Systematics of oribatid mite families Damaeidae and Gymnodamaeidae (Acari: Oribatida) feeding ecology of selected oribatid species

I Summary Thepresentedthesisincludescontributionsontworelativelyindependentthemes: (1)particularta,ronomicalproblemsof Europeanmembersof theoribatidfamilies DamaeidaeBerlese,1896andGymnodamaeidaeGrandjean,1954basedon morphologicalstudiesand(2) feedingpreferencesof selectedoribatidmitesand theirinteractionswith saprotrophicfungiin pinelitter. Boththemesarelinkedmainlythroughsomeofthe usedmodelorganisms- thepredominantlymycophagousoribatidmitesof thefamilyDamaeidae. Thethesisconsistsof generalintroduction,in whichI reviewcurrentstateof knowledgein bothfieldsof studyfollowedby the synopsisof eachcontribution, agreementsof co-authorsand full-text versionscontributions.In total, seven primaryscientificcontributionsareincluded.Fourof the contributionsarealready published-three in peer-reviewedjournals and one in per-reviewedconference proceedings.Theremainingthreecontributionsaremanuscriptssubmittedto peer- reviewedjournals. Theconceptionof thethesishasgraduallychangedduringthestudyperiod. Originally,I intendedto focusmainlyonthemorphologyof immaturestagesof the genuscomplexDamaeussensulato(Damaeidae)andon feedingpreferencesof its selectedspecies.Later,thereviewof preliminaryresultsrevealed,thatmorphology of immatureDamaeussensulatooffersonly a low numberof characters,whichare of limitedvaluein..