Fauna edáfica em áreas de diferentes usos do solo, município de Rio Pardo, RS, Brasil.

Abstract

The soil is a living ecosystem filled with biodiversity, which is sensitive to anthropogenic alterations to which it is subjected, and among living beings, edaphic fauna stands out for its important ecosystem services that help maintain the structure and fertility of the soil. Thus, in order to analyze how different land uses affect soil biodiversity, sampling was carried out in the municipality of Rio Pardo, RS, Brazil, in three different land use areas, namely: CCO - Conventional Cultivation (crop cultivated with Glycine max (Soybean) in summer and pastures of Avena spp. (Oats) + Lolium multiflorum (ryegrass) in winter); MNT - Native Forest; SAF - Agroforestry System (with a focus on Citrus spp.). Sampling was composed of three sampling cycles carried out between August 2021 and January 2022, with the aid of Pitfall traps. The results indicated a total of 3,708 individuals collected, belonging to 31 taxa, with the most representative being Scarabaeidae (21.6%), Oncopoduridae (18.9%), and Staphylinidae (15.9%). Native Forest stood out for presenting the highest number of sampled individuals (53.2%). Regarding community structure, it was verified that SAF presented the highest diversity and uniformity index, H' = 2.27 and J' = 70.6%, respectively, with significant differences (p <0.05) for MNT, H' = 2.00 and J' = 62.3%, and CCO, H' = 1.51 and J' = 58.9%. Considering diversity profiles, the results indicated significantly (p <0.05) that SAF presents a high diversity profile, compared to MNT, which presented an intermediate diversity profile, and CCO, which presented a low diversity profile. Thus, the Agroforestry System (SAF) promoted greater diversity of soil fauna in the ecosystem, contributing to the maintenance of ecosystem balance, especially compared to Conventional Cultivation, ensuring greater efficiency in nutrient cycling and, consequently, improvement in soil fertility. It also contributes to the generation of ecosystem services, such as greenhouse gas mitigation through carbon fixation in plants, favoring regional sustainability.