Species Diversity of Springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola) in Four Different Ecosystems of Lorestan Province, Iran

Abstract

Abstract In this research, the biodiversity of Collembola was studied in four different ecosystems (oak forests, pastures, fields, and fruit orchards) in Khorramabad and Delfan counties during 8 months of 2016. For this purpose, in each ecosystem, a cycle area with about 50m radius was selected and samples were taken from 10 plots each with 10 m2 inside the cycle. At the time of sampling, a soil sample from each plot at a depth of 20 cm and a surface area of 100 cm2 was collected and the population of Collembola was counted in the sample. The species structure and diversity were calculated using Shannon, Simpson, and Brilloun using Excel and SDR v.4 software. The diversity of species of different ecosystems showed that in both regions, the diversity of forest species was more than other ecosystems. In contrast, the field ecosystems of Khorramabad and Delfan rangeland had the least amount of species diversity. The overall comparison of the two cities showed that in general, Delfan city (with a Shannon index of 1.881) had a greater diversity of species than Khorramabad (with a Shannon index of 1.669). Calculations of the species structure of the springtails population in the province showed that the species Protaphorura sp. was eudominant in Delfan city. This species along with Ceratophysella stercoraria were dominant in Khorramabad. It seems that the two species were unrestricted in terms of height, temperature and humidity in the two cities.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• collembola
• dominant species
• west of iran