Diversity and Ecology of the Soil- and Litter-dwelling Invertebrates and the Plant Associations in the Habitats of the Saskhori Limestone Quarry and Adjacent Areas, Eastern Georgia, Caucasus

This case study is aimed to investigate the invertebrate fauna and distribution features of the faunal and floral diversity in seven habitats represented on the territory of the Saskhori limestone quarry and its adjacent territories (Eastern Georgia, Caucasus). Totally, 122 species of invertebrates and 131 species of plants were registered. The isopod species Chaetophiloscia hastata Verhoeff, 1928 (Malacostraca: Isopoda) is recorded in Georgia for the first time. Three oribatid mites, i.e. Lucoppia burrowsi (Michael, 1890), Microzetorchestes emeryi (Coggi, 1898) and Nothrus parvus Sitnikova, 1975 (Arachnida: Oribatida), were recorded in Saskhori Quarry for the first time. Four invertebrate species were cosmopolitan and were found in all sampling sites. The ecological analysis demonstrated the difference in the vegetation and invertebrate diversity of the natural and degraded landscapes of the Saskhori Quarry differentiated by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Cluster analysis based on the Jaccard similarity coefficient separated the diversity of the degraded landscapes (1) using combined data of the vegetation and invertebrate diversity and (2) using only the diversity data of invertebrates. The latter analyses, along with the other statistical methods used (SIMPER and ISA), proved the habitat specificity of the invertebrate species by revealing their specific distribution in the natural and degraded landscapes.