The metacommunity theory has advanced the understanding about how local communities structuring at multiple scales.However,few studies have addressed the distribution patterns of the metacommunity at small scale,especially for those organisms living in belowground ecosystems.Using a combination of the Elements of metacommunity structure(EMS)and the null model analyses,the spatial pattern of a soil mite metacommunity was recognized at a small scale(50 m)in a temperate forest in 2012 and 2013.This study evaluated whether species replace each other across consistent environmental gradients and whether a significant competitive structure exists in the entire community.According to the results of EMS analysis,the soil mite metacommunity showed a Clementsian structure(grouped distribution of species along environmental gradients)which was significantly correlated with moisture in 2012 and associated with moisture and food resources in 2013,respectively.And the patterns of the soil mite metacommunity were similar in the two years.Based on the results of null model analysis,a non-random co-occurred pattern,more significantly aggregated species pairs and the Piankas overlap index which was significantly larger than the randomness were detected in each year,indicating a non-competitive community.To conclude,the study indicated that the environmental filtering with moisture and food resources was an important driver in shaping the soil mite metacommunity with Clementsian structure in a small scale,while the interspecific competition was likely not influential.