TY  - JOUR
JF  - Acarologia
T1  - Insights into the role of mites in the soil carbon dynamics in southern French vineyards under an agroecological gradient
VL  - 66
IS  - Suppl
SP  - 132
EP  - 132
PY  - 2026
SN  - 0044-586X
SN  - 2107-7207
PB  - Les Amis d'Acarologia
AU  - Lucas Lorena, Godoy
AU  - Thais Juliane, do Prado
AU  - Carlos, Barreto
AU  - Robert, Buchkowski
AU  - Denise, Navia
UR  - https://doi.org/10.24349/w2ru-bviy
DO  - 10.24349/w2ru-bviy
DA  - 2026-07-20
ET  - 2026-07-20
KW  - Carbon flux
KW  - Soil food webs
KW  - Agroecological practices
KW  - Vegetation cover
KW  - Soil biodiversity
AB  - Understanding how soil arthropods contribute to carbon dynamics is essential for clarifying the functioning of agroecosystems and the ecological benefits of agroecological management. Mites constitute the main group of arthropods in the soil mesofauna. In this study, we investigated the potential role of soil mites in carbon fluxes in vineyard soils of southern France, using the carbon stored in mite biomass as a first step toward the construction of soil food-web models. In Autumn 2023, soil samples were collected from 30 plots in Hérault, France, including 24 vineyard plots sampled in the inter-rows and managed under a gradient of agroecological practices, based on crop management strategy (organic or conventional) and inter-row vegetation cover management (bare soil, temporary or permanent); and 6 plots of adjacent natural vegetation. Soil arthropods were extracted, and mites were sorted into major groups. For each group, up to 10 individuals were measured under the microscope. Body measurements were converted into dry weight using published allometric. Dry weight was then converted to carbon biomass, assuming a carbon content equivalent to 50% of dry weight. Differences between vineyard practices were tested using ANOVA on log-transformed data, and bootstrap means with 95% confidence intervals are presented. Mite carbon biomass differed significantly among crop management strategies. The highest values were observed in adjacent natural vegetation (1356.0 g m?³; 95% CI: 903.5–1808.6), followed by organic vineyard (479.2 g m?³; 223.9–868.2), while conventional vineyard plots showed the lowest biomass (166.3 g m?³; 104.7–234.4). These differences were significant (F2,27 = 8.71, p = 0.0012), with natural plots showing higher biomass than both vineyards, whereas conventional and organic vineyards did not differ significantly. Carbon biomass also varied significantly among inter-row vegetation cover management (F3,26 = 7.34, p = 0.0010). Higher values were found in natural vegetation and permanent cover (782.0 g m?³; 237.5–1712.0), whereas temporary cover (233.8 g m?³; 144.0–332.5) and bare soil (240.0 g m?³; 90.5–430.8) showed significantly lower values. Permanent cover did not differ significantly from natural vegetation. These results suggest that agroecological practices, particularly the maintenance of permanent vegetation cover, may promote higher mite carbon biomass in vineyard soils, potentially increasing their contribution to carbon cycling and trophic transfer. This study represents a first step toward modelling carbon and other nutrient fluxes in French vineyard soil food webs. Further studies are needed to better understand the importance of soil acarofauna for soil carbon dynamics.
ER -