Soil arthropod diversity in three different land management intensities of Wanagama Forest, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Soil arthropods represent a wide range of ecological functions, and information on their abundance and diversity can be used as an indicator of the health and fertility of an ecosystem. Land use development, techniques, frequency, and management intensity can affect the arthropod soil population. The purpose of this study was to investigate how arthropods respond to soils managed in (NM) in various ways, such as intensive management land (IM), medium land management (MM), and land without management (NM). Field data was collected on the three areas for three months using an observation plot of 20x20 m2, followed by soil and litter samples taken using the monolith method from five points measuring (50x50x5) cm3 in each observation plot. Pitfall traps and the Berlese-Tullgrenn method were used to collect the soil arthropods from the sample monolith of each plot. As a result, seven dominant taxa of soil arthropods were identified: Collembola, Formicidae, Acari, Araneae, Coleoptera, Gryllidae, and Termitidae. This study found a significant difference in arthropod soil abundance based on land type, with NM, MM, and IM having the highest abundance, respectively. Individual abundance, however, was not followed by arthropod soil richness. With a diversity index of 3.61, MM has the highest species richness, followed by IM (3.03) and NM (0.39). Morphospecies diversity differences within each taxon follow land type differences. This study shows that different environmental conditions occur due to differences in land management, which can impact the population, abundance, and diversity of soil arthropods. Furthermore, the frequency and intensity of land management should be evaluated to ensure that people do not have a negative impact on the presence of beneficial soil arthropods. © 2023, Society for Indonesian Biodiversity. All rights reserved.