Abstract
The aim of this study was to measure soil microbial biomass and soil surface fauna in undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto (Css) from Sete Cidades National Park, Northeast Brazil. The following sites were sampled under Cerrado sensu stricto (Css) at the park: undisturbed and disturbed Css (slash-and-burn agricultural practices). Total organic and microbial biomass C were higher in undisturbed than in disturbed sites in both seasons. However, microbial biomass C was higher in the wet than in the dry season. Soil respiration did not vary among sites but was higher in the wet than in the dry season. The densities of Araneae, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were higher in the undisturbed site, whereas the densities of Formicidae were higher in the disturbed site. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis separated undisturbed from disturbed sites according to soil biological properties. Disturbance by agricultural practices, such as slash-and-burn, probably resulted in the deterioration of the biological properties of soil under native Cerrado sensu stricto in the Sete Cidades National Park.
Highlights
The Brazilian Cerrado is one of the ecosystems with the greatest biodiversity found in Brazil and comprises riparian forest, seasonal semideciduous forest, seasonal deciduous forest, and wet grasslands (Forzza et al, 2010)
The soil pH values and Ca content were lower in the undisturbed than the disturbed site
Total organic C (TOC) and microbial biomass C (MBC) content were higher in the undisturbed than in the disturbed site in both seasons (Table 2)
Summary
The Brazilian Cerrado is one of the ecosystems with the greatest biodiversity found in Brazil and comprises riparian forest, seasonal semideciduous forest, seasonal deciduous forest, and wet grasslands (Forzza et al, 2010). The ecosystem is the second largest Brazilian domain after the Amazonian (Gatti et al, 2014) and extends over all regions of Brazil. In the northeast of Brazil, the Cerrado is concentrated in the states of Piauí and Maranhão with an area of 2 0 million ha (Felfili and Matos, 2010). In Piauí, the Brazilian government created the Sete Cidades National Park (PNSC), covering an area of 6,221 ha, aiming to study and protect the diversity of water, vegetation, and soil resources (IBDF, 1979).
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