Abstract

BEDOYA-ROQUEME, Edwin; VERGARA-NEGRETE, Juan  and  QUIROS-RODRIGUEZ, Jorge. Microhabitat preference of Pseudoscorpiones (Arachnida) in mangrove forests from southern Gulf of Morrosquillo, Colombian Caribbean. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2021, vol.92, e923378.  Epub Oct 25, 2021. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2021.92.3378.

Pseudoscorpions are arachnids that can occupy different microhabitats, some specialized. During an investigation of pseudoscorpions, the microhabitat preference was evaluated in coastal mangrove forests from Córdoba, Colombian Caribbean. A total of 1,063 individuals were collected, distributed in 4 families and 8 species. The most frequent species in each microhabitat were: Pachyolpium isolatum (n = 720) and Lechytia chthoniiformis (n = 190) and the less frequent one was: Parachernes aff. setosus (n = 6). The non-parametric estimators Jackknife 1, Jackknife 2 and bootstrap indicated good representativeness; 98.9% of the fauna was recorded, and a potential of 11 species was estimated for the mangrove forest fragments. The litter was the microhabitat that presented the highest average of individuals 56 ± 6.7 ind / month, and the coral remains presented the lowest average 1.8 ± 0.9 ind / month. The salinity of the soil, its humidity and the humidity of the litter, are the variables that can significantly influence the assembly of pseudoscorpions in mangrove forests. The measures of selectivity and / or preferences established a high specificity with each microhabitat, counting the soil, the litter and the bark of trees, with the highest frequency of use. These results highlight the importance of understanding the role of these arachnids in mangrove forests and allow increasing knowledge of their ecology, offering potential use as bioindicators.

Keywords : Ecology; Microhabitat; Distribution; San Antero; Córdoba.

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