1Department of Plant Pathology, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar - 144 001, Punjab, India
2Department of Plant Pathology, School of Agriculture, ITM University, Gwalior - 474 001, Madhya Pradesh, India
Department of Entomology, School of Agricultural Sciences, G.D. Goenka University, Gurugram - 122 103, Haryana, India
*Corresponding authors' E-mail: bsubba097@gmail.com
Online published on 20 December, 2024.
Present study focuses on the diversity of pollinators using the transect sampling method in West Sikkim, India, specifically within the Mandarin Orange Agroecosystem (MOAS), Large Cardamom Agroecosystem (LCAS), Mixed Farming/Subsistence Agroecosystem (MFSAS), and Forest Ecosystem (FE). The study recorded a total of 840 pollinators belonging to the orders Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. Hymenoptera was the dominant order, representing 70% of the pollinators, followed by Diptera (16.43%) and Lepidoptera (13.57%). Diversity indices calculated for the studied ecosystems revealed that the Mixed Farming/Subsistence Agroecosystem (MFSAS) had the highest Shannon-H index value (H' = 2.973), followed by the Forest Ecosystem (FE) (H' = 2.65), Farm Agroecosystem (FAS) (H' = 2.404), Mandarin Orange Agroecosystem (MOAS) (H' = 1.947), and Large Cardamom Agroecosystem (LCAS) (H' = 1.44). Our findings highlight the crucial role of agroecosystems in supporting pollinator diversity. Notably, non-Apis pollinators constituted 30% of the total pollinators, indicating their significant contribution to the agroecosystems of Sikkim.
Abundance, Agroecosystem, Diversity, Insect pollinators
