Tardigrada and Nematoda associations with lichen and bryophyte habitats from Southwest Wisconsin state parks, universities, and private land

Microscopic terrestrial invertebrates, such as tardigrades and nematodes, have been historically understudied and misunderstood. Terrestrial habitats of tardigrades and nematodes, like moss and lichens, have been sparingly identified throughout scientific and natural history. Additionally, many regions within the United States have little-to-no records of tardigrade and nematode taxa from moss and lichens. In the current study, we collected moss, lichen, and liverwort samples from multiple state parks and areas within Southwest Wisconsin to investigate tardigrade and nematode communities. Generalized Linear Models confirmed that habitat species, substrate, site location, and elevation had a significant effect on tardigrade and nematode abundances. We also report significant associations of certain tardigrade and nematode taxa with their respective cryptogam habitats. Furthermore, we report a new distribution of the heterotardigrade species Viridiscus aff. perviridis and Viridiscus viridissimus, and the eutardigrade species Minibiotus cf. jonesorum to the state of Wisconsin. Our study indicates that many tardigrade and nematode associations with cryptogam habitats have yet to be explored and documented in North America.