Diversity and distribution of oribatid mites (Acari:Oribatida) in a lowland rain forest in Peru and in several environments of the Brazilians states of Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará

Abstract

We are summarizing the current state of knowledge of the diversity and distribution of oribatid mites in 26 environments in northern Brazil and of a rain forest in Peru. The published studies were mostly concentrated in Central Amazon. Only one report is a result from an agricultural polyculture. We are providing the first lists of species for savannas and for the Brazilian states of Roraima and Pará. Up to date, 146 species are definitively identified from a total of 444 taxa with 188 known genera, reinforcing the notion of a rich biodiverse area. The high number of 298 non-described species (morphospecies) clearly shows the inadequacy of the current taxonomic knowledge for the region. Most of the registers are from forest environments. In the soil from primary forests, we registered the highest diversity (54-155 species/morphospecies). Eighty-nine species were unique to primary forests, followed by 34 for savannas, 32 in trees, 10 in "igapó", 4 in caatinga, 3 in secondary forests, two in "varzea" and one in polyculture. Twenty genera were the most speciose. The species with the largest home ranges were Rostrozetes foveolatus, Scheloribates sp. A, and Galumna sp. A. Our numbers reflect the lack of taxonomists and show that the taxonomic knowledge must be improved for the region or we will continue to work with taxonomic resolution of Order or Family and a high percentage of morphospecies, which will probably be appropriate to the question being asked in each study, but not for a comparison among environments.