BIODIVERSITAS ISSN: 1412-033X Volume 20, Number 6, June 2019 E-ISSN: 2085-4722 Pages: 1743-1747 DOI: 10.13057/biodiv/d200634 Short Communication: Assessment of reclamation success of former limestone quarries in Tuban, Indonesia, based on soil arthropod diversity and soil organic carbon content DWI OKTAFITRIA 1 , KUNTUM FEBRIYANTININGRUM 1 , NURUL JADID 2 , NIA NURFITRIA 1 , FAHMI RAHMADANI 2 , ALFIAN AMRULLAH 2 , DEWI HIDAYATI 2, 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Universitas PGRI Ronggolawe. Jl. Manunggal No. 61, Gedongombo, Tuban 62381, East Java, Indonesia 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember.Jl. Raya ITS, Keputih, Sukolilo, Surabaya 60111, East Java, Indonesia.  email: dewi_hidayati@ymail.com Manuscript received: 7 February 2019. Revision accepted: 29 May 2019. Abstract. Oktafitria D, Febriyantiningrum K, Jadid N, Nurfitria N, Rahmadani F, Amrullah A, Hidayati D. 2019. Assessment of reclamation success of former limestone quarries in Tuban, Indonesia, based on soil arthropod diversity and soil organic carbon content. Biodiversitas 20: 1743-1747. The reclamation for sustainable ecosystem in mined land, including revegetation, is an obligatory program stipulated by the Indonesian government. This study evaluated the ecological improvement of revegetated land at the reclamation sub-areas (RSAs) of former limestone quarries in Tuban, East Java, Indonesia. The RSAs were coded as RSA 2010, RSA 2014, and RSA 2016 which represented the initial year of revegetation as well as the reclamation soil-material, namely the rejected soil- products, topsoil, and spoils, respectively. Soil insects were collected from ten sampling plots at each RSA using pitfall traps. The data of arthropods were analyzed to describe the community structure by determining the Shannon Diversity Index (H’), Simpson’s index (D), Sorensen's similarity and Shannon evenness index (E). The soil organic carbon (SOC) content from the soil composites was analyzed according to the Walkley and Black method. The results showed that SOC value at RSA 2010 (1.851±0.38%) was higher than that at SRA 2014 (1.694±0.29%) and SRA 2016 (0.947±0.10%). There were 18 families found from eight orders of soil insects (Coleoptera, Diplura, Diptera, Entognatha, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, and Orthoptera) and one order from terrestrial crustacea i.e., Isopoda, family Tylidae. The ecological indices of RSA 2014 (H’=1.15; D=0.47; E=0.61) and RSA 2016 (H’=1,19; D=0.47; E=0.57) were higher than those of RSA 2010 (H’=0,61; D=0.71; E=0.43). The Pearson analysis indicated moderate negative correlation (r=0.55) between soil arthropod diversity index and SOC. The diversity of soil arthropods at reclaimed area indicated that the reclamation was successful. Based on the study, we recommend that reclamation is done using mine spoil or topsoil rather than rejected soil products. Keywords: Carbon, diversity, reclamation, soil arthropods INTRODUCTION Tuban is an Indonesian district which has high potential of karst; hence, limestone mining has been done to serve the Indonesian cement industries. The open mining of limestone degrades the land surfaces including the loss of vegetation, changes in the soil structure and density, and causes erosion, and water pollution (Rai et al. 2014; Suthirat 2017). The land reclamation and revegetation in several former limestone quarries in Tuban district have been conducted. There are three types of reclamation sub- areas (RSAs), namely RSA 2010, RSA 2014, and RSA 2016, the names referring to the initial year of reclamation and revegetation as well as the reclamation soil materials. The RSA 2010 mainly consisted of rejected soil-products (the rest of mining soil after limestone extraction for cement production), while the RSA 2014 and RSA 2016 consisted of topsoil and mine spoil, respectively. The current evaluation of reclaimed and revegetated lands in Tuban’s post-mining areas is still focusing on the growth of vegetation. Meanwhile, there is little information regarding the soil fauna and abiotic factors which have important role in sustainable land reclamation. Land preparation is the first step in reclamation which involves succession, namely changes of ecological community over time due to the changes of biotic and abiotic factors. Succession is generally influenced by local plants and animals, including arthropods that represent about 85% of the soil fauna (Culliney 2013). The soil arthropods such as beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, and ants can explain the status of land reclamation because of their sensitivity to environmental changes (Buchori et al. 2018). The soil insects have an important role in the process of decomposing organic matter in the soil which increases the soil productivity. Furthermore, the activities of soil insects in the soil improve aeration, water infiltration, and soil aggregation. The abundance and diversity of soil insects are strongly influenced by the macro and microelements in the soil (Liu et al. 2006; Njira and Nabwami 2013). This study was aimed to evaluate the reclamation and