Arthropoda Community Structure in Sweet Corn-Turmeric Intercropping Agroecosystem

Abstrak

Arthropod diversity plays an important role in maintaining the balance and ecological resilience of agroecosystems. Intercropping systems provide more diverse habitats and resources, which can attract various arthropod species and influence community composition. This study aimed to investigate the diversity of arthropods in the sweet corn–turmeric intercropping agroecosystem. The research was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jambi, and arthropod identification was carried out in the Plant Pest Laboratory. The observation variables focused on species diversity, abundance, and ecological functional groups of arthropods. Arthropod samples were collected at the early of the sweet corn vegetative phase using pitfall traps, yellow sticky traps, and sweep nets. Data were analyzed using the Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′), dominance index (D), Evenness index (E), and true alpha diversity (¹D) = eᴴ′). The results showed that the values of H′, D, E, and ¹D were 2.64, 0.09, 0.88, and 13,96, respectively. The ecological functional structure of arthropods consisted of herbivores (25.0%), predators (61.1%), parasitoids (2.8%), pollinators (5.6%), and decomposers (2.8%). These results indicate that the sweet corn–turmeric intercropping agroecosystem supports high arthropod diversity, a stable community structure, and provides favorable conditions for the conservation of natural enemies, particularly predators.

Kata kunci

• Arthropod diversity
• intercropping
• sweet corn
• turmeric
• ecological roles