Abundance and Diversity of Soil Macrofauna in Native Forest, Eucalyptus Plantations, Perennial Pasture, Integrated Crop-Livestock, and No-Tillage Cropping

Sheila Trierveiler De Souza,Álvaro Luiz Mafra,Marie Luise Carolina Bartz,Marcio Gonçalves Da Rosa,Dilmar Baretta,Osmar Klauberg Filho,Paulo Cezar Cassol

doi:10.1590/18069657rbcs20150248

Sheila Trierveiler De Souza, Álvaro Luiz Mafra + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/18069657rbcs20150248

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Abstract

Intensive land use can affect macrofaunal biodiversity, which is a property that can be used as a soil quality indicator. This study evaluated the abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna and its relation to soil chemical and physical properties in five land use systems (LUS) in the eastern region of Santa Catarina. The following LUS were studied: native forest (NF), eucalyptus plantations (EP), perennial pasture (PP), integrated crop-livestock (ICL), and no-tillage cropping (NT). The macrofauna was quantified in 0.25 × 0.25 m monoliths and sampled in the 0.00-0.20 m layer in the summer (Jan/2012) and winter (Jul/2012). For each LUS, nine points were sampled, distributed in a 30 × 30 m sampling grid. After screening the edaphic macrofauna organisms, the individuals were counted and identified at the species level when possible, or in major taxonomic groups. The Shannon diversity indices were calculated and the macrofaunal groups together with the physical and chemical properties were subjected to principal component (PCA) and redundancy analysis (RDA). The abundance and diversity of macrofaunal groups are affected by the LUS. The properties of organic matter, macroporosity, bulk density, cation exchange capacity at pH 7.0, base saturation, potential acidity, and exchangeable Al were related to the abundance of soil macrofaunal groups. The stability and biodiversity of soil macrofauna were highest in the LUS of NF, PP, and EP.

Highlights

Biological properties can be used as soil quality indicators since they can reflect the effects of land use and management practices on the productive capacity of a soil (Baretta et al, 2011; Silva et al, 2011)
The possibility of interdependence of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties must be taken into consideration since change in any one of the components can modify the fertility of the environment and influence plant development (Carneiro et al, 2009)
With regard to the other land use systems (LUS), in the summer, the eucalyptus plantations (EP) and perennial pasture (PP) systems were in an intermediate position in terms of richness of macrofauna, while integrated crop-livestock (ICL) and NT had the lowest values

Summary

Introduction

Biological properties can be used as soil quality indicators since they can reflect the effects of land use and management practices on the productive capacity of a soil (Baretta et al, 2011; Silva et al, 2011). In view of the importance of soil macrofauna for soil biodiversity and quality, further studies are needed on this topic, especially to expand the evaluation of land use systems in eastern Santa Catarina This region is characterized by diversified farms, with predominance of family farms, under environmental conditions that indicate vulnerability of the soil in response to changes in land use. Soil physical and chemical properties are affected by human activities, motivated by the need for management practices for agricultural production These can significantly modify the structure of the biological communities, resulting in a reduction of the activity of important organisms for various processes, such as mineralization of organic matter, aggregate stability, porosity, and nutrient cycling. The objective of this study was to determine the abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna and its relation to the chemical and physical properties of land use systems in the eastern region of Santa Catarina and to detect physical and chemical properties that influence the distribution of groups of these soil organisms

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