Diversity and relative abundance of Collembola in a wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) field at Aligarh

Abstract Collembolans are novel indicators of soil quality as they are enormously diversified in agricultural soils. However, their abundance is ever dynamic due to the dynamic climatic conditions. In order to ascertain the diversity and relative abundance of Collembola associated with wheat field, soil samples were taken at weekly intervals from selected field of Quarsi village located at Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh (India). Total 20 samples were taken for the site study during the investigation period and soil microarthropods extracted by using modified Tullgren funnel apparatus. The results of our study showed that, the species diversity of Collembolans mainly consists of individuals belonging to family Entomobryoidae, Isotomidae, Hypogastruridae and Sminthuridae. Among these, Hypogastrurides were dominant (56.84 %) in entire community of Collembola. Soil temperature was negatively correlated (r = −0.932, P<0.05) with reference to Collembolans population, whereas soil moisture (r = 0.502, P>0.05) as well as available nitrogen (r = 0.656, P>0.05) both were positively correlated. The highest population of Collembolans was recorded at neutral pH level. In terms of numbers of soil microarthropods, Collembolans apparently constituted a better population than the other diverse group of soil microarthropods such as Acari(mites). The present study has shown profound diversity of Collembolans and highlights the significance of the variety of chemical and edaphic factors which regulate the fluctuation and diversity of microarthropods in a varied manner.