Abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna in northern Botswana
ABSTRACTThe abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna were assessed in a range of vegetation types in northern Botswana. Hand-sorting of soil was used to extract all fauna greater than 2 mm body length from sandy soils in both the dry season (June) and towards the end of the single rainy season (February). Abundance varied significantly between samples from within a sampling location, within a vegetation type and occasionally between seasons. Greater densities were found in wet season samples from locations within closed canopy woodland except where permanent water was a significant feature of the habitat. Overall abundance was comparable to published estimates from more moist tropical and temperate habitats suggesting an important role for soil macrofauna in semi-arid systems. Ordinal level diversity also varied significantly within vegetation types and with season.