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Dispersal is an important process affecting the survival of organisms and the structure and dynamics of communities and ecosystems in space and time. It is a multiphase phenomenon influenced by many internal and external factors. Dispersal syndromes can be complicated, but they are vital to our knowledge of the biology of any organism. We analysed dispersal ability in mites (Acariformes and Parasitiformes), a highly diverse group of wingless arthropods, taking into consideration various modes of dispersal, feeding strategies, body size and the number of articles published for each species. Based on 174 articles summarized for this study, it appears that mites are opportunistic when it comes to dispersal, regardless of their feeding habits, and are often able to adopt several different strategies as needs arise. Moreover, we find a significant positive relationship between the amount of research effort that was put into studying a given species and the number of modes of dispersal that were described. The most salient conclusion to be drawn from this positive correlation is that additional studies are needed, especially on a broader set of mite taxa, until the aforementioned correlation is no longer demonstrably significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diet spectrum of the great tit (Parus major L., 1758) was studied in transformed forests of northeastern Ukraine. Four forest ecosystems were surveyed: four model sites in oak woodlands and in a pine–oak forest with different stages of recreational digression. Forty-seven taxa of invertebrates (n = 325) were detected in the ration of great tit chicks. Insecta (72.4%): Lepidoptera (seven families, 35.9%), Hymenoptera (two families, 21.0%), Diptera (seven families, 2.7%) and Coleoptera (four families, 1.8%) were among them. In terms of the qualitative composition of invertebrates (20 species, 42.6%) and the proportion of seized food objects (159 objects), phytophages prevailed. The food composition of great tit chicks was the most similar in territories MS1 and MS4. It contained six common taxa for these territories (Stugren–Radulescu Index = 0.7, Jaccard = 0.2, Sorensen = 0.3).

The blackbird (Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758; Passeriformes, Turdidae) diet was studied to contribute to the conservation of the species population in transformed forests of the north-eastern part of Ukraine. Four forest ecosystems were studied: 3 model sites in the oak forests, transformed under intensive recreation pressure, and 1 model site in a pine-oak forest. A total of 44 invertebrate taxa, dominated by Insecta (78.1%, n = 1075), were found. The order Lepidoptera (63.5%) prevailed. In the diet of blackbird nestlings, the highest number of taxa (37.1–52.2%) was represented by phytophages. The phytophagous species also constituted the majority of the consumed prey items (58.8–72.0%). Environmental conditions provided an important effect on the diet structure. The most favourable foraging conditions for the species were found in protected natural areas. According to the analysis, the blackbird foraging efficiency was similar in all the studied sites. The highest biodiversity indices were found in a protected area of Homilshanski Forests National Nature Park. Results of the research have indicated a crucial role of T. merula in the population management of potentially dangerous agricultural pests.

Substances for protecting plants often contain colourings, the impact of which on invertebrates has been studied insufficiently. The addition of food colourings in different concentrations to the diet of saprophage beetles can affect their metabolism, causing loss of body weight. In the experiment, we determined the impact of tartrazine, allura red and indigo carmine on the body weight of Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758 larvae. The substances were added to their fodder at five concentrations (1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001 and 0.0001 g/kg of dry fodder) during a 21-day experiment. Statistically significant data on changes in the body weight of T. molitor larvae were received after adding 1 g/kg concentration of indigo carmine and 0.1 and 1 g/kg concentrations of tartrazine. In the other variants of the experiment, no statistically significant differences were determined. Tartrazine, allura red and indigo carmine cause decrease in the body weight of T. molitor larvae, depending on the concentration of the colouring. The toxic effect of synthetic food colourings on living organisms and the low number of studies devoted to such impact on insects indicate the relevance and necessity for further research in this sphere.

Measurement of feeding activity of soil saprophages by the consumption of bait made of plant material—the bait-lamina test—is used for solving many problems of functional ecology. It is important to choose the correct exposure duration of bait to obtain unbiased data. This requires the analysis of time dependence of bait consumption, however, it has not been performed for technogenically polluted soils. We have compared two study sites of spruce–fir forest in the area affected by long-term emissions of the Middle Ural Copper Smelter: background (30 km away from the plant) and strongly polluted by heavy metals (1 km away). The feeding activity was evaluated on days 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. The dependence of the consumed bait portion on the exposure duration sharply differs at the background and polluted sites: it is clear linear in the period from the third till the twelfth day on the former and is absent on the latter. This is related to the difference not only in the abundance, but also in the species composition of saprophages. The pollution effect is the most pronounced on the ninth day of exposure, and deviations from this period for more than two days both to the higher and smaller sides are undesirable. The recalculations of the original values should be carefully applied: the linear interpolation may be used to recalculate the activity in the background area to adjust it to the exposure duration in the polluted site, but not vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consortium of the eurasian blackcap which forms a complex network of intercommunications that delivers survival and development of determinants and their consortium at the time is considered. It is established that representatives about of 30 higher taxons of animals and plants have trophic, topical, fabric and transportation service links with eurasian blackcap, as consortia determinants. At the same time, eurasian blackcap is the consort of autotrophic-determinantal consortia, whose cores are 14 plant species (N = 165), where the predominant Acer platanoides L. (39.4 %). The fabric links of Eurasian blackcap eurasian blackcap with consortia of cereals (Poaceae) – 60 % (N = 35) and motley grass are detected. The eurasian blackcap belongs to the first concentre of many heterotrophic-determinantal consortia of mammals, birds and invertebrates. The nidikoly of eurasian blackcap are presented by invertebrates of 17 taxons (N = 348). Saprophages are dominated on all areas. Their share increasing from 55 % (N = 93) in the Hetmanskyi National Natural Park and 59 % (N = 174) in the National Natural Park “Homilshanski lisy” to 60 % (N = 81) in the forest park (Kharkiv). The eurasian blackcap is created the conditions for the development of other organisms as determinant of heterotrophic consortia. Micromys minutus Pall. is inhabited their nests (3.6 %; N = 165). The destroyed laying or dead nestlings are the trophic base for flies Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, beetles that feed dead bodies Silphidae, troksiv (Trox scaber L.), beetles-pistryanok (Necrobia violacea L.), coprophages Aphodius sp., Syritta pipiens L. and beetles, which feed the skin (Dermestes, Anthrenus), butterflies-keratophages (Tineidae). The trophic links of eurasian blackcap with 22 ta­xons (N = 576) of invertebrates was found. Phytophages are dominated on the two reserved areas by species composition. Zoophages (47.4 %; N = 135) are dominated in the forest park. The greatest similarity of species diversity of food objects was found for areas National Natural Park “Homilshanski lisy” and Hetmanskyi National Natural Park by 18 species of invertebrates (Jaccard index and Serens: 0.8 and 0.9, respectively).

We investigated the structure of the litter invertebrate community in 141 pine (Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus, 1753) forest sites with five variants of canopy density (30-44, 45-59, 60-74, 75-89 and 90-100%) in the steppe zone of Ukraine. The total number of litter macrofauna specimens collected at each site decreased from an average of 84/100 trap-days in the sparsest stands (30-40% density) to 4-39 specimens/100 trap-days in the forests with a denser canopy. The number of macrofauna species caught in the pitfall traps does not vary significantly with different degrees of canopy density. The Shannon-Weaver and Pielou diversity indexes show increases corresponding to increasing stages of canopy density. The average share of phytophages in the trophic structure of the litter macrofauna does not vary with canopy density. The relative number of saprophages decreases from 54% in the forests with the sparsest canopy to 11-13% in the forests with denser canopies. The relative number of saprophages in pine forests (22%) is lower than that in deciduous forests (40%). The share of zoophages in the trophic structure of the litter macrofauna increases significantly with the increase in the pine forest canopy density (from 21% in the sparsest plots to 59% in the densest). The relative number of polyphages is highest (47-65%) when the canopy density is 45-89%. At canopy densities below or above this range, the share of polyphages in the community decreases to 20 and 24%, respectively. Regardless of canopy density, Formicidae and Lycosidae invariably rank amongst the first three dominant families. Nine families of invertebrates dominate in the pine forest stands with the highest density (90-100%), and 5-7 families dominate in the stands with lower density. For the pine forest litter macrofauna, we have observed an extreme simplification of the community size structure compared with natural and planted deciduous forests of the steppe zone of Ukraine.

This article discusses the results of a 30-day experiment investigating the influence of copper which was introduced into the natural diet of Megaphyllum kievense (Lohmander, 1928) at concentrations of 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7 and 10-8 mg Cu.g-1 dry leaf litter upon the body mass of the species. With copper contamination at a concentration 10-1 mg Cu.g-1 leaf litter the gain in body mass of M. kievense decreased by 69.8% (from 2.45 ± 1.28 to 0.74 ± 1.73 mg/individual per month). With an enrichment of the food substrate to 10-2-10-7 mg Cu.g-1 litter the increase in body mass of the millipedes did not differ from the control value (it was 88-146% of the control). However, the gain in body mass for 10-8 mg Cu.g-1 dry leaf litter was twice higher than in the control. The results of the experiment do not permit us to claim that the food consumption of M. kievense changed in response to varying concentrations of copper in the litter samples. The mass of the largest litter fragments (> 2.05 mm) decreased by 8.5% as a result of consumption by M. kievense and that of the average size fragments (0.70-1.05 mm) increased by 6.0% due to the grinding of the plant remains by M. kievense and enrichment through their excretory process.

Manufacture of many drugs is directly related to the cultivation of medicinal plants, and seeding with soil microorganisms occurs just at that stage. Microorganisms colonize plant roots and root hairs to form biofilms and symbioses, which induces changes of the phenotype reflected in variation of the growth parameters and specific gene expression. The ability of bacteria to form biofilms and of fungi and actinomycetes to form symbioses constitutes an essential pathogenicity factor. Analogous populations of microorganisms can be found in the gastrointenstinal tract of invertebrates, as well as of vertebrates and humans. Communities of microorganisms generate a common genetic system in the form of plasmids that are circular DNA molecules coding the behavior of biofilm and symbiosis members and determining their trophic, energetic, and other relations between each other and the outside. At all these stages, resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics, disinfectants, and synthetic compounds is developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miltogramminae is one of the phylogenetically most poorly studied taxa of the species-rich family Sarcophagidae (Diptera). Most species are kleptoparasites in nests of solitary aculeate wasps and bees, although parasitoids and saprophagous species are also known, and the ancestral miltogrammine life habit remains unsettled. Here, we present for the first time a comprehensive phylogenetic tree consisting of 58 representatives of Miltogramminae, reconstructed using sequence data from three mitochondrial (COI, cytB, ND4) and one nuclear (Ef-1α) genes. Our phylogenetic hypothesis suggests that: (1) Miltogramminae are sister to Paramacronychiinae, (2) Miltogramminae can be divided into the “lower miltogrammines” containing two clades of mainly saprophages and a clade of “higher miltogrammines” with mainly kleptoparasitic species, (3) only three genera turn out to be non-monophyletic: Miltogramma , Senotainia and Pterella and (4) the genus Sarcotachina , which traditionally has been considered as belonging to the Paramacronychiinae, is placed in one of the clades of “lower miltogrammines”. Ancestral state reconstruction of larval feeding strategy and five larval characters reveals that the ancestor of Miltogramminae was likely a saprophage retaining plesiomorphic oral ridges and a cephaloskeleton with sclerotized dorsal bridge. Synapomorphies like large pseudocephalic sensory organs and well-developed cuticular sculpture suggest that the ancestral first instar larva actively searched for a buried food supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horticultural practices may impact invertebrates in agroecosystems, particularly natural enemies. Impacts can be better understood by grouping organisms functionally or using morphological traits in addition to taxonomic determinations., We compared the effects of mulch type (compost, pine needles, unmulched) and weeding strategy (weeded, unweeded) on beetle (Coleoptera) communities in highbush blueberries, focusing on early-season captures that reflected overwintering habitat., Beetle diversity was similar between plot types, although functional grouping revealed differences as a result of mulching but not weeding. Predatory and granivorous Carabidae were most abundant in unmulched plots, mycetophages were most abundant in pine needles, and saprophages were most abundant in compost. Predatory Staphylinidae were most diverse in compost plots, and the diversity of granivores was greatest in unmulched plots., Carabid biomass was greater in unmulched than compost mulched plots partly as a result of larger beetle size., Beetle communities in unmulched and pine needles mulched plots were more similar than those in compost mulched plots., A combination of compost mulched and unmulched areas should benefit all predatory taxa, although mulch use for pest control will need to be evaluated within the context of other production goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We studied the response of the macrofauna to forest conversion from pure coniferous stands into semi-natural montane forests in the southern Black Forest (Germany). The investigation was carried out by comparing existing stands that represent the four major stages of the envisaged conversion process. Major results are: (i) environmental parameters indicate a significant alteration of the soil environment, (ii) neither an overall change nor a clear trend in macrofaunal richness and abundance could be established, and (iii) the data for the different taxa suggest specific responses to the conditions of the individual conversion stages. In general, saprophagous taxa seem to be mainly driven by alterations of the resource base (litter quality, microbial parameters) while predatory taxa tend to respond to changes at the consumer level. Associated alterations in the functional structure occurred for macroengineers (earthworms), primary consumers (diplopods, isopods) as well as a wide range of predators. These changes could partly be explained by changes in environmental conditions that did not follow a gradual adjustment during the conversion process. One essential step is the shift from an organic layer composed of low-quality coniferous litter that is dominated by fungi to a litter layer with higher quality food sources. Within this framework, the specific response of the macrofauna is modulated by factors such as differences in structural features of the ground vegetation and availability of woody litter in a stage-specific way. Since the response of the macrofauna depended far less on site conditions than any of the other environmental factors, this invertebrate group may be used as a valuable indicator of the changes associated with different stages of the conversion process. As long as no dramatic change of soil conditions – in particular pH – occurs, however, no fundamental restructuring of the soil community is to be expected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The consumption and assimilation rates of the woodlouse Armadillidium vulgare were measured on leaf litters from five herb species grown and naturally senesced at 350 and 700 µl l–1 CO2. Each type of litter was tested separately after 12, 30 and 45 days of decomposition at 18°C. The effects of elevated CO2 differed depending on the plant species. In Medicago minima (Fabaceae), the CO2 treatment had no significant effect on consumption and assimilation. In Tyrimnus leucographus (Asteraceae), the CO2 treatment had no significant effect on consumption, but the elevated CO2 litter was assimilated at a lower rate than the ambient CO2 litter after 30 days of decomposition. In the three other species, Galactites tomentosa (Asteraceae), Trifolium angustifolium (Fabaceae) and Lolium rigidum (Poaceae), the elevated CO2 litter was consumed and/or assimilated at a higher rate than the ambient CO2 litter. Examination of the nitrogen contents in these three species of litter did not support the hypothesis of compensatory feeding, i.e. an increase in woodlouse consumption to compensate for low nitrogen content of the food. Rather, the results suggest that in herbs that were unpalatable at the start of the experiment (Galactites, Trifolium and Lolium), more of the the litter produced at 700 µl l–1 CO2 was consumed than of that produced at 350 µl l–1 because inhibitory factors were eliminated faster during decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]