Abundance and Diversity of Soil Arthropods in the Areca Nut Garden Ecosystem
2014
Adarsha, S. K. | Naveena, N. L. | Vidyashree, A. S. | Kumara, B.B.
Areca nut (Areca catechu L.) is a major traditional crop in malnad region of Karnataka, since last decades its area is increasing, where in the paddy grown fields are converted into areca gardens. The present study aims to know the diversity of soil arthropods in the traditional old gardens (undisturbed) and recently converted areca gardens from the paddy fields (disturbed). 240 samples were collected from areca growing Shimoga district in both types of gardens. A total of ten different soil arthropod species were recorded. Among the soil microarthropods, Acari recorded highest percentage in abundance (43.99%), followed by collembola (33.03%), diplura (7.09%), ants (5.23%), pseudo scorpion (3.22%), symphylla (2.82%), centipedes (2.41%), millipedes(0.24%) and termites (0.16%). Collembolan (1.37) showed higher diversity in both the types of gardens followed by diplura (1.35), millipedes (1.32), symphylla (1.26), acari (1.25), pseudoscorpion (1.14), ants (1.09), centipedes (0.99) and termites (0.56). However, the population in two different types of gardens varied. It was observed that the species abundance was more in old gardens as evident by Shannon's index. The possible reasons for increased abundance and diversity in old gardens is due to high organic matter content, soil organic carbon, fewer incidences of white grubs and less application of insecticides. The decreasing level of soil organic carbon contents in disturbed areca nut garden soils of these regions is a serious concern that affects our Areca nut production.
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