Soil-litter Collembolan Diversity in an Arabica Coffee-Benguet Pine-Based Agroforestry System

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the effect of Arabica coffee- Benguet pine based agroforestry system on soil-litter collembolan diversity. Under this agroforestry system, two coffee production systems were identified in this study, the Agroforestry Coffee System (ACS) and Lone Coffee System (LCS). ACS have coffee plants growing under Benguet pine trees while LCS have coffee plants that are not under any shade trees. Shannon diversity index (H’), Margalef’s richness index (Dmg), Soil temperature (ST), and Soil Moisture Content (SMC) data were gathered and subjected to linear regression with correlation analysis, and student T-test. The result of this study revealed a higher species richness of collembola under ACS (Dmg =3.52±0.47) than LCS (Dmg = 1.75±0.36). Similarly, ACS has higher diversity index (H’ = 1.68±0.66) than LCS (H’ = 0.90±0.49). ACS ST and SMC was 18.60±0.21℃ and 68.34±12.22% while LCS was 21.24±1.31℃ and 55.38±5.52%. ST had significant negative association with diversity and SMC had positive association with diversity. However, only Dmg had significant correlation with SMC. In regression analysis, 18.7% of the total variation in H’ was explained by ST. While for Dmg, 56.6% and 21.7% of its total variations were explained by ST and SMC, respectively. These results showed that ACS can conserve collembolan diversity because it creates a microclimatic condition favorable for the collembolans. This finding could serve as basis for endeavors to promote and develop agroforestry systems.