Chauvat M; Chen T-W; Chomel M; Classen AT; Cortet J; Čuchta P; Manuela de la Pedrosa A; Ferreira SSD; Fiera C; Filser J; Franken O; Fujii S; Koudji EG; Gao M; Gendreau-Berthiaume B; Gomez-Pamies DF; Greve M; Tanya Handa I; Heiniger C; Holmstrup M; Homet P; Ivask M; Janion-Scheepers C; Jochum M; Joimel S; Claudia S Jorge B; Jucevica E; Ferlian O; Iuñes de Oliveira Filho LC; Klauberg-Filho O; Baretta D; Krab EJ; Kuu A; de Lima ECA; Lin D; Lindo Z; Liu A; Lu J-Z; Luciañez MJ; Marx MT; McCary MA; Minor MA; Nakamori T; Negri I; Ochoa-Hueso R; Palacios-Vargas JG; Pollierer MM; Querner P; Raschmanová N; Rashid MI; Raymond-Léonard LJ; Rousseau L; Saifutdinov RA; Salmon S; Sayer EJ; Scheunemann N; Scholz C; Seeber J; Shveenkova YB; Stebaeva SK; Sterzynska M; Sun X; Susanti WI; Taskaeva AA; Thakur MP; Tsiafouli MA; Turnbull MS; Twala MN; Uvarov AV; Venier LA; Widenfalk LA; Winck BR; Winkler D; Wu D; Xie Z; Yin R; Zeppelini D; Crowther TW; Eisenhauer N; Scheu SSoil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil arthropods regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset representing 2470 sites, we estimate the total soil springtail biomass at 27.5 megatons carbon, which is threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates, and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per square meter in the tundra. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the changes in temperature with latitude. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism is predicted by local species richness, which is high in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation and resource limitation in soil communities. Contrasting relationships of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities with temperature suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting soil functioning.Item Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure(Springer Nature Limited, 2024-01-03) Potapov AM; Chen T-W; Striuchkova AV; Alatalo JM; Alexandre D; Arbea J; Ashton T; Ashwood F; Babenko AB; Bandyopadhyaya I; Baretta CRDM; Baretta D; Barnes AD; Bellini BC; Bendjaballah M; Berg MP; Bernava V; Bokhorst S; Bokova AI; Bolger T; Bouchard M; Brito RA; Buchori D; Castaño-Meneses G; Chauvat M; Chomel M; Chow Y; Chown SL; Classen AT; Cortet J; Čuchta P; de la Pedrosa AM; De Lima ECA; Deharveng LE; Doblas Miranda E; Drescher J; Eisenhauer N; Ellers J; Ferlian O; Ferreira SSD; Ferreira AS; Fiera C; Filser J; Franken O; Fujii S; Koudji EG; Gao M; Gendreau-Berthiaume B; Gers C; Greve M; Hamra-Kroua S; Handa IT; Hasegawa M; Heiniger C; Hishi T; Holmstrup M; Homet P; Høye TT; Ivask M; Jacques B; Janion-Scheepers C; Jochum M; Joimel S; Jorge BCS; Juceviča E; Kapinga EM; Kováč Ľ; Krab EJ; Krogh PH; Kuu A; Kuznetsova N; Lam WN; Lin D; Lindo Z; Liu AWP; Lu J-Z; Luciáñez MJ; Marx MT; Mawan A; McCary MA; Minor MA; Mitchell GI; Moreno D; Nakamori T; Negri I; Nielsen UN; Ochoa-Hueso R; Oliveira Filho LCI; Palacios-Vargas JG; Pollierer MM; Ponge J-F; Potapov MB; Querner P; Rai B; Raschmanová N; Rashid MI; Raymond-Léonard LJ; Reis AS; Ross GM; Rousseau L; Russell DJ; Saifutdinov RA; Salmon S; Santonja M; Saraeva AK; Sayer EJ; Scheunemann N; Scholz C; Seeber J; Shaw P; Shveenkova YB; Slade EM; Stebaeva S; Sterzynska M; Sun X; Susanti WI; Taskaeva AA; Tay LS; Thakur MP; Treasure AM; Tsiafouli M; Twala MN; Uvarov AV; Venier LA; Widenfalk LA; Widyastuti R; Winck B; Winkler D; Wu D; Xie Z; Yin R; Zampaulo RA; Zeppelini D; Zhang B; Zoughailech A; Ashford O; Klauberg-Filho O; Scheu SSpringtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.Item Landscape gradients in Sphagnum peatlands: Nutrients, trace elements and diversity of free-living mites (Arthropoda: Acari) along a 1600 km transect on the West Siberian Plain(Elsevier B.V., 2024-09-24) Minor MA; Sheykin SD; Stolbov VA; Ermilov SG; Joharchi O; Afonin AS; Shvartseva OS; Tolstikov AVThe West Siberian Plain holds special ecological significance as the largest peatland region of the world, which is expected to be affected by the climate change. We analysed water chemistry, chemical composition of Sphagnum tissues (total C, total N, K, P, and a range of trace elements) and biodiversity (abundance, species richness, community composition) of free-living mites (Oribatida and Mesostigmata) in twelve Sphagnum peatlands along the 1600 km transect (54°46′N to 67°29′N) on the West Siberian Plain. Mites were classified into two functional groups – “limnic” (Oribatida species which inhabit aquatic habitats), and “terrestrial” (all other species). The results showed a latitudinal productivity gradient, with a consistent increase in nutrient content of Sphagnum and water pH from North to South; the northern-most site had lowest N and highest C:N ratio, indicating potential N limitation. There was an increase in levels of Cr, Zn, Ni and Sr in the Sphagnum tissues in proportion to the abundance of lithophile Ti on the southern end of the transect; however, in absolute terms, the concentrations of these elements were low. The abundance patterns of terrestrial and limnic mites reflected increasing nutrient load in Sphagnum bogs from North to South, as well as increasingly xeric conditions. Latitude and nutrients (P and C:N ratio) together explained 67.2 % variability in community composition of Oribatida and Mesostigmata. We found no effect of latitude or productivity on species richness; the main driver for species richness appeared to be the local micro-topography, with dryer areas colonised by a wider range of species. Our data help to elucidate landscape-scale patterns of productivity and biodiversity in West Siberian peatlands and provide a checkpoint in the timeline of global change. As sensitive intrazonal ecosystems, peatlands can act as useful early warning systems, offering insights about the effects of human activities on a large scale.Item Plant invasion down under: exploring the below-ground impact of invasive plant species on soil properties and invertebrate communities in the Central Plateau of New Zealand(Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2024-09-15) Pearson BM; Minor MA; Robertson AW; Clavijo McCormick ALThe impacts of invasive plants on arthropod communities are often reported to be negative and have predominantly been explored aboveground, but there is a paucity of information regarding what happens belowground. To address this gap, we compared soil properties and soil fauna communities associated with two native plant species (Leptospermum scoparium—mānuka and Chionochloa rubra—red tussock) and two invasive species (non-N-fixing Calluna vulgaris—European heather and N-fixing Cytisus scoparius—Scotch broom) in the Central Plateau of New Zealand. We expected that (1) at individual plant level soil properties would be different under invasive and native plant species, with higher soil nutrient concentrations under invasive species, especially N-fixing broom; (2) total abundance of soil fauna would be higher under invasive plant species, as generally positive impact of invasive plants on soil invertebrates is indicated in the literature; (3) invasive plants, and especially N-fixing broom, will be associated with greater abundances of soil decomposer groups. We found that soil properties and soil fauna assemblages did not cluster by plant invasive status as initially predicted. At individual plant level, there was similarity in soil conditions between mānuka and broom, and between red tussock and heather. The invasive N-fixer (broom) had positive effects on soil N availability, with higher N pool and lower C/N ratio in soil under this species. There were no consistent differences in total soil fauna abundance between invasive and native plants. Broom and mānuka were associated with higher abundances of Collembola, Oligochaeta and Diplopoda; heather and red tussock had higher abundances of Hymenoptera and Hemiptera. Significantly more Oligochaeta and Collembola under broom matched the prediction of invasive plants (and especially N-fixing invasives) being associated with greater abundances of decomposers. However, another important decomposer group—oribatid mites—did not show the same tendency. These results evidence that simplified generalizations regarding the impacts of invasive plants are unlikely to be justified, since the ecological effects of plant invasions are complex and do not always follow the same pattern. Therefore, we need to take into consideration the ecological context and the traits of individual plant species and target organisms in an unbiased manner to fully understand the impacts of plant invasions.Item Using spectral indices derived from remote sensing imagery to represent arthropod biodiversity gradients in a European Sphagnum peat bog(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2023-03) Minor MA; Ermilov SG; Joharchi O; Philippov DA; Oliveira Júnior JMBMonitoring of peatlands is an important conservation issue. We investigated communities of soil mites (Acari: Oribatida, Mesostigmata) inhabiting a relatively undisturbed European boreal mire characterized by a mosaic of oligotrophic and meso-eutrophic areas. We assess the potential of using remote sensing approach as a mapping and predictive tool for monitoring productivity and arthropod biodiversity in a peat bog. In georeferenced plots, Acari biodiversity, water table level, water pH and plot productivity class on the oligotrophic-eutrophic gradient were recorded. Data from the Landsat 8 OLI sensor were used to calculate several spectral indices known to represent productivity and surface moisture gradients in terrestrial ecosystems. We then explored the relationship between spectral indices, environmental gradients and biodiversity of mites. We found that several spectral indices were significantly and consistently correlated with local environmental variables and biodiversity of soil mites. The Excess Green Index performed best as a predictor of plot trophic class on the oligotrophic-eutrophic gradient and showed significant relationship with Oribatida diversity in 2016. However, following hot summer in 2019, there was no significant relationship between abundance and species richness of Oribatida and remotely sensed data; there was a weak correlation between abundance of Mesostigmata and spectral indices which represent surface moisture gradient (e.g., Normalised Difference Moisture Index). We discuss advantages and challenges of using spectral indices derived from remote sensing imagery to map biodiversity gradients in a peatland.