collembolan density and diversity in a forest and an agroecosystem摘要森林和农业生态系统的密度和多样性.pdfVIP

Open Journal of Soil Science, 2011, 1, 54-60 doi:10.4236/ojss.2011.12008 Published Online September 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ojss). Collembolan Density and Diversity in a Forest and an Agroecosystem * D. Paul , A. Nongmaithem, L. K. Jha Department of Environmental StudiesNorth Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India * Email: pauld97@ Received June 17th, 2011; revised July 22nd, 2011; accepted July 22nd, 2011 ABSTRACT: Collembola, commonly called “springtails” are wingless soft-bodied hexapods that are usually between 1 and 3 milli- metres in length and occur in varying habits such as, soil surface and litter, under rocks or the bark of trees. The great majority develop in soil, feeding on fungi, bacteria, algae and decaying plant matter, and along with other soil fauna constitute the decomposer community. The present study examines the diversity, density, and seasonal variation pat- terns of collembolan fauna under two different land uses, as evidenced in a forest and an agroecosystem. Results indi- cate that both densities and diversity of collembola was higher in the forest than in the agroecosystem. Seasonal fluc- tuation exhibited an increase from spring to summer and autumn and a decrease during winter. The coorelation pat- terns with different chemo-edaphic factors did not show any specific trend.Indices of diversity and significant correla- tion values are discussed in light of landuse. Keywords : Collembola, Biodiversity, Forest, Agroecosystem 1. Introduction tered (e.g. Agriculture) ecosystems. Temperature and moisture are two of the most impor- Soil as a habitat contains the most diverse assemblages tant environmental factors affecting populations of soil- of living or