Diversity of soil macrofauna in the coastal karst area of Gunung Sewu, Paranggupito Sub-district, Wonogiri District, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Pramono CL, Ramadhani G, Zahra JA, Wahyuningtyas J, Nugroho GD, Indrawan M, Setyawan AD. 2025. Diversity of soil macrofauna in the coastal karst area of Gunung Sewu, Paranggupito Sub-district, ??Wonogiri District, Indonesia. Indo Pac J Ocean Life 9: 1-11. As a region with unique characteristics of limestone formations and a complex drainage system, the karst region faces environmental challenges that affect its macrofauna diversity. This study aims to identify soil macrofauna and analyze the relationship between abiotic factors that influence their presence in agroforestry land in a coastal karst area of Gunung Sewu, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark, including Paranggupito Village, Gudangharjo Village, and Gunturharjo Village of Paranggupito Sub-district, Wonogiri District, Central Java, Indonesia, that was conducted in October 2024. To achieve the study's objectives, we measured abiotic factors, including physical and chemical elements of the environment, such as temperature, air humidity, soil humidity, light intensity, altitude, soil pH, and soil temperature. This study involved two types of plantation patterns in each village, namely woody and intercropping vegetation, with 18 research points divided into 2 stations in each area, each consisting of 3 sub-stations with 90 pitfall traps. Soil macrofauna samples were collected using the pitfall trap method, and data were analyzed using a diversity index and Pearson correlation between the diversity of soil macrofauna and its abiotic factors. The results showed that 16 different species were found in all three villages, and the sugar ant (Camponotus consobrinus) species dominated the intercropping vegetation, with a total of 347 individuals and 104 individuals in woody vegetation. The diversity of macrofauna at each station was relatively low. In contrast, the relationship between abiotic factors and diversity showed varying correlations, such as soil moisture, light intensity, and air humidity were negatively correlated by -0.59, -0.41, and -0.39, respectively, which means when the values increase, then the diversity tends to decrease and vice versa; In contrast, pH soil, soil temperature and air temperature were positively correlated by 0.79, 0.62, 0.78, respectively showing a moderately strong relationship whereas the soil values increase, the diversity also tends to increase. The discovery of soil macrofauna species in this study shows that macrofauna are able to survive in karst areas, which have an important role in maintaining soil health and fertility, so their existence must be maintained and preserved, highlighting their resilience and the importance of preserving their habitats to maintain soil health and fertility.