JOURNAL of Soil Biology and Ecology

Effect of abiotic factors on soil and leaf litter mesofauna abundance in a natural undisturbed forest ecosystem

Author:N.G. KUMAR, P. NIRMALA AND T.G. AVINASH

Abstract :

The study revealed a significant correlation between the abundance of soil and litter mesofauna and various environmental factors. In the natural, undisturbed forest ecosystem, the soil mesofauna population varied from 14.66 (XIVth fortnight) to 80.00 /400g (XIth fortnight), with an average population of 41.55 /400g. Likewise, the litter mesofauna population ranged from 16.33 (XIVth fortnight) to 170.00 /100g (VIIIth fortnight), with an average population of 72.74/100g. Abiotic factors had a significant impact on the distribution of soil and litter mesofauna, accounting for up to 63.50 and 70.10 percent, respectively. Additionally, sunshine hours were found to influence the abundance of litter mesofauna by up to 43.8 percent. Specifically, a one-unit change in sunshine hours corresponded to a decrease of 11.876 units in litter mesofauna abundance.

References :

Banerjee, S. and Roy, S., 1988. Ecophysiology of Acari in forest floor of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India. In: Abstract of 10th International Soil Zoology Colloquium held at Bangalore, India, 7-13 August, 1988, pp. 107.

Bhattacharya, J. and Bhattacharya, T., 1987. Changes in the abundance of soil micro-arthropods in two contrasting sites in the Durgapur Industrial Area. J. Soil Biol. Ecol., 7(2): 110-121.

Birkhofer, K., Schoning, I., Alt, F.,  Herold, N.,  Klarner, B.,  Maraun, M.,  Marhan, S.,  Oelmann, Y.,  Wubet, T., Yurkov, A., Begerow, D.,  Berner, D., Buscot, F., Daniel, R., Diekotter, T., Ehnes, R. B., Erdmann, G., Fischer, C., Foesel, B., Groh, J., Gutknecht, J.,  Kandeler, E., Lang, C., Lohaus, G., Meyer, A and Nacke, H., 2012. General relationships between abiotic soil properties and soil biota across spatial scales and different land-Use types. PLoS-ONE., 7(8): e43292.

Choudhuri, D. K., Hazra, A. K. and Roy, S., 1978. Soil factors governing the distribution of Collembola (Insecta) in the graveyard of Berhampore, Murshidabad district (West Bengal) In: Soil Biology and Ecology in India. (Ed. Veeresh, G.K.) UAS Technical Series No.22, pp. 161-172.

Davis, B. N. K., 1963. A study of microarthropod communities in mineral soils near Corby, Northants. J. Animal Ecol. 32: 49-71.

Dhar, S. L. and Raina, M. K., 1988. Ecological studies on high altitude mesofauna under temperate ecosystem, Kashmir, Himalaya, India. In: Advances in Management and Conservation of Soil Fauna (Eds.Veeresh, G.K., Rajagopal, D., and Viraktamath, C.A.), Oxford and IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, pp. 111.

Joy, V. C. and Bhattacharya, T., 1981. Cryptostigmatid population of the soil of a banana plantation in relation to some edaphic factors. In: Progress in Soil Biology and Ecology in India. UAS Tech. Series No. 37: 100-107.

Kumar, N.G., Nirmala, P. and Avinash, T.G., 2023.Impact of abiotic factors on the litter and soil mesofauna abundance in the Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit plantations. J.Soil Biol.Ecol.,43(2):82-90 (doi.org/10.5882/jsbe.43.2.2023.82-90).

Kumar, N.G., Nirmala, P., Balakrishna, A.N. and Maina, C.C.,2011. Impact of abiotic factors, soil organic carbon and microbial biomass on soil invertebrates in grass land ecosystem. J. Soil Biol.Ecol.,31(1&2):127-132.

Mukherjee, S.P. and Singh, J., 1970. Seasonal in the densities of a soil arthropod population in a rose garden at Varanasi (India). Pedobiologia, 10: 442-446.

Narula, A., Vatsa, L. K. and Handa, S., 1996. Soil arthropods of a deciduous forest stand. Ind. J. Forestry, 19(3): 285-288.

Palacios, V. J. G., Castano, G., Gomez. J. A., Martinez, B. E. and Martinez, J., 2007. Litter and soil arthropods diversity and density in a tropical dry forest ecosystem in Western Mexico. Biodiversity and Conservation, 16: 3703-3717.

Reddy, N. R., Kumar, N. G., Akkur, S. V. and Abhilasha, C. R., 2015. Relationship between soil meso-fauna and abiotic factors in soybean cropping system. J. Soil Biol. Ecol., 35: 186-192.

Sheela, K. and Haq, M., 1991. Oribatid mites as bio-indicators of soil moisture. In: Advances in management and conservation of soil fauna (Eds. Veeresh, G.K., Rajagopal, D., and Viraktamath, C.A.). Oxford and IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 871-876.

Shrinath Chimmalagi, S., Kumar, N.G. and Prakash, K.V.,2017. Impact of abiotic factors on soil mesofauna in soybean agro ecosystem. J. Soil Biol.Ecol., 37(1):166-173.

Shukla, R. N., Sharma, P. S. and Masih, R., 1996. Soil insect population from three sites in Rewa (M.P.) In: Soil Organisms and Sustainability. (Eds. D.Rajagopal, Radha D Kale and Kubra Bano), Indian Society of Soil Biology and Ecology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, pp. 242-250.

Sinha, P. B., Sen, S. S., Zahidi, A. P. and Naqvi, A. H., 1991. Comparative study on the ecology of soil mesofauna in a vegetable garden and a deciduous forest at Ranchi, India. In: Advances in management and conservation of soil fauna (Eds. Veeresh, G. K., Rajagopal, D. and Viraktamath, C. A.). Oxford and IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 419-427.

Vats, L. K. and Narula, A., 1990a. Soil arthropods of cropland and forest land. Ann. Ent., 8(2): 39-42.

Vats, L. K. and Narula, A., 1990b. Soil Collembola of forest and crop land. Uttar Pradesh J. Zool., 10(1): 71-75. 

Wallwork, J. A., 1976. The distribution and diversity of soil fauna. Academic press, London, pp. 355.