The study comparatively assessed the impacts of farm activities on the abundance and diversity of soil arthropods and soil physico-chemical parameters of the Practical Year Training Programme (PYTP) farmlands, University of Ibadan, South Western Nigeria. Soil arthropods were collected from September, 2010 to February, 2011 in five sampling sites of PYTP farmlands using Berlese Tullgren Extracti...

the study comparatively assessed the impacts of farm activities on the abundance and diversity of soil arthropods and soil physico-chemical parameters of the practical year training programme (pytp) farmlands, university of ibadan, south western nigeria. soil arthropods were collected from september, 2010 to february, 2011 in five sampling sites of pytp farmlands using berlese tullgren extracti...

After decades of research, we are starting to understand more about why the number of species varies from place to place on the planet. However, little is known about spatial variation in abundance, especially for soil-dwelling organisms. In this study, we aimed to disentangle the relative influences of climatic factors, soil properties, and plant diversity on the abundance of soil-dwelling inv...

Soil animals are considered as important contributors to soil fertility However, there is paucity of such information for harsh climatic conditions. Therefore, the below ground faunal density and frequency have been studied in relation to physicochemical properties of soil in Thar desert. The selected soil systems were Vigna radiata--Cuminum cyminum, grassland, flower garden and Zizyphus maurit...

Soil fauna is essential for ecosystem dynamics as it is involved in biogeochemical processes, promotes nutrient availability, and affects the animal communities associated with plants. In this study, we examine the possible relationship between the soil microarthropod community on foliage production and quality of the shrub Pittocaulon praecox. We also examine the arthropods associated to its f...

Soil and litter arthropods are important in many forest ecosystem processes where they help to regulate nutrient dynamics and soil quality, and are useful bioindicators of ecosystem condition and change. This study was initiated in response to concerns about possible decline in site productivity due to intensive forestry practices. We investigated the effects of tree harvesting and site prepara...

Arthropods are part of important functional groups in soil food webs. Recognizing these arthropods and understanding their function in the ecosystem as well as when they are active is essential to understanding their roles. In the present work, the abundance and diversity of soil arthropods is examined in olive groves in the northeast region of Portugal during the spring. Five classes of arthro...

Quantifying the spatio-temporal distribution of arthropods in tropical rainforests represents a first step towards scrutinizing the global distribution of biodiversity on Earth. To date most studies have focused on narrow taxonomic groups or lack a design that allows partitioning of the components of diversity. Here, we consider an exceptionally large dataset (113,952 individuals representing 5...

Methods to estimate density of soil-dwelling arthropods efficiently, accurately and continuously are critical for investigating soil biological activity and evaluating soil management practices. Soil-dwelling arthropods are currently monitored manually. This method is invasive, and time- and labor-consuming. Here we describe an infrared opto-electronic sensor for detection of soil microarthropo...