Dear Colleagues,

Mites form the most prevalent and diverse group of the subphylum Chelicerata. The role of mites in the cycle of materials in soils is not yet fully explained; however, their importance in agriculture and forestry is obvious (especially in the tropics). Without them, the release of plant nutrients from corpuscular organic materials would be much slower, and efficient agricultural production would be impossible in many cases. However, some phytophagous groups (e.g., Tetranychoidea, Tarsonemidae, Eriophyidae and Penthaleidae) can be significant pests in horticulture, agriculture and forestry.

The research of mites is of great importance due to their prevalence and role in the cycle of materials; there can be tens of thousands of individuals belonging to up to 300–400 species in a handful of tropical soil, moss, bark, hanging soil, bromeliad funnel or tussock. The number of taxa is very uncertain, but the number of species described so far exceeds 80,000, the number of genera exceeds 3000 and that of families exceeds 800. There is no flat, city park, agricultural area, rubbish heap, tumbledown building or any other habitat where they are not abundant. They are essentially terrestrial animals; however, there also exist secondary freshwater and sea species. As for feeding, there are herbivorous, fungivorous, deposit feeder, predator and parasite species as well, which is a unique feature among the mostly predatory arachnids.

Several species can tolerate dehydration well and others are able to live in sea water permanently (deep in the zone of eternal darkness), whereas others can tolerate the total freezing of the substrate surrounding them. Permanent darkness and the low oxygen level may also be tolerable. In most species, resistance has developed to specialised acaricides as well. In the case of a record-breaking mass extinction due to the destruction of the environment by mankind, they will certainly have representatives among the survivors, since many groups survived the devastating Permian–Triassic extinction almost without change.

The objective of our Special Issue is to provide a wide overview of the frontiers of ecological research on this important area of scientific interest.

Dr. Levente Hufnagel
Guest Editor

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• soil ecology
• forest ecosystems
• biogeography of mites
• systematic zoology of acarids
• plant–arthropod interactions
• nutrient cycling in forests
• biodiversity research
• conservation biology
• environment protection
• earth history and paleontology of mite communities