04 Haz 2025 Çarşamba
Abundance and diversity of ground dwelling arthropods in a subsistence farmland
Abstract : Farming practices like subsistence agriculture rely heavily on biodiversity to sustain ecosystem functions. This study aims to conduct ecological studies of ground-dwelling arthropods in subsistence farmland (mixed cropping) using a pitfall trapping method. Thirty-four (34) pitfall traps were set for three weeks, then the trapped organisms were transported to the laboratory for sorting and identification. One thousand four hundred and ninety-eight (1498) organisms were trapped, fifteen (15) individual organisms were recorded, belonging to twelve (12) families (Araneomorphae, Sicariidae, Chelodesmidae, Spirostreptidae, Scarabaedae, Chrysomelidae, Coccinellidae, Tenebrionidae, Muscidae, Formicidae, Grylloidae and Armadillidiidae). The most abundant organism was Sugar ants (918; 61.28%), followed by Soldier ants (275; 18.36 %) while Brown spider, Flat millipede and Ladybug were the least abundant (01; 0.07%) respectively. The diversity indices such as Dominance, Simpson index, Shannon index and Evenness are 0.45, 0.60, 1.32 and 0.25 respectively. Brillouin, Menhinick, Margalef, and Equitability are 1.31, 0.39, 1.92 and 0.49 respectively, while Fisher_alpha, Berger-Parker and Chao-1 are 2.32; 0.64 and 19.5 respectively. Cluster analysis revealed five (5) distinct groups in order of cluster 1 (sugar ant), cluster 2 (Red ant & Soldier ant), cluster 3 (Giant millipede, Dung beetle, Cricket), cluster 4 (Black spider, Brown spider, Flat millipede, Ladybug and Housefly) and cluster 5 (Darkling beetle, Pill bug, Flea beetle and Black garden ant). In conclusion, the ecology of the farmland revealed a wide range of ground-dwelling arthropods associated with the farmland environment.