Abstract
Soil fauna play an important role in ecosystems, and in this context, it is important to better understand how the abiotic and biotic drivers of these organisms interact. We hypothesize that soil fauna are affected by different soil management practices, which has an influence on maize grain yields. The aim of this study was to evaluate the structure of soil fauna under different soil management practices and their associations with maize grain yield. The experiment was conducted in Maranhão, Brazil, in an area divided into 24 plots of 4 × 10 m in a randomized block design with six treatments with four replicates (R). Pitfall traps were placed in the area. The treatments were Leucaena leucocephala-Leucaena (L), nitrogen (N), humic acid + nitrogen (HA + N), nitrogen + Leucaena (N + L), humic acid + Leucaena (HA + L) and humic acid + nitrogen + Leucaena (HA + N + L). The soil fauna dominance, abundance, richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Pielou evenness index and maize grain yield were determined. Formicidae was clearly affected by management with Leucaena, while Coleoptera was affected by management with nitrogen. Despite this, Isopoda and Diplura were the only groups associated with the maize yield. Although fauna abundance did not differ among treatments, it was related to the yield. This study confirms that the abundance and some taxa of soil fauna can influence yield and that these organisms can be used to increase agricultural sustainability.
Highlights
Ecosystem functions such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and maintenance of physical and chemical properties are greatly influenced by the contribution of edaphic organisms (Davidson & Grieve, 2006)
The maximum number of taxa occurred at HA + N (20), and the minimum occurred at N + L (13)
The largest soil fauna community was found at HA + N
Summary
Ecosystem functions such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and maintenance of physical and chemical properties are greatly influenced by the contribution of edaphic organisms (Davidson & Grieve, 2006). These organisms play an important role in the formation and stabilization of soil structure (El Titi, 2003). They regulate the rates of movement of nutrients, water and gases, and they lead to the development of macropores, which increase water absorption and reduce run-off, erosion and waterlogging. The role of soil fauna in litter decomposition has been intensively studied over the past 40 years (Zhang et al., 2015). El Titi (2003) reported that these organisms have an important role in the production and decomposition of organic matter and population stability of other organisms that inhabit the soil. Bedano et al (2016) highlighted the importance of soil fauna in soil organic matter cycling, mainly mesofauna and macrofauna
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