Soil‑litter arthropod communities under pasture land use in southern Rwanda

Land use change caused by human activities is the main driver of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem functioning. However, less is known about how the conversion of a natural to pasture land favour the biological diversity of soil-litter arthropods to advance efective conservation plans and management systems. To fll the gap, this study focussed on soil-litter arthropod communities under a pasture land use in southern Rwanda. Data have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection between April and June 2021. Sampled specimens of soil-litter arthropods have been identifed to order and family levels by using dichotomous keys. Further, the species name was given when the identifcation key was available, while the morphological description was provided in absence of the identifcation keys. Results indicated a total of 3013 individuals of soil-litter arthropods grouped into 3 classes, 13 orders, 46 families and 87 morpho-species. Coleoptera showed a high number of families, while higher abundance and the number of morpho-species were found for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Higher abundance of sampled soil-litter arthropods is a sign that the studied area ofers suitable habitat for soil-litter arthropods. However, less abundance found for some groups of soil-litter arthropods might be infuenced by the used sampling techniques which were not appropriate for them. We recommend surveys using multiple sampling techniques to maximize chances of capturing a wide range of soil-litter arthropods

RBINS Publication(s), RBINS Collection(s), PDF available, Open Access, Impact Factor, Peer Review

Abundance · Arachnida · Diplopoda · Diversity · Insecta