[Objectives]   To quantify differences in soil mite community structure between karst areas with different degrees of rocky desertification. [Methods]   We collected soil mites from sites with potential, light, moderate and intense rocky desertification from a mountain plateau with mainly potential-light rocky desertification, and in a canyon with mainly medium-intense rocky desertification. Differences in family, genus, species, ecological groups, and the community diversity of soil mites between these different environments were quantified and compared. [Results]  Overall 132 genera of 72 families of soil mites were collected. Oribatid mites comprised the majority of soil mites in the research area. Families and genera of soil mites were more diverse in the medium-intense rocky desertification karst area. Community composition changed seasonally in different habitat types but the number of families and genera gradually reduced with increasing rocky desertification. Different dominant genera were discovered in two karst areas, moreover, their distribution changed with habitat and season. The relative abundance of predatory and oribatid mites groups varied with environment and season. The community diversity index was slightly higher at sites with medium-intense rocky desertification, but the overall difference was not obvious. [Conclusion] Soil mite community structure varies with different degrees of rocky desertification. This association means that the dominant genera can, to some extent, predict the degree of rocky desertification. However, the distributions of predatory and oribatid mites were uncorrelated with the degree of rocky desertification. The reason for this requires further investigation.