Diversity and abundance of soil macrofauna in three land use systems in Eastern Amazonia

Abstract

Given the influence of edaphic macrofauna in the physical, chemical, and biological processes that sustain the organic matter cycle in the soil of tropical ecosystems, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of the sequence: Secondary Forest – Pasture – Eucalyptus monoculture on the macrofauna structure in Southeast of Pará State, Brazil. In each land use system, two 350 m transect were taken. The data was collected in 8 sampling sites, which were 50 m apart in each transect at 0.10 and 0.20 m depths. Correlations between the community structure Family Richness (S), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’), Pielou equitability (J), and macrofauna density (ind. m-2) were tested with soil pH(H2O), Al3+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, P, SOC, N, Fe, Zn, and Mn and the litter dry matter total content of Ca, Mg, K, P, TOC., N, Fe, Zn. The land use has affected the macrofauna community parameters S, H’, and J (p<0.05). The macrofauna density did not differ between land use systems Pasture and Secondary Forest (p>0.05). The evaluated indexes were highly correlated with the disturbance level, increasing gradually from the Pasture, where the lowest levels were found, to the Secondary Forest with the best indexes in this study, with 29 families exclusive to this land use system. Correlations between the community structure and soil and litter chemical parameters were not detected.