microfaunal

mi·cro·fau·na

 (mī′krō-fô′nə)
n. pl. microfauna or mi·cro·fau·nas
Microscopic or very small organisms, such as protozoans, that live in soil or benthic sediments.

mi′cro·fau′nal adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

microfaunal

(ˌmaɪkrəʊˈfɔːnəl)
adj
(Microbiology) relating to microfauna
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
References in periodicals archive ?
Of the multitude of archaeological and paleontological sites on the NCI that have produced microfaunal remains, few have produced remains of amphibians possibly due to collection bias [too large of sieve size used during excavations, e.g., 1.58 mm (1/16"); although see Reddy and Erlandson 2012], or scope of research design not including potential of microfauna such as amphibians.
Our objectives were threefold: 1) to establish baseline characteristics of aquatic microfaunal and microfloral assemblages against which to evaluate recent biotic changes in these freshwater ecosystems, 2) to assess the sensitivity of larval chironomid assemblages to temperature and infer past trends in summer air temperature using a chironomid-based transfer function, and 3) to explore possible connections between variations in diatom assemblages, sedimentological variables, and their relationship to changes in catchment dynamics in this region.
(1994a): Paleoenvironmental implications from ichnological and microfaunal analyses of Bajocian Spotty Carbonates, Pieniny Klippen Belt, Polish Carpathians.
Later, [40,70,39] introduced the microfaunal characteristics and assemblage zones for the Asmari Formation.
Caldwell, "Solar UV-B influences microfaunal community composition in a Tierra del Fuego peatland," Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol.
J., Microfaunal studies of the Lower Eocene Margala Hill Limestone of the Bandi area, Hazara, Pakistan, Pak.
As Jonathan Swift (1733) so eloquently put it, "So, naturalists observe, a flea has smaller fleas that on him prey; and these have smaller still to bite 'em; and so proceed ad infinitum." It is therefore not surprising that insects that arrive in new regions can potentially be hosts for a variety of unseen metazoans and microbes, including microscopic nematodes (typically ranging in size from about 160-2000 microns in length [fitting typical mesofaunal dimensions] and about 2-100 microns in width [fitting typical microfaunal dimensions]), which are carried phoretically as dauer juveniles or as internal/external parasites in various life stages.
The light fraction (LF) is comprised largely of organic residues in various stages of decomposition; it also contains appreciable amounts of microbial and microfaunal debris including fungal hyphae and spores (Janzen et al., 1992; Gregorich et al., 2006) and has a high concentration of organic C and N relative to that of the whole soil (Marriott & Wander, 2006).
They are Turonian in age (93.5-89.3 Ma) by association with dated faunal and microfaunal fossils.
Enu and Adegoke (1988) used microfacies and microfaunal evidence to interpret the Ewekoro limestone occurring within the eastern Dahomey basin of south-western Nigeria as products of deposition in shallow marine environment.
Notes on the microfaunal complement and pollination mechanisms of Poellnitzia rubriflora (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae): an example of mite-flower domatia association.