Abundance and Diversity of Leaf Litter and Subsoil Arthropods in Four Different Sites of Three Agroecological Zones of Northwest Part of Bangladesh

Abstract

Leaf litter and subsoil arthropods are biotic factors of an ecosystem that play a significant role in nutrient cycling between soil and vegetation. The present study aimed to explore the abundance and diversity of leaf litter and subsoil arthropods in four different sites of three agroecological zones of the Northwest part of Bangladesh. A total of 1920 individuals belonging to 17 orders, 28 families and 34 species were found in the present study where 1099 individuals (14 orders, 23 families, 28 species) from Rajshahi University Campus (Site A), 259 individuals (6 orders, 7 families, 8 species) from Rajshahi Fruit Research Center (Site B), 354 individuals (7orders, 13 families, 13 species) from Kakon Hat Municipality (Site C) and 208 individuals (5 orders, 10 families, 10 species) from Chalan Beel (Site D) were collected during the period from November 2021 to October 2022. In this study, within the three agroecological zones, the highest number of individuals was recorded in Site A (n=1099, 57.24%) and the lowest number in Site D (n=208, 10.83%). Among 17 orders Coleoptera (624, 32.50%) was the first dominant order, Hymenoptera (414, 21.56%) was the second largest order, followed by Araneae (202, 10.52%) and the least dominant order was Metastigmata (8, 0.42%). Formicidae was the most dominant family among collected 28 families, sharing 376 individuals of the total captured individuals and Staphylinidae, sharing 198 individuals, was the second largest family, whereas Tenebrionidae (n=8), Psychodidae (n=8), and Laelapidae (n=8) were the minor dominant families in this study. Among the total of 34 species, Lasioderma sp. was the most dominant species, sharing 189 individuals with 9.84% of the total collected individuals whereas Alphitobius sp., Psychoda sp., and Hypoaspis sp. were least dominant species, and each species of these three comprised of only 8 members. In this study, 15 species were very common, 5 were common, 7 were fairly common, and 7 were rare. The values of Shannon diversity index (H'), Simpson’s diversity index (I-D), Margalef diversity index (DMg), Menhinick Richness index (DMn), Berger Parker dominance index (d) and Pielou’s evenness index (J') were 3.22, 0.95, 4.37, 0.78, 0.10, respectively. The study was the first attempt to examine the abundance and diversity of leaf litter and subsoil arthropods in four different sites of three agroecological zones in the northwest part of Bangladesh. Further study may be necessary for molecular identification of these species.