Diversity of Soil Dwelling Collembola in a Forest, Vegetable and Tea Ecosystems of Assam, India

Sudhansu Bhagawati,Himangshu Mishra,Binoy K Medhi,Badal Bhattacharyya,Snigdha Bhattacharjee

doi:10.3390/su132212628

Abstract

Land use change has a great impact in determining the diversity patterns of soil fauna. Adoption of any land use pattern significantly affects the soil structure and its physico-chemical characteristics, which often leads to the loss of biodiversity. Considering the collembolans as the key organism in the indicator shopping basket of soil environment, the response of Collembola communities under three different land uses represented by forest, vegetable and tea ecosystems was studied. Collembolans were sampled at monthly intervals using Tullgren funnel and identified by standard taxonomic keys. Diversity analysis and soil chemo-edaphic factors were studied to establish the impact of different land uses on Collembola communities. Five genera of Collembola viz., Cyphoderus, Entomobrya, Isotoma, Folsomia and Hypogastrura were recorded from the forest ecosystem whereas Folsomia was completely absent in vegetable ecosystem and the tea ecosystem soil was devoid of both Folsomia and Hypogastrura. Seasonal diversity and density of Collembola were recorded to be higher in the forest ecosystem indicating the presence of relatively stable habitats as compared to vegetable and tea ecosystems showing relatively disturbed habitats. Correlation studies between different chemo-edaphic factors and collembolan population revealed that the moisture and organic carbon content of soil had significant positive correlation during all the four seasons in all the ecosystems studied. Higher adoption of mechanical and chemo-centric agriculture depletes the available resources of the soil and makes it less habitable and conducive for the growth and sustenance of collembolans in vegetable and tea ecosystem as compared to forest. Appropriate landscape planning, land management strategies and developing proper methods of land use practices may pave the way for the improvement of collembolan diversity at landscape level.

Highlights

Soil is a living entity that serves as the primary nutrient base and the unique habitat of a multitude of organisms
Information has been provided on the density and diversity of collembolans in three land use systems of Assam, India
Collembola communities are good indicators of land use intensity as higher density and diversity was recorded in forest ecosystems as compared to vegetable and tea cultivated soil

Summary

Introduction

Soil is a living entity that serves as the primary nutrient base and the unique habitat of a multitude of organisms. These soil fauna, commonly recognized as the ecosystem engineers, have spectacular effects on the soil functioning and development system. Anthropogenic modifications of the soil mostly related to land use practices has often led to the loss of biodiversity of the soil organisms. Land use practices repeatedly alter both the soil structure, as well as the chemo-edaphic factors, which exert some negative influences on the soil fauna [1]. Collembolans can be considered as the key organism in the indicator shopping basket of soil environment due to their quick response towards various environmental changes including human induced disturbances [2]. 4.0/).

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