Biodiversity of Soil Inhabiting Prostigmata (Arachnida: Acari) from Different Agro-Ecological Zones of Punjab, Pakistan
Biodiversity of Soil Inhabiting Prostigmata (Arachnida: Acari) from Different Agro-Ecological Zones of Punjab, Pakistan
Ahmad Kamran Khan1, Muhammad Hamid Bashir2*, Shanza Ahmed3, Muhammad Amjad Bashir1, Shahbaz Ali1, Syeda Amber Hameed4, Munaza Batool5, Irfan Ahmed6 and Muhammad Naeem Khan7
ABSTRACT
Suborder Prostigmata is extensively distributed geographically and present in all the terrestrial ecosystem. Family richness, diversity, abundance and evenness of soil inhabiting Prostigmata mites population in disturbed and undisturbed soil were estimated from five different localities of Punjab, Pakistan. Soil sampling was done after two months interval for a year 2014. Family richness, abundance and Shannon diversity indexes were higher in undisturbed soil as compared to the disturbed one in all the localities, while low variability with respect to evenness had been found in two different types of soil. The highest diversity of soil inhabiting Prostigmata were recorded in undisturbed type of soil in the month of June at Faisalabad locality (H’=1.33) and lowest (H=0.00) in disturbed soils in October, December at Gujranwala and Chakwal. The highest values of family richness (S=04) was reported in undisturbed soil at Faisalabad, D.G. Khan and Chakwal and the lowest (S=0) was found from Gujranwala, and Chakwal disturbed soil.
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June 2021
Vol. 53, Iss. 3, Pages 801-1200
