Diversity and abundance of arthropods inhabiting peat soil in monoculture and polyculture of balangeran (Shorea balangeran) plantation in South Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Arthropods have essential roles in the forest ecosystem; they act as herbivores, carnivores and detritivores in the food webs. This study aimed to analyze the diversity and abundance of arthropods inhabiting peat soil both in monoculture and polyculture plantation of balangeran (Shorea balangeran). The research was conducted in Riding Village, Ogan Komering Ilir District, South Sumatra, through an observation approach with pitfall trap and sweep nets, followed by selection and morphological identification. The identified arthropods were from 10 orders, and 24 families with the highest number of individuals belonged to the Formicidae family. The arthropods were classified mostly as predators (43.64%), closely followed by phytophag (38.18%), and the rest were parasitoid (14.54%) and pollinator (3.64%). The diversity index of arthropods under balangeran plants mixed with paddy and mixed with cajuput were 0.78, 0.65, and 0.93, respectively. The highest abundance of arthropods was found on balangeran plants mixed with paddy crop. These results revealed that planting systems have significant effects on diversity and abundance of peat soil arthropods.