Macrobiota are organisms generally >2 mm in diameter and visible to the naked eye. These include vertebrates (snakes, lizards, mice, rabbits, foxes, badgers, moles and others) that primarily dig within the soil for food or shelter, and invertebrates that live in, feed in or upon the soil, the surface litter and their components (ants, termites, millipedes, centipedes, earthworms, pillbugs and other crustaceans, caterpillars, cicadas, ant-lions, beetle larvae and adults, fly and wasp larvae, earwigs, silverfishes, snails, spiders, harvestmen, scorpions, crickets and cockroaches). Roots, although not generally considered soil organisms, grow mostly within the soil and have wide-ranging, long-lasting effects on both plant and animal populations above- and below-ground, and thus should be included among soil biota.

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