Differential Composition of Edaphic Arthropods in Different Landuse Types of District Sargodha (Punjab, Pakistan) and their Relationship with Soil Physico-Chemical and Biological Characteristics

The diversity and abundance of edaphic arthropod fauna is usually influenced by different landmanagement practices and land-use types and these edaphic arthropod communities can provide valuable information about the prevailing status of soil quality. The present study was aimed to evaluate the population abundance and diversity of edaphic arthropod groups in different land-use types and categories in different localities of District Sargodha (Punjab, Pakistan). Moreover, the quality status of soils under these land-use types or categories was also determined by working out the soil biological quality (QBS) index. Extensive soil sampling was done in different randomly selected land-use types for four consecutive seasons from spring 2017 to Spring 2018. Results showed that the collection season, land-use categories and land-use types had a significant and differential impact on the diversity and population abundance of major soil arthropod groups. Spring and summer seasons exhibited the maximum diversity and abundance of soil arthropods, while minimum population abundance was found in winter season. The diversity indices and population abundance of arthropods exhibited maximum values for agricultural land-use types followed by orchard and natural land-use types. Moreover, the abundance of most arthropod groups was found correlated with soil organic matter, total organic carbon contents and with pH, bulk density, temperature and moisture contents of the soil.