Fauna Land

1. Fauna Land

The soil groups are numerous and diverse, ranging from Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematodes, Annelids, Molluscs, Arthhropods, to Vertebrates. Ground animals can also be grouped on the basis of body size, presence on the ground, the habitats it chooses, and its feeding activities. Based on the size of the body, the soil animals are grouped into microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna. The size of the microfauna ranges from 20 to 200 microns (including Protozoa, Nematodes which become micropredators for other microorganisms), mesophauna 200 microns up to 1 cm (eg Mikroarthropoda, Collembolan, Acarina, Termintes, Olgochaeta, and Ecnchytraidae which decompose major litter or organic material Other), and macrofauna more than 1 cm in size (Suin, 2012).

Land fauna based on its presence on the ground, divided into (Wallwork, 1970):

1. Temporary, ie animals that entered the land with the aim of laying, after the hatch and develop into adults, the animals will come out of the ground, for example Diptera. 
2. Transients, the animals whose whole life cycle takes place on the ground, such as beetles
3. Periodic, the animal whose entire life cycle is in the soil, only occasionally adult animals get out of the ground for food and then reenter, for example Collembola and Acarina.
4. Permanent, the animal whose whole life cycle is always on the ground and never comes out of the ground, eg Ground Nematodes and Protozoa. 

In addition to its presence on the ground, soil fauna can also be grouped according to their chosen habitat and feeding activities. Based on their habitat, soil animals can be classified (Suin, 2012):

1. Epigeon (living on layers of vegetation on the soil surface)
2. Hemiedafon (live on the soil organic layer)
3. Eudafon (live on mineral soil layer)

2. Arthropods of soil

Arthropods are the largest phyla of animalia kigdom. The number of species is more than all species of other phyla. Animals included in this phylum include: shrimp, insects, scorpio. General characteristics of arthropods: (1) has a branched appendage, (2) its body is bilaterally symmetrical composed of a number of segments, (3) its body is wrapped by a chitin agent, so it is an exoskeleton, (4) usually segments there are parts that are not (5) the ladder nervous system, (6) coelom in small adult animals, is a cavity of blood and is called haemocoel (Jasin, 1987).

Athropoda is a kind of soil fauna that is quite a lot and many, the most prominent is the springtail and lice. This fauna has an outer skeleton attached to the foot, most having a circulatory and cardiac system (Hanafiah, 2005).

3. Classification of Ground Arthropods

The phylum of Arthropoda is divided into three subfilum, namely:

1. Triloba subphylum

Tribolita is an arthropod that lived in the sea about 245 million years ago.

2. Chelicerata subfilum

These subfilum arthropods do not have antennas and are generally equipped with six pairs of first lance-shaped orifices (klisera), while the rest are like legs. Animals belonging to this subfilum are spiders, mites, scorpions and crabs.

3. subphylum Mandibulata

This group has a mandible and a maxilla in the mouth. Animals that include this subfilum include crustaceans, myriapods, and insects. 

 

       Figure 1 Arthropod Classification Chart

4. The Role of Arthropods of Soil

The diversity of mekrofauna and ecosystem function show a very complex and not yet well-known relationship. However, it has been widely reported that the decrease in diversity and changes in the role of macrofauna has occurred due to changes in land use systems such as from forest ecosystems to agricultural ecosystems. The degraded lands also show a decline in the complexity and biomass of the soil fauna (Sugiarto, 2001).

The benefits of soil arthropods, especially insects such as organic material pendocompositions, play a role in the nitrogen cycle including mineralization, denitrification, and N fixation as well as nutrient taking such as mycorrhizal symbiosis with plant roots that help with the removal of P and other nutrients.

The existence of plant organic matter is possible to increase the activity of soil fauna, because the organic material is used as a source of energy and food sources for its survival (Foth, 1994). Land fauna is one of the biological components of the soil that plays an important role in the process of soil erosion. The active role of mesofauna and macrofauna of soil in outlining organic matter can maintain and restore the productivity of the soil with the support of surrounding environmental factors (Thamrin and Hanafi, 1992). Brussaard (1998) explains that the existence and activity of mesofauna and macrofauna of soil can increase aeration, water infiltration, soil aggregation, and distribute soil organic matter so that an effort is needed to increase the diversity of mesophyroid and macrofauna of soil.

5. Factors that affect the diversity of soil arthropods

Environmental factors play an important role in determining the various patterns of dispersal of soil fauna. Biotic and abiotic factors work together in an ecosystem, determining the presence, abundance, and appearance of the organism. Odum (1996) states that there are several parameters that can be measured to determine the state of an ecosystem, for example by looking at the value of diversity. The diversity of soil fauna can be seen by calculating its diversity index. There are two important factors that influence the insect diversity of soil, ie species richness and evenness of species. In stable communities, the index of species richness and evenness types are high, while in an unstable community, the wealth index and evenness are low. Ecosystems also have high diversity values ​​commonly have longer and more complex food chains, so there is greater opportunity for interactions such as predation, parasitism, competition, komensalism, and mutualism.

In addition to biotic factors, abitok factor also affects the existence of soil fauna. Factors abitik include:

1. Soil moisture

In the land environment, soil becomes an important limiting factor. For the tropics, water and moisture are as important as light, photoperiodism, and temperature fluctuations for temperate and cold regions (Kramadibrata, 1995). Humidity is important in changing the effects of temperature, on the land environment there is a very close interaction between temperature and humidity to be considered a very important part of weather and climate conditions. High humidity is better for soil fauna than low humidity.

2. Ground temperature

Soil temperature is one of the soil physics factors that determine the presence and density of soil organisms, so the soil temperature will determine the level of decomposition of soil organic material. Soil temperature fluctuations are lower than air temperature, so the soil temperature is highly dependent on air temperature. Indirectly the effect of temperature is to accelerate the loss of water traffic that can cause dead organisms (Odum, 1998). Temperature fluctuations of 10-20 ° C with an average of 15 ° C are not the same effect on animals when compared to a constant temperature environment of 15 ° C.

3. Soil pH

Heddy (1994) states that the soil acidity (pH) of the soil is a limiting factor for organism life both the flora and fauna of the soil. Soil pH can make the organism experience an imperfect life or even die in conditions of pH that are too acidic or too alkaline. Fauna can live well in the neutral pH range between 6-8. Especially in soil animals, soil pH influence can be directly about the organs of the body so that in one particular area that has too acidic or too alkaline pH rarely there are soil animals (Wulangi, 1992). But there are soil insects that can live on acidic and alkaline soils, the Collembola.

4. Soil organic content

The content of organic matter in the soil generally only shows a small percentage of the percentage, but the role remains large in influencing the physical and chemical properties of the soil. According to Brady, the physical properties he influences include: the stability of soil aggregates, and in addition as a provider of nutrients, energy elements and the body-building components in the soil (Sutedjo, 2005). 

References

Borror, DJ, CA Triplehorn, & NF Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects. 6 ^th Edition. Saunders College Publishing; Holt Rinehart & Winston. Inc. New York.

Brussard, L. 1998. Soil fauna, guilds, functional groups and ecosystem processes. Applied Soil Ecology 9: 123-136.

Foth, 1994. Basic - Basic Soil Science. Erlangga: Jakarta.

Hanafiah, KA, A, Napoleon., N, Ghofar. 2005. Soil Biology. Jakarta: PT. Raja Grafindo Persada.

Heddy, S., WH Susanto, and M. Kurniati. 1994. Introduction to Plant Production and Post Harvest Handling. Jakarta: Raja Grafindo Persada.

Jasin, M., 1989. General Biology. Surabaya: Bina Aksara Utama.

Karmandibrata, I. 1995. Animal Ecology. Bandung: ITB.

Odum, PE 1971. Fundamentals of Ecology. Translation Ir. Thahjono Samingan, M.Sc. Cet.2. Yogyaarta: Gadjah Mada University Press.

Sugiarto. 2001. Sampling Techniques. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Suin, N. 2002. Ecological Method. Padang: Andalas University Publishers.

Sutedjo and Kartasapoetra AG. 2005. Introduction to Soil Science. Jakarta: Publisher Rineka Cipta.

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