Abstract
Two or three microhabitats were defined within each of habitats within a forest. If 'tree' is a habitat, its microhabitats are the moss cover on the tree, the moss at the foot of the tree in contact with the soil, and the soil around the tree.
The microhabitat community structure of oribatid mites was recorded. The nutritional biology, especially the type of food and the digestion pattern, of dominant species was monitored.
Mites were extracted in Berlese-Tullgren funnels, sectioned in paraplast and stained with Masson triple. Faecal pellets were also stained with acridine orange and observed under fluorescent light.
Mite microanatomy was evaluated based on nutritional parameters. Some species consume and digest a specific type of food in all microhabitats of one habitat.
Others are able to shift diet according to current food supply in a particular microhabitat. A third type of species is ubiquitous and usually consumes a mixture of unspecified food types in every microhabitat studied.