Petroleum hydrocarbons were intended to address risks to soil microarthropods and various other soil fauna
that are considered to be important in maintaining a minimum level of soil ecological functioning. The
study was carried out in cultivated soil exposed to petroleum hydrocarbon product PHC (solar) produced
from a mixture station of Asphalt at Berma Village. Egypt. Another unpolluted soil adjacent to the polluted
soil was chosen as control. The experiment was undertaken for four seasons.
This paper focuses on the effect of this product on the species richness, species abundance, and vertical
distribution of soil microarthropods (mites,collembolans, and Mesostigmata). Extraction of organisms was
carried out using the Berlese-Tullgren funnel . In the unpolluted and polluted habitats, there was an inverse
relationship between mite/ collembolan abundance/density (except in the Mesostigmata )and soil depth;
however, the correlations were not significant. In contrast, there was a significant direct correlation
between mite abundance/density and depth in the polluted habitat, (F=29.11; df=1.3; p < 0.05). In the
unpolluted habitat, approximately all mites and 90% of collembolans were collected within the range 0.00-
10.0cm. In the habitat, polluted with petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contamination, no mites were collected
above a depth of 5.0cm and 70% were found below 10.0cm. There were direct relationships between
collembolan densities and soil depths in the two habitat-types (polluted and control) but the correlations
were not significant (F=6.22; df = 1.3; p> 0.05). In the unpolluted habitat, approximately 90% of all
collembolans were found above a depth of 10.0cm; this declined to 30% in the polluted soil. Mesostigmata
and occupied lower layers below 5cm in polluted and unpolluted soil.