Study of soil macrofauna in relation with some of selected soil physio- chemical properties at sumayar-nagar in district Hunza-Nagar Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Paper Details
Study of soil macrofauna in relation with some of selected soil physio- chemical properties at sumayar-nagar in district Hunza-Nagar Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Abstract
Soil is one of the most essential and diverse natural habitat of biodiversity on earth. Soil organisms (biota) carry out a wide range of processes that are important for soil health and fertility in both natural and managed agricultural soils. Total number of organisms, diversity of species and the activity of the soil biota will fluctuate as the soil environment changes. The present preliminary study aims to investigate the abundance, diversity and community composition of Macrofauna in agricultural soils in Nagar-Sumayar in Hunza-Nagar district of Gilgit-Baltistan. Beside soil Macrofauna some of the selected physio-chemical properties of the soil were also investigated. For sampling the entire Sumayar-Nagar is divided into 9 clusters and total 54 soil pits were dug out with Quadrate size (25*25*15cm) and Macrofauna was picked and preserved in 4% formalin. Soil temperature was determined using Temperature probe, air humidity by humidity probe, and moisture determined by Gravimetric method. A total of 718 soil Macrofauna were recorded from 14 orders, the most abundant taxa was Diptera comprising of (59%). Other major orders were Coleoptera (15%), Chilopoda (4.5%) Aranea (3%), Potworms (3%), Hemiptera (2.7%) Hymenoptera (2.7%) Oligochaeta (2%), unidentified Macrofauna (2.9%), Lepidoptera, Acari, Orthroptera and Homoptera (1%) respectively. pH of the soil varies from 7.7 to 8, soil temperature from 10-22oC and soil moisture from 14-20% in different clusters or areas of Nagar- Sumayar. Pearson’s correlation indicated that pH was positively correlated (p<0.01) with Diptera larva while soil temperature with Diptera adult. Soil moisture was positively correlated with Lepidoptera and Aphidae and negatively correlated (p<0.01) with Orthroptera. Macrofauna abundance was positively correlated with soil pH. One way ANOVA showed that there were no significant differences of soil Macrofauna abundance among the various clusters. Highest soil quality was attributed to Daltho area and lowest was Yal area as determined by Macrofauna abundance. Further research need to be done with more intensive sampling to investigate the influence of seasons and other soil management practices on soil Macrofauna abundance and diversity.
Anderson JM, Ingram JSI. 1993. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: a Handbook of Methods. CAB International, Wallingford.
Anderson JM, Ingram P, Huish SA. 1983. Nitrogen and cation mobilization soilfauna feeding on leaf litter and soil organic matter from deciduous woodlands. Soil Biochemistry 15, 463-467.
Aina PQ. 1984. Contribution of earthworms to porosity and water infiltration in a tropical soil under forest and long-term cultivation. Pedobiologia 26, 131–136.
Abdul RAM, Bouche MB. 1997. Earthworm toxicology: from acute to chronic tests. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 29, 699–703.
Beare MH, Reddy, VM, Tian G, Srivastava, SC. 1997. Agricultural intensification, soil biodiversity and agricultural function in the the role of decomposer biota. App. Soil Ecology 6, 87-108.
Blair JM, Bohlen PJ, Freckman DW. 1996. Soil invertebrates as indicators of soil quality pp 273-289. In Doran J. W. and Jones, A. J. (eds) Methods for assessing soil quality. SSSA Special publication No. 49.
Coulson RN, Mcfadden BA, Pulley PE, Lovelady CNW, Fitzgerald J, Jack SB. 1999. Heterogeneity of forest landscapes and the distribution and abundance of the southern pine beetle. For. Ecol. Management 114, 471–485.
Eriksson M, Pouttu A, Roininen H. 2005. The influence of windthrow area and timber characteristics on colonization of wind-felled spruces by Ips typographus (L.). Forest Ecology Management 216, 105–116.
Edwards CA, Bohlen PJ. 1996. Biology and Ecology of Earthworms. 3rd Edition. Chapmanand Hall, London.
Freckman WD. 1996. Soil and Sediment Biodiversity and Ecosystem function. Biology International, pg 33.
Gilbert M, Nageleisen LM, Franklin A, Gre´Goire JC. 2005. Post-storm surveys reveal large-scale spatial patterns and influences of site factors, forest structure and diversity in endemic bark-beetle populations. Landscape Ecology 20, 35–49.
Jenkinson DS, Ladd JN.1981. Microbial biomass in soil:measurements and turnover. In:J.N.Ladd & E.A.Paul(Eds),Soil biochemistry. Dekker, New York.415-417.
Karanja NK, Ayuke FO, Muya EM, Musombi BK, Nyamasyo GHN. 2009. Soil macrofauna community structure across land use systems of Taita, Kenya. Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems 11, 385 – 396
Lavelle P, Bignell D, Lepage M. 1997. Soil function in a changing world. The role of Invertebrate ecosystem engineers. European Journal of soil Biology 33, 159-193.
Lavelle P, Decaëns T, Aubert M, Barot S, Blouin M, Bureau F, Margerie P, Mora P, Rossi JP. 2006. Soil invertebrates and ecosystem services. European Journal of Soil Biology 42, S3–S15.
Lavelle P, Lattaud C, Trigo D & Barois 1. 1994. Mutualism and biodiversity in soils. Plant and Soil 170, 23-33.
Mathieu J, Rossi JP, Mora P, Lavelle P, Martins PFDS, Rouland C, Grimaldi M. 2005. Recovery of soil macrofauna communities after forest clearance in eastern Amazonia, Brazil, Conservation Biology 19, 1598–1605.
Mclean EO. 1982. Soil pH and lime requirement. p. 199-223. In A.L. Page et al. (ed.) Methods of soil analysis, part 2. Agronomy Monogr. 9, 2nd ed. ASA and SSSA, Madison, WI.
Tian G, Brussaard L, Kang BT. 1993. Biological effects of plant residues with contrasting chemical compositions under humid tropical conditions: effects on soil fauna. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 25, 731–737.
Thomas RJ, Asakawa NM. 1993. Decomposition of leaf litter from tropical forage grasses and legumes. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 25, 1351-1361.
Swift MJ, Anderson JM. 1993. Biodiversity and ecosystem function in agriculture systems In:E.D. Schullze and H.Mooney (Eds) biodiversity and ecosystem function.Springer-Verlag,Berlin.15-42.
Wichmann L, Peter RH. 2001. The spread of Ips typographus (Coleoptera,Scolytidae) attacks following heavy windthrow in Denmark, analysed using GIS. Forest Ecology Managent 148, 31–39.
Yusnaini S, Utomo M, Arif MAS. 2004. Effect of long-term conservation tillages and nitrogen fertilization on soil mesofauna and earthworms. In: Susilo, F.X., Gafur, A., Utomo, M., Evizal, R., Murwani., Swibawa, I.G., Conservation and sustainable management of Belowground Biodiversity in Indonesia, 19-25, Universitas Lampung.
Farida Begum, Batool Zuhra, Akbar Khan, Salma Abrar Durrani, Shaukat Ali, Karamat Ali, Sultan Ishaq (2014), Study of soil macrofauna in relation with some of selected soil physio- chemical properties at sumayar-nagar in district Hunza-Nagar Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan; JBES, V5, N3, September, P124-132
https://innspub.net/study-of-soil-macrofauna-in-relation-with-some-of-selected-soil-physio-chemical-properties-at-sumayar-nagar-in-district-hunza-nagar-gilgit-baltistan-pakistan/
Copyright © 2014
By Authors and International
Network for Natural Sciences
(INNSPUB) https://innspub.net
This article is published under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0