Diversity and Abundance of Soil Arthropods in Floriculture, Orchard and Agriculture Crops

Study of soil arthropods is crucial for understanding soil health, which is essential for both ecosystem stability and agricultural productivity. The experiment was conducted to assess soil arthropods diversity and abundance in different crops (Floriculture block, Orchard block, Northern block and Southern block) with varying soil types at the Agricultural College farm, Bapatla during 2021-22. A total of 6248 individual soil arthropods were recorded from all the cropping systems belonging to 4 classes, 7 orders and 15 families. Sampling data was collected and extracted using pitfall traps (macro-arthropods) and Berlese funnels (micro-arthropods) and the data was analysed using Shannon-Weiner diversity index, Simpson's index, Relative abundance, Evenness, Sorenson's similarity index and Kruskal-Wallis test. The results showed that Floriculture block had the highest Shannon-Weiner diversity (2.29), Simpson's index (0.87) and Evenness (0.70) among the blocks. Northern block had the lowest Shannon-Weiner diversity (2.00), Simpson's index (0.78) and Evenness (0.57). Arthropods in the order Coleoptera made up the largest fraction of arthropods in all the blocks. Sorenson's similarity index showed more similarity between Floriculture block and Northern block (74%). The Kruskal-Wallis test revealed significant differences in arthropod distribution among the four blocks, suggesting that soil type and land use influence soil arthropod community structure.