Community structure of mesofauna in the light of qualitative and quantitative research on soil mites

Research into structure and abundance of soil fauna communities should be based on material consisting of both qualitative and quantitative samples to provide reliable results. However, in practice it turns out that sometimes it is simply impossible to have both qualitative and quantitative samples. The study presents a comparative analysis of results obtained with qualitative and quantitative methods used in research into soil mites from the suborder Uropodina (Acari: Mesostigmata). The research was carried out in different regions of Poland. Both qualitative (sieving of soil and litter) and quantitative samples were collected in each of the examined ground plots. The results presented in the study show that zoocenological analysis based on both qualitative and quantitative samples gives similar results in the case of common and abundant species, and collecting 2 or 3 sievings in a given ground plot can be equivalent to large series of quantitative samples in faunistic research and monitoring of the environment. This stems from the fact that sieving of litter allow to obtain far more dense material than from quantitative samples. Due to the high density of sieving they contain more species and specimens, including specimens at different developmental stages found in the examined area. This type of sampling can be more efficient when the researcher needs a simple and fast method of collecting material for analysis, especially in the case of extensive research conducted in large areas, monitoring of changes in soil, as well as in taxonomic, biometric, biogeographical, and molecular research.