Soil-litter arthropod communities under pasture land use in southern Rwanda

Abstract

Land use change caused by human activities is the main driver of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem functioning. However, less is known about how the conversion of a natural to pasture land favour the biological diversity of soil-litter arthropods to advance effective conservation plans and management systems. To fill the gap, this study focussed on soillitter arthropod communities under a pasture land use in southern Rwanda. Data have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection between April and June 2021. Sampled specimens of soil-litter arthropods have been identified to order and family levels by using dichotomous keys. Further, the species name was given when the identification key was available, while the morphological description was provided in absence of the identification keys. Results indicated a total of 3013 individuals of soil-litter arthropods grouped into 3 classes, 13 orders, 46 families and 87 morpho-species. Coleoptera showed a high number of families, while higher abundance and the number of morpho-species were found for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Higher abundance of sampled soil-litter arthropods is a sign that the studied area offers suitable habitat for soil-litter arthropods. However, less abundance found for some groups of soil-litter arthropods might be influenced by the used sampling techniques which were not appropriate for them. We recommend surveys using multiple sampling techniques to maximize chances of capturing a wide range of soil-litter arthropods.

First Record of Five Ant Species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Rwanda

“…In terms of biodiversity, Rwanda is home to 402 mammal species, 1061 bird species, 293 reptiles and amphibians and 5793 higher plant species (REMA, 2019). Some studies on soil and leaf-litter arthropods have been conducted but mostly they have been limited mainly to the family level (Nsengimana et al ., 2021; 2022; 2023).…”

“…In Rwanda ants count for more than 50% of all studied individual specimens of arthropods from different land uses such as pasture (Nsengimana et al, 2022), coffee, banana (Nsengimana et al, 2023), and different planted tree species (Nsengimana et al, 2021b). There is no doubt that more ant species new to science or new to the country will be recorded in Rwanda and that the real number of ant species is much higher compared to what is reported in the checklist of ants from Rwanda (Nsengimana & Dekoninck, 2020) and a current publication on ant species from Nyungwe tropical rain forest, Western Rwanda (Nsengimana et al, 2023).…”