<Reports>On the Biomass of Soil Animals Found in Various Types of Forests in Thailand

Abstract

The estimations of biomasses of soil animals in various kinds of forests were taken in Thailand during the period from November, 1963 to January, 1964. The biomasses ranged the highest in value from 5.6 to 21.6g/m^2 in the Tropical Evergreen forest situated in the Peninsular region (south) of Thailand. These high values were attributed to the abundance of big millipedes in the litter layer and earthworms in the soil layers. It, however, appears that the biomasses of soil animals of the three Evergreen forest types, the Dry, the Hill and the Tropical, are higher than those of the Deciduous forests, i. e., the Mixed Deciduous, the Deciduous Dipterocarpus forests and the fallow land. The biomasses show a high correlation with the water content of the leaf litter while corresponding relationships between the biomass and the litter weight as well as the water content of the soil were not so clearly defined.