Abstract
Studies comparing agricultural practices that maintain a better quality and a healthy soil fauna consider the no-tillage farming as the most effective practice when compared to other planting techniques. In order to evaluate the influence of the no-tillage and conventional tillage methods (with and without manipulation of the soil before planting, respectively) on ant communities, we monitored two areas with these two types of practice (conventional and no-tillage) over the period of four years. We collected ants once per month along 10 transects randomly distributed using three pitfall traps in each area. In addition, we collected the dead plant biomass present at each point sampled as a parameter for measuring the environmental complexity of the areas. In total, we captured 27,480 individuals belonging to 26 species in the no-tillage area and 24,570 individuals belonging to 24 species in the conventional tillage area. The generalised linear model analysis showed that the no-tillage system had the highest abundance of individuals, as well as richness and diversity of species, during most of the study period, as compared to conventional tillage areas. We also found a significant positive correlation between species richness and dead plant biomass. Thus, it is possible to infer that the no-tillage area is a more complex environment with a greater diversity of ants and, therefore, a more sustainable agrosystem as compared to conventional tillage areas.
Highlights
Agriculture is a major cause of biodiversity loss around the world
The global scenario of transformation of the natural environment in agrosystems has stimulated researchers to look for alternatives, to minimize the negative effects of agriculture on biodiversity
In which the dry plant biomass of the previous crop is incorporated to the soil by a mechanization process, the no-tillage is a reduced form of soil preparation, where essentially no manipulation of the soil is performed before planting (Stinner & House, 1990)
Summary
Agriculture is a major cause of biodiversity loss around the world (McLaughlin & Mineau, 1995; Urrutia-Escobar &Armbrecht, 2013). While agricultural expansion has increased the productivity of farmland, the number of animal and plant species has decreased (Isselstein et al, 1991) This scenario does not occur only in countries with extensive cultivated areas, and in small countries with limited farmland (McLaughlin & Mineau, 1995; Büchs, 2003). The global scenario of transformation of the natural environment in agrosystems has stimulated researchers to look for alternatives, to minimize the negative effects of agriculture on biodiversity In this sense, agricultural practices that have a reduced impact on nature, but are economically competitive, has been the goal of sustainable agriculture in recent decades (Tilman et al, 2002; Sani, 2011). In no-tillage systems, the dry plant biomass on soil after harvest provides protection against soil degradation and improves microclimate conditions for survival of the edaphic fauna (Doran et al., 1994; Hawksworth, 1991)
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