Acarine biodiversity. I. A new database. Preliminary examples of its use in statistical biosystematics

The present paper proposes a new database which constitutes a starting point for study of the various aspects of acarine biodiversity. The characters selected are briefly presented and their use in combination with ecological items is presented. One of the numerous possible applications of this tool, a mathematical analysis of statistical biosystematics, will provide a base for further papers devoted to acarine biodiversity. These preliminary results indicate that simple systematic data may lead to, among other things, considerations of the ecological biodiversity of mites, the habits of specialists, and the systematic heterogeneity of some taxonomic groups. The "upgrading" of the systematic criteria used for the classification of Oribatida is clearly demonstrated and quantified by a remarkably low specific richness of the different superfamilies.