Alteration in soil fauna due to soil management and crop rotation in a long-term experiment

Abstract

The present study had as objective to evaluate the soil fauna population, in an experimental sites installed for 26 years in Pato Branco / PR. Among the treatments existent in the experimental site, were selected six managed under Conventional Farming System, and six managed under No-tillage, both cultivated with six different cover plants. The method used for the extraction of edaphic organisms (0-10 cm depth) was Tüllgren funnel. The collection was done in blocks and replicates (156 soil samples to quantify the soil fauna; 156 to evaluate soil moisture, and 156 soil temperature readings). In the April/2013, 60,138 m-2 individuals were estimated, and in the January/2014 they were 28,348 m-2 individuals. The adoption of the long-term No-tillage favors the biodiversity of the soil fauna in relation to the soil that has been undergoing two years of cultivation and four annual harrows since 1976. The most representative edaphic taxon in the April/2013 were Acari, Collembola and Diptera, and in the January/2014 they were Acari, Collembola, Hymenoptera and Larva of Lepidoptera. The phytosanitary management of the areas influence the diversity indexes of the edaphic fauna. The soil moisture abiotic factor acts severely under the edaphic fauna, being more evident in the conventional cropping system. The collection season conditioned to the abiotic factors - soil moisture and temperature - influences the density of individuals, species richness and the Shannon and Pielou indexes.