ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of natural pasture and spontaneous regeneration on soil chemical properties and epigeal fauna community using a secondary Atlantic Forest as reference. The study areas were located in Passa Vinte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In each study area, pitfall traps were used to sample epigeal fauna in the dry and rainy seasons. Earth samples were collected at a depth of 0-5 cm in the dry and rainy seasons for analysis of chemical attributes. The pasture and regeneration areas showed an overall activity of epigeal fauna and functional groups similar to the forest area. However, the diversity evaluated by the Shannon and Pielou evenness indices and the total richness were lower than the observed in the forest. The best fertility attributes were observed in the forest and pasture areas. Keywords: land use, diversity, forest fragments. 1. INTRODUCTION The Atlantic Forest is the most fragmented Brazilian biome and the second largest tropical rainforest in the Americas. It originally spread throughout an uninterrupted strip across the Brazilian coast (Fundacao SOS Mata Atlântica, 2001). Although the Atlantic Forest is one of the hotspots on the planet in terms of biological diversity, it is also one of the most threatened biomes (Brasil, 2015 ). Because of anthropogenic interference (deforestation), most forest remnants in this biome are small, highly disturbed, isolated, little known, little protected ( Menezes et al., 2009 ), and often surrounded by agricultural crops and pastures and regenerating forests.Deforestation for agricultural purposes followed by pasture and/or spontaneous regeneration may generate a landscape with different levels of ecological degradation/restoration. The spontaneous regeneration is an essential process for restoration of degraded areas, since it promotes the addition of new individuals. The mechanisms involved in this process (seed falls, soil seed bank formation and seedling and young plant banks) increase the density and richness of species in the community and contribute to ecological succession and its biological diversity. Spontaneous regeneration can make ecological interrelations stronger and contribute to the restoration of the system, and also to its increase in complexity and consequent self-sustainability (Quintela, 2005), which is essential in the case of the Atlantic Forest.Chemical, physical and biological soil attributes are among the main indicators for evaluating environmental restoration and degradation processes ( Silva et al., 2012a ;