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Abundance and diversity of soil mite (Acari) communities after conversion of tropical secondary forest into rubber plantations in Grand-Lahou, Côte d’Ivoire

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Ecological Research

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to understand the modification of mite communities and soil physico-chemical parameters after conversion of secondary forests into rubber plantations and how these change with the aging of the plantations. The sampling was performed in a humid period and samples were taken from three of each age of secondary forests, 7-year-old rubber plantations, 12-year-old rubber plantations and 25-year-old rubber plantations. We hypothesized that the stress imposed on mite communities during site preparation and planting would be compensated for by the reduction of the soil degradation index as the rubber plantations age. Across the 12 sampling areas, 120 soil cores were taken at 10 cm soil depth over a 40 m transect. Soil physico-chemical parameters were characterized and soil mites were extracted with a modified Berlese-Tullgren funnel over the course of 10 days. The results showed that conversion of secondary forests into rubber plantations leads to a modification in the density of mites (−60 and +1%), species richness (−48 and −15%), water content (−62 and −31%), soil organic carbon (−67 and −51%) and total nitrogen (−64 and −52%) respectively after about 7 and 25 years of conversion. The investigation pointed out an improvement in soil ecological quality with the aging of rubber plantations over time and this was characterized by an increase in the density of mites (+150%), species richness (+63%), water content (+84%), organic carbon (+50%) and total nitrogen (+33%) in the 25-year-old plantations compared to the 7-year-old plantations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the farmers and SODEFOR staff for their involvement in identifying suitable plantations for this work. We thank the field workers for their assistance during the sampling period. A Big thank you goes out to Prof Jérôme E. TONDOH for its assistance on the project and its advices during data analysis. We thank Dr. Martine Kah Touao GAUZE, Director of the Ecological Research Center, for accommodating the project in his institute. Thanks to Drs. Martinez A. GUÉI and Ettien F. EDOUKOU for technical assistance. This study was supported by the International Foundation for Science/Ref. D/5287-1.

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  1. Unité de Formation et de Recherche (UFR) des Sciences de la Nature, Université Nangui Abrogoua, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire

    Julien Kouadio N’Dri, Fabrice Ange Seka, Pacôme Konan Pokou & Rodolphe Arnaud Guy N’Da

  2. Centre de Recherche en Ecologie, 08 BP 109, Abidjan 08, Côte d’Ivoire

    Julien Kouadio N’Dri

  3. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Dept. of Ecology, P. O. Box 7044, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jan Lagerlöf

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  1. Julien Kouadio N’Dri
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  2. Fabrice Ange Seka
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Correspondence to Julien Kouadio N’Dri.

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N’Dri, J.K., Seka, F.A., Pokou, P.K. et al. Abundance and diversity of soil mite (Acari) communities after conversion of tropical secondary forest into rubber plantations in Grand-Lahou, Côte d’Ivoire. Ecol Res 32, 909–919 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-017-1499-3

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