Land use effects on aerial insect composition on obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

Habitat transformation plays crucial role in determining insect diversity at local and landscape scales. Various land use practices may be subjected to different levels of disturbance ranging from pristine habitats with minimal disturbance to modified habitats such as agricultural ecosystems. Little is known about the effect of these different land use types on insect diversity especially in tropical ecosystems. Effects of four land use types; oil palm plantation, cassava field, exotic flower field (University Parks and Gardens) and a natural forest on diversity of aerial insects were investigated. Seven insect orders with a total abundance of 3747 insects were collected during the entire sampling period. Order richness of insects varied significantly among the different land use types with the highest richness found in the oil palm plantation. Abundance of dipterans and coleopterans were also highest in the oil palm plantation and natural vegetation respectively. In addition to natural and semi-natural areas which serve as source habitat for insects, perennial agro-ecosystems such as oil palm plantation with relatively minimal level of disturbance may also provide support for insect diversity.

Keywords: Disturbance, Diversity, Insect orders, Oil palm, Perennials.