EFFECT OF SOME EDAPHIC FACTORS ON THE DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF ORIBATID MITES IN TWO CULTIVATED AND A WASTELAND SOIL

Present investigation revealed the potentiality of soil oribatids as bioindicators of the human interference on the soil environment. Cultivated fields had lower number & species diversity and higher dominance index of oribatids as compared to the uncultivated land. Multiple regression analysis and canonical correspondence analysis revealed that abundance of major oribatid species were significantly influenced by the cumulative effect of edaphic factors only in the uncultivated site. Absence of any significant correlation in the agricultural fields were attributed to the masking effect of agricultural manipulations on the regulatory influence of edaphic factors on the soil inhabiting Oribatida.