International Research Journal of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ ISSN 2278-3202Vol. 2(11), 85-87, November (2013) Int. Res. J. Biological Sci. International Science Congress Association 85 Short Communication Assessment of Terrestrial Arthropods Diversity in Kallar Horticultural Farm, Mettupalayam, Western Ghats, South IndiaElanchezhian M.*, Gunasekaran C., Agnes Deepa A. and Mohana P. Conservation Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu- 641 046, INDIAAvailable online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 8th July 2013, revised 22nd July 2013, accepted 16th October 2013Abstract Two third of the world occupied the special creation of organism is called invertebrates. Arthropods, the most diverse component of terrestrial ecosystems functioning and play a major roles for decomposition, soil fertility, plant nutrient and productivity in variety of functions. These are a one of the most powerful biological indicators and pollinators. Biological diversity is used to refer the (taxonomic, numerical, genetic, etc.) for the variety of organisms living in a particular place. Terrestrial arthropods are by far the most diverse groups of animals and important to contribute in soil. Assessing the terrestrial arthropods diversity is not readily available for many of those responsible for general assessments of biodiversity. This is the main general guidelines for planning the arthropod biodiversity study. The main objective of the study is to assessment of the terrestrial arthropods diversity and conservation of biodiversity pedestal on the vegetations. The present work is focused to notorious terrestrial arthropods diversity in six different sites based on the vegetations Grassland (plot-a), Mixed Plantation (plot-b), Mangoosten plantation (plot-c), Gooseberry plantations (plot-d), Nursery Bed’s (plot-e) and Natural Forest (plot-f) at Kallar Horticultural farm, in Mettupalayam, The Western Ghats. The research is conducted during the period of November 2009 to April 2010. The arthropods were collected by the methods of Pitfall traps, Sticky traps and direct collection. The statistical findings were done by Shannon wiener diversity index (H) widely used for popular diversity indices. Totally the nine orders of diversity and richness were recorded. Diversity and abundance of terrestrial arthropods shows much difference between the natural and the plantation types to high productivity. Keywords: Arthropods, biodiversity, kallar horticulture, pitfall traps, shannon wiener Index, conservation. Introduction Invertebrates are extremely numerous and diverse but, despite being to play important roles in ecosystem services and functions, our knowledge of the status, ecology, interactions and sensitivity to change of many species is poor (Cardoso et al. 2011). The degraded landscapes are seen much in terrestrial ecosystem result the mining, farming and other anthropogenic activities, these activities results loss of species habitat in ecosystem and in the most terrible cases of soil erosion and water pollution. Ecological restoration is helps to repair the damage caused by humans to the diversity of the ecosystem. The conservation strategies are based on information given from well known taxa. Insects are integral to the initial shredding of the litter which exposes nutrients to microbial digestion. The recycling of nutrients in the forest and other agricultural involves the diversity of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and invertebrates interactions. Plant growth involves more activity of various types of organism within the environment. Microbes enhance the enzymatic capabilities for processing soil resources and finally recycling entry of the soil nutrients into the plant root. Soil arthropod diversity can be useful as indicator of ecosystem function productivity or as direct estimator of ecosystem responding to different management protocols. The grazing of Microbes by arthropods mineralizes nutrients to complete the nutrient recycling process. The result of biodiversity simplification for agricultural purposes is an artificial ecosystem it requires constant human intervention, whereas in natural ecosystems the internal regulation of function is a product of plant biodiversity through flows of energy and nutrients, and this form of control is progressively lost under agricultural intensification. Methodology Study Area: The Horticultural farm (Kallar) was established in 1900. The total area is about 8.92 hectares. Its elevation is 360 mts above MSL with annual rainfall 1250-1400 mm and Humidity ranges from 70-80%. The major plantation crops include Jack fruits, Lime layers, Pepper, Clove seedlings, Nutmeg Crops, silver Oak, Mangoosten, Arecanut seed, Coffee and some minor fruits and ornamental plants. Perennial source of gravitational water from Kallar stream flowing from Coonoor along the hill slopes. The farm produces high quality of tree species fruit trees other economic crops and also serve as educational center for many students. Selection Sites: The study area was divided into six different plots based on the vegetation’s (Plot A- Grassland, Plot B- Mixed plantation, Plot C-Mangoosten plantation, Plot D-