SEASONALITY OF LITTER DWELLING MICROARTHROPODS AND THEIR RELATION WITH THE CLIMATIC VARIABLES IN ACACIA PLANTATION OF CACHAR DISTRICT, ASSAMRajeeb Chetia Pator and Dulal Chandra RayAbstract Litter microarthropods play a crucial role in ecosystem functioning. The present study deals with the litter microarthropods and their relation with climatic variables in an Acacia plantation. The study was conducted for a period of one year (April 2016-March 2017) and the litter microarthropods were studied by following the litter bag techniques. The microarthropods were extracted from the litter bags by using the Berlese Tullgren funnel apparatus. Results revealed that the Collembola (43.99%) as the most dominant groups out of the 16 extracted microarthropod groups followed by Oribatid mites (29.53%). The peak population was recorded in April 2016 and lowest was in February 2017. The climatic variables (rainfall, atmospheric temperature, and relative humidity) showed a weak positive correlation with the litter inhabiting microarthropods while the CCA plot revealed a strong association of rainfall and relative humidity with some of the microarthropod groups. |