Collembola Assemblage in Degraded Gelam Forest, Bachok, Kelantan

Abstract

A study of collembola or aslso known as soil springtail (Hexapoda: Entognatha) assemblage inhabiting oligotrophic nature associated with beach ridges interspersed swales soil (BRIS) was executed in degraded gelam forest mapped as Rusila series. A composite sampling was used to collect the specimens. A total of 235 individuals were obtained, representing 5 epigean families namely, Entomobryidae, Hypogastruridae, Isotomidae, Odontellidae and Sminthuridae. Hypogasturidae was the most numerically abundant with 37% of total individuals followed by Entomobyridae (36%) and Odontellidae (10%). The least families recorded with 8% and 9% of total individuals were represented by Isotomidae and Sminthurididae respectively. Most species appeared to be hygrophilous (81%) whilst hydrophilous constitutes 19%. The hygrophilous Collembola was the most numerically abundant as compared to hydrophilous Collembola. Although currently not much is known about collembolan community on degraded gelam forest, the results depicted here show the occurrence of Collembola individuals will substantially support the ecosystem service particularly in soil decomposition. A better understanding of within-site relationship of soil collembolan to soil element concentration would increase future understanding of their community in degraded and non-degraded gelam forests.