2023/07/13 by Wojciech Niedbała, Marta Maziarz, Grzegorz Hebda +6 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · #Avian ecology and behavior #Bird parasitology and diseases #Study of Mite Species
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s10493-023-00800-8
openalex publication_date 2023/07/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Due to specific microclimatic conditions and accumulation of organic matter, bird nests are microhabitats that are often inhabited by various invertebrates, including mites (Acari). We tested whether nests of the ground-nesting passerine Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein) (Passeriformes: Phylloscopidae) [wood warbler] were associated with an increased local diversity of ptyctimous mites (Acari: Oribatida) on the forest floor in the Białowieża National Park, East Poland. In 2019-2020, we analysed 150 warbler nests shortly after they had been vacated by the birds, and additionally we sampled mites in leaf litter at 1 and 6 m distances from 21 of the collected nests. We found on average more mite species in nests sampled in 2020 than in nests sampled in 2019. Although the species composition largely overlapped between bird nests and the litter, bird nests contained a greater average number of mite species than litter samples, including species found only - Microtritia minima (Berlese) and Phthiracarus crenophilus Willmann - or mostly - Euphthiracarus cribrarius (Berlese) and Phthiracarus globosus (C.L. Koch) - in bird nests. The results suggest that the presence of bird nests may increase the local diversity of the invertebrate species assemblage.