Study On Diversity And Abundance Of Earthworms Fauna In Cotton And Sugarcane Crops Of District Bhakkar Punjab – Pakistan

Abstract

The diversity and abundance of earthworm fauna are essential for maintaining soil health and maximizing agricultural productivity, particularly in crop systems such as cotton and sugarcane. This study aims to assess the abundance and variety of earthworm species in the sugarcane and cotton fields of District Bhakkar, Punjab, Pakistan. A collection of 651 earthworms from six different species was made from the Kacha and Razai Shah crop fields in District Bhakkar, which consisted of cotton and sugarcane crops. Earthworm populations in cotton fields were found to be significantly higher than those in sugar cane fields at both sampling sites. From a total of 651 specimens, the majority, 525, were collected from Cotton fields, while the remaining 126 were collected from Sugarcane fields. The specimens recovered in this study were recognised as six species: Pheretima posthuma, Pheretima hawayana, Pheretima elongata, Pheretima heterochaeta, Aporrectodea calignosa, and Aporrectodea longa. They belong to two genera, two families (Megascolecidae and Lumbricidae), and one order (Haplotaxida). Among the six species, Pheretima posthuma and Pheretima hawayana showed a broad range of tolerance to edaphic variables. These two species were not only the most abundant but they were also found at the highest number of sample sites. Data confirmation was conducted using the Shannon diversity index. The index analysis revealed that the cotton field had a higher level of diversity (H' = 1.253 & 1.091) compared to the sugarcane region (H' = 0.1&0.585) in Razi Shah and Kacha, respectively.