Acridids as indicators of disturbance in dry deciduous forest of West Bengal in India

Acridid communities are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and the community structure of acridids plays vital role in functioning the forest ecosystem. They are potentially useful bioindicators for conservation planning and habitat disturbances. Acridid assemblages of three different habitat types based on degree of disturbance as follows five natural sites, five moderately disturbed sites and five highly disturbed sites in Chaupahari forest, West Bengal, India were studied. Diversity, abundance, equitability and species richness of acridid were observed in respect to undisturbed and disturbed habitats. The species richness and diversity of the sites tracked the intensity of disturbance, the greatest value being associated with the natural site followed by the moderately disturbed site and highly disturbed site. The highest species richness and diversity index indicate the suitable habitat for acridid population. Statistical analysis infers that different species show different behavior and the sites are also different in relation to different habitat types.