In soils under seven types of high altitude, native vegetation and one plantation in the northernmost Chilean Altiplanic region, 20 microarthropod orders or suborders were found, including 21 oribatid mite species. Seven of these species are first mentioned for Chile. No oribatid mites were found in soils far from vegetation. Data are given as average densities (nº ind./1000 ml), accounting for plant preference, geographical distribution and updated taxonomic status for each species. Ten oribatid species form a group of Andean altiplanic steppe fauna also found in Peru and Bolivia. Other three species have been also found in different austral ecosystems in Argentina, and a group of eight species seems to be cosmopolitan.
Soil fauna; Andes range; Chile
