The comparative abundance of soil and litter mesofauna across various species of forest plantations.
Authors:   Department of Entomology, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore- 560065, Karnataka, India *Email:ngkumar55@yahoo.co.in, N G KUMAR , P. NIRMALA , T.G, AVINASH 
Published: December 2024

Abstract
The presence of litter and soil fauna is crucial for organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and the enhancement of fertility in forest ecosystems. In a study of thirteen species of forest plantation grown in the same climatic conditions, varying abundances of mesofauna were observed in both litter and soil samples. Certain tree species supported both soil and litter fauna.The soil mesofauna abundance varied from 18 to 244.00 /400g. The forest soil of Machillus macrantha was significantly preferred by the mesofauna over the soil of Sweitonia macrophylla > Pterocarpus echinata > Tectona grandis > Terminalia bellarica > Ailanthus malabarica > Gamelia arbosea > Terminalia arjuna > Pterocarpus marsopium > Amoora lawii > Lagerstomia lanceolata > Terminalia tomentosa > Dalbergia latifolia. The litter mesofauna abundance varied from 39.67 to 227.00 /100g. The mesofauna preferred the forest litter of L. lanceolata over A. lawii > S. macrophylla > T. bellarica >P. marsopium > M. macrantha > T. grandis> P. echinata > T. grandis. Notably, litter fauna was absent in Terminalia tomentosa, Terminalia arjuna, Dalbergia latifolia, Gamelia arbosea and Ailanthus malabarica.

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