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EFFECTS OF HABITAT DISTURBANCE ON DIPLOPOD COMMUNITIES**

Abstract

Millipedes, belonging to the class Diplopoda, represent a group of diverse soil macrofauna. These detritivores decompose leaf litter and play a critical role in nutrient recycling, making them essential macrofauna. Although they play an important role in maintaining soil composition and quality, millipedes are sensitive to habitat disturbances, which may have deleterious effects on community structure, including their diversity, abundance, and density. This can be observed in the disturbances caused by agricultural land management practices, which this study focuses on in examining the impact on millipede communities. Millipedes were sampled from two different sites, one in Milledgeville, GA, and the other in Marshallville, GA. Both these sites consisted of pecan groves exhibiting light to moderate disturbance due to agricultural maintenance, and an area of natural, undisturbed forest adjacent to the grove. At both sites, millipedes were collected from three plots within the pecan grove and from three additional plots in the adjacent forest to serve as control samples. At every plot, two samples were collected using two different collection methods, including hand collection and leaf litter collection. All millipedes were identified to species, and all non-millipede fauna obtained through leaf litter collection were classified to a coarse taxonomic level. The data were analysed, focusing on abundance and richness of both the millipede and non-millipede samples. Although a consistent trend showing decreased abundance and richness in areas of disturbance is shown, no statistically significant differences have been produced thus far. Data analysis is still in progress and will continue to explore different aspects of community structure. The results of this study may have broader implications for the use of more sustainable land management practices in order to preserve the biodiversity of millipede communities and subsequent soil quality.

Acknowledgements

Georgia College & State University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences

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