Traps suitability to monitor the above- and below-ground insect diversity in different forage production systems of the semi-arid regions of India

Insects play vital roles in ecological processes and are recognized as fundamental elements of global biodiversity. Assessments of insect biodiversity from different ecosystems are essential to knowing the status of insect diversity. Therefore, the insect biodiversity of three different forage production systems (annual, perennial, and grassland) in the Bundelkhand region of India was assessed by employing three sampling methods: manual insect sweep net collection, yellow sticky traps, and pitfall traps. The experiment runs for three seasons (rainy, winter, and summer) from 2019 to 2021. The findings from this study indicate that the choice of insect traps significantly influences the assessment of insect diversity. Yellow sticky traps were more efficient in documenting species richness, abundance, and Shannon-Wiener diversity. However, all three traps were comparable in terms of measuring insect dominance. Seasonal variations were observed, with the summer season exhibiting higher species numbers (16.6±1.3) and abundance (409.7 ±76.4). The study also highlighted the influence of climatic factors and study years on insect diversity, emphasizing the need for suitable sampling techniques to estimate abundance accurately. The interaction effect of year-by-traps showed that yellow sticky traps were more effective than sweep nets and pitfall traps in 2019–2020 and 2020–2021. The study identified the most suitable meteorological weeks for each trapping method. Yellow sticky traps were effective during the 4–12 ^th , 21 ^st , 24 ^th , 35 ^th , and 38 ^th standard meteorological week ^{(SMW), while sweep nets and pitfall traps showed efficacy during the 23 rd , 24 th , 35 th , and 36 th SMW. The research emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate sampling methods and considering seasonal and yearly variations in estimating insect diversity. Our study findings contribute valuable insights into insect biodiversity in the forage production systems of the Bundelkhand region, providing a foundation for future conservation strategies.}