Abstract: The ecological environment is vulnerable in the karst region, southwest China. Ecosystems have been seriously destroyed by the intense human activities and severe natural environment condition. Soil fauna have a pivotal role in energy flow and material cycling in ecosystems in karst region. They play an important role in protecting soil resources and controlling ecosystem degeneration in karst region. Soil fauna are rich in group numbers with an obvious accumulation in surface soil layer. The densities and group numbers of soil fauna are more abundant in complex and less disturbed habitats. Soil fauna community structure varies among habitats at different altitudes. Shortcomings in current researches included poor proficiency in species classification, less attention on fauna ecological functions and their response to changes of natural environmental factors and human activities. To better understand the role of soil fauna in the recovery and management in karst region of southwest China, future studies should focus on aspects of biological indicators, ecological function, regulation and mechanism in soil micro-ecological processes, and concerning their responses to current hot environmental issues.

Key words: Northern Slope Economic Zone of Tianshan Mountain, cotton, seeding date, ten day average temperature, beginning date of ≥12 ℃.