First- a brief breakdown of soil



Soil. It’s our greatest treasure.

It can take hundreds of years and many natural processes to make even a centimetre of soil. The mechanical and chemical weathering of rock makes up around half of any soil’s composition, with around 5% supplied by organic material, and the rest made up by air and water. Put another way, soil is a complicated mix of both the non-organic, abiotic components- minerals, water and air, and the organic biotic components- bacteria, archaea, fungi, plants and invertebrates that live and die within it.

In addition, when we talk about a living soil, as opposed to just ‘soil’, this is to describe soil as a complex, sustainable and dynamic ecosystem, a soil food web built through the interaction of countless soil organisms like springtails, nematodes and mites.





“Despite all our achievements, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”





However, within a few generations, we have seen the world’s soils rapidly and increasingly degrade, losing nutrients and fertility, and actually blow away, due to bad farming practices, pollution, acidification, compaction, deforestation and climate change across the world. It’s a sobering and worrying time. Soil fauna like springtails and soil mites can reduce to almost zero. Worms disappear, fungal activity ceases.

Soil scientists and farmers are finally being listened to by the EU, the United Nations and most global leaders. Research is now well funded and positive changes are being discussed and implemented by many farmers worldwide. Sustaining, improving and increasing soils is a lengthy and time consuming process, but no dig and regenerative agriculture for example are showing great results. Feeding the soil rather than the plant has become a well known mantra amongst gardeners and organic growers. The ship may be sinking, but all is not lost.

I fully recommend researching more on the subject, especially through resources like the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative.

”Whoever you are and whoever you will become, tread lightly on the earth.”





The mesofauna- soil animals and soil bugs

In soil science, the mesofauna are usually defined as invertebrates, sized between 0.1 mm and 2 mm, although some references increase this to 10 mm. Microfauna, such as protozoa and most nematodes inhabit the smaller world below 0.1 mm. They exhibit animal-like characteristics, and many are as yet undescribed. The macrofauna loosely defines anything bigger than 2 mm, from woodlice, worms, and ants to badgers and anyone digging a tunnel.

On this website, I’m attempting to be as inclusive and as wide ranging as I can in respect to the animals covered. While the ‘main’ and obvious soil animals are heavily featured- springtails, mites, pauropods, diplura, protura, nematodes, pseudoscorpions and symphyla, the less well known animals are also covered. Hence the fact you will also be able to read about mite harvestmen, biting midge and fungus gnat larvae, ostracods, nemerteans, land planarians and the tiny micro snails. All contribute to the very small world of the mesofauna, as well as all the many bacteria, fungi and myxomycetes that are only briefly mentioned in passing. Here are some links for further exploration of these areas.







As with most things in soil science, dividing soil animals into groups like micro, meso and macro are an easy though artificial way to roughly describe the complicated links and interactions between one of the most ancient collections of terrestrial arthropods. As my initial and ongoing interest in this tiny, wonderful world has been focused on Collembola, I'm including the full diversity of springtail sizes, not just the small, soil-dwelling mesofauna ones, as they're all incredible animals. I promise that the true mesofauna don't mind. I did try getting the giant Collembola into small wigs and mesofauna costumes but they weren't up for it.

For a linked photographic key to the different classes and orders found in and around the soil, click the button below.