Effects of soil management practices on the composition of soil-inhabiting micro arthropods

ABSTRACT

Microarthropods play a significant role in accelerating plant residue decomposition through their interactions with the microflora. During the present investigation, attempts were made to investigate the effects of 15 different soil management practices on soil microarthropods across rainy, postrainy, and dry seasons in Alfisol maize agroecosystems. The present experiment was carried out in the field designated RM19B on the research farm at the ICRISAT Asia Center. Population densitites of soil inhabiting microarthropods in each experimental plot across the treatments were sampled using 10 cm core device of 4.5 cm diameter, whose interior widened slightly to relieve compression of soil. Acarina was dominant among the microarthropods, the mean percentage composition ranging between 40.6 and 70 % across the treatments. Composition ranged from 13 to 42.5 % across the 15 treatments. The soil–inhabiting arthropods collected across the 15 soil management treatments such as different tillage and organic amendments with annual crop and perennial ley treatments belonged to 29 different arthropod taxa.

Key Words: Microarthropods, population densities, Acarina, soil management practices.

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