Impact of climatic factors and soil quality on the abundance and population density of Collembola in the Rajshahi University Campus, Bangladesh

The present study was conducted to know the impact of abiotic factors on the abundance and density of the collembolan population in the Rajshahi University Campus from March 2012 to February 2013. A total of 3749 individuals of Collembola were collected and they were identified into three families and five species and three genera, viz; Entomobyra albocincta, Dicranocentroides indicus, Seira indica, Lepidocyrtus lignorum, Lepidocyrtus sp (Entomobryidae), Salina sp. & Salina tricolor (Paronellidae), and Tomocerus sp (Tomoceridae). Five different habitats; Open grassland, Shady grassland, Crop field margin, Roadside vegetation and Pondside vegetation were selected for the collection of Collembola. The temperature was positively correlated with abundance and density of Collembolan population (r = 0.622, P0.05) and rainfall (r = - 0.06, P>0.05) was negatively correlated. The abundance of soil Collembola population were indicated strong positive correlation with Organic materials (r = 0.618, P>0.05), Nitrogen (r = 0.607, P>0.05), Phosphorus (r = 0.927, P0.05) and PH (r = -0.301, P>0.05) respectively. The highest mean abundance of vegetation dwelling collembolan was recorded in the Roadside vegetation (44.15±14.53) and lowest was in Shady grassland (11.12±4.17); however, maximum soil living Collembola was found in the Crop field margin (44±14.84) and minimum was in the Open grassland (27±8.36).