Arthropods associated with Dipterocarp saplings at Eco-park conservation area, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

Abstract

A study on the diversity of associated arthropods of Dipterocarp sapling were conducted at a 1 year old plantation at Energy Development Corporation (EDC) Eco-park, University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) on January to March 2016. 11 Dipterocarp saplings were selected following purposive sampling. Net sweeping method was carried weekly for 10 weeks. A total of 959 arthropods were collected representing 83 families under 12 orders. Hymenoptera (47%) was the most dominant group, followed by Diptera (22%), Araneae (18%), Hemiptera (5%), Coleoptera (5%), Orthoptera (1%), Psocoptera (1%), and Lepidoptera (1%). Among the saplings, Parashorea malaanonan showed the highest species richness value and diversity of associated arthropods. The Shannon diversity index ranges from 1.1 to 1.6 which was rated as very low. This could be due to the limited crown size of saplings which is not large enough to accommodate more arthropods.