Role of Collembola in cycling of nutrients: A case study of Kathara coalfield area, Jharkhand, India

Abstract

soil and litter apterygotes play an important role in the carbon cycle and have role in flux of soil biotic carbon pool. An experiment was carried out in the reclaimed overburden dumps (ROBDs) of Kathara coalmine area of Jharkhand, through 2007-2009 (early) to analyze the role of pedosphere arthropod mesofauna in general and Collembola in particular, in nutrient cycling. Three ROBDs along with one disturbed ecosystem with natural succession (DESWNS) were selected for the study. Through Berlese-Tullgren funnel method field trash were shorted and analyzed in the laboratory. It was observed that from five years old reclaimed overburden dump (ROBD) 1233 soil mesofauna arthropod (SMA) were collected, whereas from fifteen years old ROBD 1442 SMA, from thirty years old ROBD 1058 SMA and from 50 years old ROBD 1518 SMA were collected. The diversity index (DI) for five years ROBD was 1.7953, fifteen years ROBD was 1.8258, thirty years ROBD was 1.7846 and 50 years old DESWNS was 1.8183. In all the four selected sites the percentage occurrence of collembola was higher with higher diversity index among all other soil mesofauna - Acari, Protura, Diplura, Symphyla, Pseudoscorpion, Enchytraeids and others collected from the four study sites. Implicitly, collembolans are hard species and thrive in adverse situations. They have succeeded over the other mesofaunal arthropods and support the decay processes for nutrient cycling via micro flora and fauna of pedosphere eventually help in above ground floral succession.