MITES (ACARI) AS INDICATORS OF SOIL BIODIVERSITY AND LAND USE MONITORING: A REVIEW

Soil is an important compo- nent for monitoring of sustainability of land use in relation to both the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity of ecosystems. Re- cently research has focused on the role of mites (Acari) in biomonitoring and their importance as soil bioindicators. Mite communities are ex- tremely sensitive to all types of soil disturbance. This article presents a review of some studies on mite communities in order to discuss whether the diversity and numbers of mites present in the soil can reflect human impact on ecosystems and landscape, and whether mites can be used in monitoring systems. Limited data available about mite communities in agricultural ecosys- tems (in use and abandoned) in SW Norway from author's own studies (published and in prep.) are compared with data from ca. 55 pa- pers (mostly concerning Europe).