Micro-arthropod Diversity with Special Emphasis to Collembolans in Eucalyptus Plantations of the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu

Soil micro-arthropod diversity with special importance to collembolans in relation to various soil parameters of Eucalyptus plantations are discussed in this paper with the objective of understanding its role in litter decomposition. Eucalyptus is one of the head and major exotic species introduced in the Indian forests by the British settlers. The study assesses the micro-arthropod diversity in two different aspects, one in the Eucalyptus leaf litter soil and the other in the leaf litter less soil. The study of soil samples were carried out in the months of winter (2012) and summer (2013) in order to analyse the variation. Berlese-Tullgren funnel light trap method was adopted for separating the soil microarthropods and soil physical and chemical parameters by standard protocols. Study reveals that the soil micro-arthropod fauna are rich in soil samples having Eucalyptus leaf litter. Collembolan species like Isotomidae, Entomobryidae, Sminthuridae and Onychiuridae were found in the Eucalyptus litters. The former three micro-arthropods were observed rich in litter soil and later one found high in litter less soil. Micro-arthropods like mites and bugs were observed in the litter soil and absent from litter less soil, the case is vice versa for Symphyla and others. The physical and chemical parameters show substantial variation among litter and litter less soil. It is recommended that the leaf litter of Eucalyptus plantation may be left as such as the minerals from the leaf penetrate into the soil which reflects on the number and diversity of micro-arthropods.