Seasonal diversity of soil microarthropods in two different vegetable plots of Aligarh-India

Abstract

Soil microarthropods are intimately linked with health and fertility of soil as well as plant productivity. In India, despite their rich faunal diversity, information on soil microarthropods diversity and interactions with variety of edaphic factors is extremely limited. The present study is carried out to observe seasonal diversity of soil microarthropods in two different vegetable plots in Aligarh. The two vegetable plots chosen in this study where predominantly Tomato (Lycopersicom esculentum) and Brinjal (Solanum melongena, family-Solaneceae) have been grown and sapling has been sown in April when plants attained a height of approximately 6″. The samples collected randomly from a depth of 5 cm. @ of four samples per month for a period of 1 year. All microarthropods extracted with the help of Tullgren funnel apparatus. Among soil microarthropods collected, Collembolans have highest average monthly density (15.20 inds./sample) in brinjal plot and greatest abundance (18.7 inds./sample) in tomato plot. A highly significant negative correlation observed between Collembolans population with reference to soil temperature (r = – 0.867, P 0.05). Neutral pH level preferably influences the Collembolans as well as Acarina (mites). Peak population buildup of Collembola and Acarina was found in spring, and winter months, whereas sharp decline in summer months was observed. Therefore, this study clearly establishes the fact that habitat difference as well as edaphic factors play important roles in buildup of soil microarthropods population.