Effect of abiotic factors on soil and leaf litter mesofauna abundance in a natural undisturbed forest ecosystem
Authors:   Department of Agril.Entomology University of Agril.Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru -560065, Karnataka, India Email: ngkumar55@yahoo.co.in, N G KUMAR , P. NIRMALA , T.G. AVINASH 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
The study revealed a significant correlation between the abundance of soil and litter mesofauna and various environmental factors. In the natural, undisturbed forest ecosystem, the soil mesofauna population varied from 14.66 (XIVth fortnight) to 80.00 /400g (XIth fortnight), with an average population of 41.55 /400g. Likewise, the litter mesofauna population ranged from 16.33 (XIVth fortnight) to 170.00 /100g (VIIIth fortnight), with an average population of 72.74/100g. Abiotic factors had a significant impact on the distribution of soil and litter mesofauna, accounting for up to 63.50 and 70.10 percent, respectively. Additionally, sunshine hours were found to influence the abundance of litter mesofauna by up to 43.8 percent. Specifically, a one-unit change in sunshine hours corresponded to a decrease of 11.876 units in litter mesofauna abundance.

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