Eur. J. Entomol. 119: 421-429, 2022 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2022.044

Epigeic harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) of reforested Norway spruce forest stands in Slovakia: A case studyOriginal article

Ivan MIHÁL ORCID..., Benjamín JARČUŠKA ORCID...
Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Štúrova 2, 960 53 Zvolen, Slovakia; e-mails: mihal@ife.sk, jarcuska@ife.sk

We evaluated the effect of different ecological factors on epigeic harvestmen (Opiliones) in stands of Norway spruce of different ages planted on former agricultural land in the Western Carpathians (Slovakia). In total, 15 species of harvestmen were recorded, which is 42.9% of the 35 species of harvestmen currently recorded in Slovakia. The most abundant species were Nelima sempronii, Lacinius ephippiatus, Mitopus morio, Oligolophus tridens, Leiobunum gracile and Platybunus bucephalus. Species richness and diversity was not associated with any forest characteristic. There was a negative association between the percentage of Norway spruce and abundance of harvestmen and positive association between the chemical element Ca2+ and harvestmen abundance. Beta diversity of harvestmen assemblages was low. Composition of harvestmen assemblages was significantly related to percentage of spruce, humus content, Ca2+, C/N and soil pH. Lacinius ephippiatus was most abundant in pitfall traps with a low percentage of spruce, Oligolophus tridens plots where there was low humus content and Leiobunum gracile tended to be more abundant in plots with more alkaline soils.

Keywords: Arachnids, former agricultural land, managed forests, Picea, Western Carpathians

Received: March 15, 2022; Revised: October 12, 2022; Accepted: October 12, 2022; Published online: November 14, 2022  Show citation

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MIHÁL, I., & JARČUŠKA, B. (2022). Epigeic harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) of reforested Norway spruce forest stands in Slovakia: A case study. EJE, 119, Article 421-429. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2022.044
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