Invertebrate fauna and physical and chemical attributes of soil under integrated crop‑livestock systems

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of integrated crop-livestock (ICL) systems on the main groups of soil invertebrate macrofauna and the relationship of these organisms with soil physical and chemical attributes. The conventional system, integrated crop-livestock system, no-tillage system, continuously cultivated pasture, and natural fragments of Cerrado and of semi-deciduous forest were compared. The experiment was carried out in Dourados, MS, Brazil, on a Typic Hapludox soil, divided into strips. The highest density, richness, and diversity of families were found in the ICL system, under no-tillage, and in the continuously cultivated pasture. The conventional system caused greater reduction of the soil invertebrate community. The ICL system favors the maintenance of the invertebrate fauna diversity, the formation of stable aggregates, and soil fertility. The Sthaphylinidae family is a potential soil quality bioindicator, especially in the semi-deciduous forest and in the ICL system.