Diversity and abundance of forest soil and litter arthropods in a peat swamp forest in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak

Little studies had been carried out on forest soil and litter arthropods in Malaysia particularly in Peat swamp forests. Therefore, there is lack of information and little knowledge about these organisms. The aims of this study were to study the diversity and abundance of soil arthropods in PSF. Sampling was carried out and two types of samples were collected: leaf litter and soil. Two quadrates with 5 x 5 in in area were made. Each quadrate was subdivided into 25 plots with the area of 1 x I in. Five plots were randomly chosen from 25 plots for forest soil and litter collection. Ninety samples were collected for further extraction and identification. The soil and litter arthropods that had been collected consisted of mites, Collembolans, Hymenopterans, Coleopterans, millipedes, centipedes, Phasmids, Dipterans, Isopods (sowbug) and insect larvae. In the leaf litter, 64.09% and 28.60% of the total number of individuals were Acari and Collembolans respectively. The other arthropods comprised 7.31 % of the total number of collected individuals. In the soil biotope, 57.81 % were Acarina and 7.81% were collembolan. The other arthropods comprised 34.36% of the total collected individuals in the soil biotopes