Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbances on the Diversity and Composition of the Acridid Fauna of Sites in the Dry Deciduous Forest of West Bengal, India

Acridids have been identified as important bio-indicators for assessing biodiversity and monitoring ecosystem responses to anthropogenic disturbance. The community structure of acridids plays vital role in functioning the forest ecosystem. A total of 25 sites are distributed among five habitat types based on different vegetation communities and degree of disturbances including five terrestrial weed dominant sites (WDS), five Oryza species dominant sites (ODS), five sal dominant sites (SDS), five road sites (RDS) and five rock sites (RS) in Chipkuthi forest, West Bengal, India. Total abundance, species richness and diversity of acridids were highest in undisturbed habitats and lowest in highly disturbed habitats. Acridid species appear to be negatively affected by anthropogenic disturbances. The analyses show significant positive correlation between undisturbed habitats and species diversity of acridids within the study area.