COMMUNITY PATTERNS OF GROUND-DWELLING INSECTS ACROSS A CANOPY COVER GRADIENT IN A TROPICAL CAMPUS LANDSCAPE
Keywords:
Gryllidae, habitat heterogeneity, light intensity, multivariate analysis, soil arthropodsAbstract
Canopy cover influences soil surface microhabitats and may affect the structure of ground-dwelling
insect communities, yet evidence from plantation-dominated landscapes remains limited. This study
examined ground-dwelling insect community patterns in relation to canopy cover and selected
environmental variables across three sites within the IPB Dramaga Campus: Arboretum (83.91%), Oil
Palm (71.91%), and Cikabayan (0.00%). Canopy cover was quantified using hemispherical
photography, and insects were sampled using pitfall traps over five consecutive days in July 2024.
Community composition was analyzed using PERMANOVA, which indicated no significant differences
among sites (R = 0.861, p = 0.067). Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) was therefore
applied as an exploratory ordination to visualize community patterns and interpreted descriptively given
the limited sample size. A total of 1,711 individuals were recorded, with overall abundance highest in
the Oil Palm site, followed by Cikabayan and the Arboretum. The Arboretum exhibited lower total
abundance but higher evenness and Shannon diversity, whereas the Oil Palm site showed high
abundance with lower diversity and evenness, reflecting dominance by a few families. Cikabayan
displayed intermediate diversity patterns. Differences among sites were primarily reflected in relative
abundance and dominance rather than clear taxonomic turnover. Overall, canopy structure was
associated with variation in ground-dwelling insect assemblages, although statistically significant
compositional differences were not detected, highlighting the need for broader spatial and temporal
sampling before firm management recommendations can be made.
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