Impact of abiotic factors on the litter and soil mesofauna abundance in the Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit plantations

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in an undisturbed Leucaena leucocephala (Lam)de Wit (subabul) plantation ecosystem to study the impact of abiotic factors on the distribution of litter and soil mesofauna. The findings revealed a significant correlation between the abundance of soil and litter mesofauna and abiotic factors. In the natural subabul plantation, the soil mesofauna population ranged from 38.00 (1st fortnight) to 307.00 /400g (11th fortnight), with a mean population of 123.48 /400g. Similarly, the litter mesofauna population ranged from 19.67 (12th fortnight) to 1013.33 /100g (9th fortnight), with a mean population of 211.52/100g. Soil temperature at 7 and 14 hours significantly negatively correlated with soil mesofauna. The distribution of soil mesofauna was impacted by abiotic factors up to 97 per cent, with in-situ soil temperature showing an impact of up to 74.1 per cent. A unit change in soil temperature would lead to a decrease of 18.23 units of soil mesofauna. Additionally, atmospheric maximum relative humidity and this abiotic factor impacted 83 per cent of soil mesofauna, while soil moisture and these two abiotic factors impacted 92.6 per cent of soil mesofauna abundance. All three factors exhibited a negative impact on soil mesofauna. On the other hand, rainfall showed a significant positive relationship with litter mesofauna, whereas in-situ soil temperature showed a significant negative relationship. Furthermore, abiotic factors contributed to 69.6 per cent of the abundance of litter mesofauna, with rainfall showing an influence of up to 40 per cent. A unit change in rainfall would increase 3.122 units in litter mesofauna abundance.