@article {51860, title = {Seasonality of some Chihuahuan Desert soil oribatid mites (Acari: Cryptostigmata)}, journal = {Journal of Zoology, London (A)}, volume = {208}, year = {1986}, note = {//NMSU//LTER I//}, month = {1986}, pages = {403-416}, abstract = {

1. Reproductive strategies of four species of oribatid mites were investigated in the Chihuahuan Desert from 1981 to 1984. 2. Breeding activity coincided with the summer rainfall period in three of the four cases: Passalozetes neomexicanus, P. californicus and Jornadia larreae. This pattern was not changed by the application of simulated rainfall at other times of the year. The strict seasonality of reproductive behavior is interpreted as an outcome of strong selection pressure to recruit only when food quality and quantity and microclimate are most favorable. 3. Joshuella striata showed a more flexible pattern which was essentially bimodal. Periods of egg production occurred in winter and also during the summer rainfall period. This pattern is consistent with the known distribution of this species in winter- and summer-rainfall deserts in south-western USA.

}, keywords = {article, articles, breeding,mites, journal, journals, mite,oribatid, mite,rainfall, mite,reproduction, rainfall simulation, microarthropods, reproduction,mites, soil mite,oribatid}, doi = {10.1111/j.1469-7998.1986.tb01903.x}, url = {files/bibliography/JRN00041.pdf}, author = {J. A. Wallwork and MacQuitty, Miranda and Solange Silva and Walter G. Whitford} } @article {51898, title = {Distribution and diversity patterns of soil mites and other microarthropods in a Chihuahuan Desert site}, journal = {Journal of Arid Environments}, volume = {9}, year = {1985}, note = {//NMSU//LTER I//}, month = {1985}, pages = {215-231}, abstract = {

Mites were more abundant than Collembola in all sites except in Prosopis litter from the edge of a playa. At this site, collembolan density was estimated to be 24 460/m2. Four orders of mites occurred in the sites surveyed: Prostigmata, Cryptostigmata, Mesostigmata and (infrequently) Astigmata. Mesostigmata were numerous only in Atriplex litter. Prostigmata and Cryptostigmata were equally abundant only in the litter under Prosopis and on the bajada site and mineral soil under Fallugia. Elsewhere, Cryptostigmata tended to be more numerous than Prostigmata where the organic content of the substratum was high (\>30\%) and vice versa. The highest total mite density occurred in the Juniperus litter (29 486/m2), the lowest in Larrea litter (8274/m2). An Index of Diversity, calculated for the various groups of microarthropods at the 12 sites, was very variable. The equitability component of this species diversity provided a good indicator of the relative stability of the sites studied.

}, keywords = {collembola, distribution patterns, diversity patterns, invertebrate, journals, mite, soil}, author = {J. A. Wallwork and B. W. Kamill and Walter G. Whitford} } @article {51930, title = {Life styles of desert litter-dwelling microarthropods: a reappraisal based on the reproductive behavior of Cryptostigmatid mites}, journal = {Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Wetenskap}, volume = {80}, year = {1984}, note = {//NMSU//NONE, LTER//}, month = {1984}, pages = {163-169}, abstract = {

Studies in a series of Chihuahuan Desert litter and soil habitats confirmed that reproductive activity was most pronounced following the major rainfall, as in the Mojave Desert. Immediately after the summer rains, evidence was found of considerable breeding activity in more than 60\% of the oribatid species studied in the former desert.

}, keywords = {article, articles, Cryptostigmatid mites, journal, journals, litter, microarthropods, microarthropod,life history, microarthropod,litter, mite, reproduction, mite,Cryptostigmatid, rainfall simulation, microarthropod response}, url = {files/bibliography/JRN00014.pdf}, author = {J. A. Wallwork and B. W. Kamill and Walter G. Whitford} }