Mesofauna

What are the Soil Mesofauna?

The soil mesofauna are intermediate sized animals that live in the soil (insert brit citation). These animals are more than 100 micrometers and less than 2 millimeters in length. The organisms that make up the soil mesofauna are nematodes, mites, springtails, proturans, and pauropods (insert brit citation).

Soil Mesofauna Diet

The soil mesofuana have a wide variety of diets. Although most eat decaying plant material, they also eat microorganisms, soil animals, decaying animal material, living plants, and fungi (insert brit citation).

There are three types of feeders in the mesofauna: micropredators, litter ingestors, and ecosystem engineers (online lib Citation).

Micropredators eat microbial biomass while also controlling the microbial population. In this process, The micropredators release nutrients into the soil from the microbial biomass that they eat (insert online lib citation).

Litter ingestors eat leaf litter that have fallen off of the trees and shrubbery. These mesofauna modify the chemical composition as well as the physical structure of the soil (Insert online lib citation).

Ecosystem engineers burrow and ingest the soil they live in and modify the overall soil structure (Insert online lib citation). This includes mesofauna such as earthworms.

Soil Mesofauna Habitat and Populations

Soil mesofauna are found in the soil of all continents, they live on the surface of soil, the epigeic layer, and the lower soil profiles. In most agricultural soils, most activity happens 4-8 inches below the soil (insert article citation).

In different habitats, soil mesofauna populations vary based on soil type, soil compaction, temperature, precipitation, and moisture in the environment (insert article citation). Mesofauna is very sensitive to changes in the environment, so population will drastically fluctuate time after time again (insert IOP citation). The mesofauna are most abundant in the spring and fall due to the mild temperatures and the moistness in the soil. Populations of the mesofauna will decrease if the pH and organic matter also decrease (insert IOP citation).

Soil Mesofauna Effect On Soil

The soil mesofauna eat roots in the soil and open drainage and aeration channels (Insert online lib citation). These channels contain fecal material that can be broken down and ingested by smaller organisms.

Soil mesofauna are capable of suppressing and transmitting plant pathogens in the environment as well as allocating plant nutrient allocation and growth. They are capable of seed germination as well (insert article citation).