Agriculture Management and Soil Fauna Monitoring: The Case of Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy)

Abstract

stract It is known that intensive human land use has an impact on soil state and functioning. Soil fauna diversity is a validated tool to assess soil quality. Here we analyzed soil arthropods community in several agricultural managements (arable land, grassland, vineyard and orchard) located in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), whose land was especially exploited for intensive agriculture, in order to state soil health and soil quality, in relation to crop types and management. The computation of the biological soil quality index QBS-ar revealed lower values in arable lands, easily due to management practices applied, in particular ploughing. On the other hand, the QBS-ar values associated to orchards and vineyards were higher: the grassy cover on soil and the reduced farming practices support soil microarthropod communities. Meadows were generally characterized by high index values, related to their age. The application of QBS-ar index as a tool to identify soil quality and, thus, soil functionality, was then confirmed. Starting with this type of approach, further analyses could be crucial to highlight differences between managements applied in each use we considered, and to suggest some principles for a soil fauna diversity sustainable agriculture.