LEAF DOMATIA IN KOREAN PLANTS - FLORISTICS, FREQUENCY, AND BIOGEOGRAPHY

Leaf domatia, specialized structures on the undersides of leaves, appe ar to promote mutualism between plants and those mites that protect le aves from pathogenic fungi and small herbivorous arthropods. Their occ urrence was surveyed on 425 plant species (368 native species and 57 s pecies introduced from other regions of northeastern Asia), comprising 177 genera and 59 families of woody Dicotyledonae in the Korean flora . Domatia, primarily of turft or pocket forms (84% of species), were p resent in vein axils on leaves of 152 species (36%) within 66 genera ( 37%) and 39 families (66%). Overall, we report leaf domatia in nine ne w families and 25 additional genera. Mites, primarily from families or suborders (e.g., Acaridida, Phytoseiidae, Tydeidae) in which arboreal representatives are primarily fungivorous or predaceous, were found i n domatia on leaves of 78% of all species sampled. Domatia frequency d epended upon both growth form and habit of species. They were especial ly common among tree species (55%), but less so on shrubs (20%) and wo ody vines (22%). Domatia were much more frequent on species of deciduo us was consistent across a number of local deciduous and broadleaf eve rgreen forests in South Korea. The difference was consistent across a number of local deciduous and broadleaf evergreen forests in South Kor ea. The high frequency of leaf domatia in this survey indicates that p lant-mite mutualism may be widespread in Korean plant communities. The floristic affinities of plants with domatia in Korea to those in othe r regions of East Asia, eastern North America, and Europe suggest that these plant-mite associations characterize the temperate broadleaf de ciduous forest biome in the Northern Hemisphere.