Tardigrades in leaf litter were collected from beech forests on Roan Mountain (TN, USA) and
Modenese Apennine (Italy) at different altitudes and during different seasons. Twenty-six
species of eutardigrades and 6 species of heterotardigrades were found on Roan Mountain
and 20 species of eutardigrades on Apennine. In both cases the tardigrade communities
showed great biodiversity and a similar species composition, represented by hygrophilous
and eurytypic taxa. Differences in the number of specimens and the species composition …