Soil mites tracking agroecological transition in Mediterranean vineyards

A transition towards sustainable agriculture is urgently needed to address the global foodsystem crisis and ensure long-term security. Soils, as reservoirs of water, nutrients,carbon, and biodiversity, are central to this challenge yet remain vulnerable to degradationunder intensive farming. Monitoring soil health under agroecological management istherefore essential to detect early signs of degradation or regeneration. Soil mesofauna,particularly mites and springtails, are increasingly recognized as integrative indicators. InFrench vineyards, conventional practices rely heavily on pesticides and soil disturbance,while agroecological alternatives are emerging. Yet their effects on soil biodiversity andfunction remain insufficiently understood. This study assessed (i) whether Mesostigmataand Oribatida mites can serve as bioindicators of soil ecological quality duringagroecological transition, and (ii) how plant diversification influences predatory mitecommunities. A comparative approach was applied in commercial and experimental plotsin Occitanie, France, spanning conventional and organic vineyards with varying inter-rowvegetation, plus non-cultivated references. Communities were analyzed usinggeneralized linear models on abundance, richness, and Shannon diversity. Mitesdominated soil mesofauna (71–79%). Oribatida were most abundant (49–59.5%), with 56morphospecies across 21 superfamilies and 37 families. Mesostigmata comprised ~10%of mites but showed high diversity (15 families, 35 genera, 58 species). Oribatida werehighly responsive: natural areas and permanent cover vineyards supported the greatestabundance, richness, and diversity, while conventional and temporary cover systemsconsistently reduced them. Organic vineyards reached diversity levels comparable tonatural systems. Mesostigmata showed stable abundance but declines in richness anddiversity under conventional and temporary cover, with organic and permanent coversustaining values similar to natural areas. Overall, agroecological practices (organicmanagement and permanent vegetation) promote richer and more diverse mitecommunities, approximating natural conditions. The use of these groups as bioindicatorsallows to track subtle but ecologically meaningful shifts in soil biodiversity. In order tocomplement these findings an experimental study is underway to examine mitepopulation dynamics under diversified vineyards, with results currently under analysis.