Soil macrofauna diversity and structure under different management of pine-coffee agroforestry system

Abstract

The role of tropical forests for maintaining environmental functions is decreasing due to the rapid changes to agricultural purposes. Agroforestry system is assumed to be an alternative system which reduces the negative impact of the conversion in term of maintaining the level of soil macrofauna diversity. This study was conducted at UB Forest within the period November 2017 to February 2018 by collecting soil macrofauna from 9 different land use types using hand sorting along with pitfall sampling for comparison. ANOVA and various diversity indexes were used (Shannon index, Pielu index, etc) to determine macrofauna structure and communities. Total soil C was examined using Walkley and Black method along with Particulate Organic Matter (POM) C fractionation approaches. Litter inputs were collected using a litter trap method, while in-situ litter were determined using destructive methods. Biplot and CVA multivariate analyses were adopted to determine the impact of different management on soil macrofauna diversity and structure. The result showed that conversion to agriculture practices reduced the structure, population and abundance of soil macrofauna as litter production, organic matter and soil C content decreased. The lowest abundance of individual soil macrofauna at monoculture system (PM) was reduced to 45 morphospecies compared to pine coffee agroforestry at the age of 4 (PK4:20 years after planting) system as much as 104 morphospecies. There was a strong relationship between litter thickness and the abundance of soil macrofauna. Both methods (Hand sorting vs Pitfalls traps), had a different ability for collecting soil macrofauna communities. Species occurs at rich or low organic matter input can be adopted as soil macrofauna bioindicator of changes on an ecosystem. Biplot and CVA methods can be used to distinguish and to cluster the impact of different management at various agroforestry systems.

Contribution of soil macro-fauna to soil fertility improvement in cocoa-based (Theobroma cacao) agroforestry systems in the Littoral Region of Cameroon: Examining cocoa farmers indigenous knowledge

“…Most studies carried out to identify soil macro-fauna in different agricultural systems (agroforestry inclusive) have mainly used the biophysical approach (Deheuvels et al, 2014;Suarez et al, 2018;Tongkaemkaew et al, 2018;Oliveira et al, 2018;Mortimer et al, 2018;Suarez et al, 2019;Villanueva-Lopez et al, 2019;Prayogo et al, 2019;Marsden et al, 2020;Dahlsjo et al, 2020). Equally, the aforementioned studies were undertaken across different parts of the tropics, mostly in South America, with little or nothing done across Africa in general and Cameroon in particular.…”

Contribution of soil macro-fauna diversity and abundance to soil fertility enhancement in cocoa-based (Theobroma cacao) agroforestry systems in the Littoral Region of Cameroon: An appraisal of cocoa farmers local knowledge

“…Cocoa farmers' identification of earth worms, ants, termites, millipedes, centipedes, and snails as major soil macro-fauna in cocoa-based agroforestry systems could be attributed to the easily identifiable nature of these soil macro-fauna when compared to others such as harvestmen and scorpions which are very much elusive. Mostly, biophysical studies have been carried out to identify soil macro-fauna in agricultural systems (Harvey et al, 2006;Moco et al, 2009Moco et al, , 2010Huerta et al, 2009;Rahman et al, 2012;Deheuvels et al, 2014;Suarez et al, 2018;Mortimer et al, 2018;Suarez et al, 2019;Villanueva-Lopez et al, 2019;Prayogo et al, 2019;Dahlsjo et al, 2020). However, very limited research has been done on farmers' indigenous knowledge of soil macro-fauna diversity and abundance and their contribution to soil fertility enhancement in cocoa-based agroforestry systems.…”

Reforestation and Sustainable Management of Pinus merkusii Forest Plantation in Indonesia: A Review

“…An agroforestry practice of pine-coffee increases the abundance, structure, and population of soil invertebrates and maintain soil temperature and humidity [101,102]. Soil macrofauna has an important role in influencing soil structure and soil physical properties [103], It also maintains soil fertility through the decomposition of organic matter, nutrient distribution, and increasing soil aeration.…”