Diversity of the edaphic macrofauna in areas managed under no-tillage for different periods

Abstract

Agriculture can considerably change the composition and richness of the edaphic macrofauna, affecting the ecological and biological functions exerted by the fauna. This study was carried out in commercial production systems in the municipality of Guaíra, state of Paraná, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of no-tillage systems (NTS) and seasonality on the diversity, richness, and composition of the edaphic macrofauna. Three areas managed under NTS for different periods 7 years (NTS-7), 14 years (NTS-14), and 23 years (NTS-23) under crop succession with soybean (summer) (aNTS7) and maize/wheat (winter) (NTS14 and NTS23) were evaluated, in addition to a native Atlantic Forest segment, which was used as a reference. Faunal samples were collected in the dry season (September 2013) and rainy season (February 2014). The edaphic macrofauna was evaluated using the method proposed by the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Program. Parametric statistics were applied, and the results were compared using Tukey’s test at a level of significance of 5%. Species density and total richness were usually higher in the NTS14 and NTS23 in the dry season. However, higher indexes of equability were not detected because of the dominance of groups Formicidae and Isoptera. The areas with the highest equability were the reference area in the dry season and NTS23 in the rainy season, corresponding to 0.87 and 0.61, respectively. These results indicate the higher faunal diversity in these areas, which reflects the greater stability of the ecosystem.

Macrofauna edáfica como bioindicadora da qualidade do solo em diferentes sistemas de manejo

“…These are social organisms, classified according to their feeding habits in phytophagous, rhizophagous or detritivores (Brown et al, 2015). In a similar study, Araújo et al (2018) and Ferreira et al (2019) also observed a high Isoptera density in their reference areas when compared to other areas.…”

“…The Shannon and Pielou's values also revealed that NTS areas generated good values of diversity and equitability, since these values are close to that observed in the reference area (NF20) (Table 2). According to Ferreira et al (2019), when there is a high total richness in areas under NTS this is usually related to a greater supply of food resources, with different qualities and presence of microhabitats. These microhabitats are formed due to the plant residues on the soil surface, which increases the number of individuals and the total richness of groups.…”

“…The application of organic residues to the soil surface, plus the remnants of the crop root systems in the subsurface, improve the soil's physical and chemical attributes through modifications in the soil organic matter (SOM) and its distribution in soil compartments (Araújo et al, 2018;Torres et al, 2019). This increment in SOM raises the soil fauna diversity (Ferreira et al, 2019), especially the invertebrate macrofauna and consequently improving soil quality (Lima et al, 2020).…”

“…The activity of these organisms and their specificities are fundamental for the sustainability of natural or manageable ecosystems; however, soil management practices can affect the fauna diversity, directly influencing the ecological and biological functions in the soil (Ferreira et al, 2019;Kitamura et al, 2020).…”

Organic matter and soil aggregation in agricultural systems with different adoption times

“…Several studies reported the importance of adequate soil management with minimal disturbance with positive consequences for the increase total organic carbon (TOC) content (ANDRADE et al, 2010) soil biology (FERREIRA et al, 2019), POM (BENBI et al, 2015), and increased stability (BHATTACHARYYA et al, 2009) and size of aggregates (SIX; PAUSTIAN, 2014). Management systems that recommend less soil disturbance and increased TOC content, such as NT (BARRETO et al, 2009), intercropping systems, and pastures (LOSS et al, 2013) and/or adoption of pastures at certain periods of time (SALTON et al, 2008) are essential to increase the carrying capacity of agricultural areas (ARATANI et al, 2009).…”