Diversity and Distribution of Collembola from Different Ecosystems of North Bengal

Collembola, a major reformer of soil structure is saprophytic and nurtures the soil with its faecal matter. The great variety of habitat preferences made them adaptable in diverse ecosystems from arctic to desert, forest to costal region etc. The present study is based on the collections of Collembola made from five districts and their different ecosystems mainly tea garden, urban parks, forests, forest of river bar, uncultivated barren lands of North Bengal. A total of 34 species of 20 genera were reported from 9 families and 7 species were first time reported from the state. Shannon diversity index indicates that species richness is higher in the forest of river bar followed by tea-garden and natural forest ecosystem. Least species diversity is observed in uncultivated barren lands.