The faunal composition and the changes in soil microarthropod populations associated with buried litter of perennial shrub Hammada scoparia and annual plant Sasola inermis, in the Negev desert, were described. Maximum population densities of soil microarthropods around H. scoparia occured in March (26,500 individuals m-2) and around S. inermis occured in April (22,700 individuals m-2). Lowest densities occured in September (446 m-2 and 223 m-2 near S. inermis and H. scoparia, respectively). These densities were 45% to 50% lower than those reported from a clay loam soil in a North American desert. Prostigmatid mites made up to 98% of the total microarthropod population. Overall densities of microarthropod groups were correlated with soil moisture, but many individual taxa were not. The most numerous and frequently occuring taxa were tydeid and nanorchestid mites (Prostigmata), which are common in all North American deserts.