{"title":"Conventional agricultural management negatively affects soil fauna abundance, soil physicochemical quality and multifunctionality","authors":"Emogine Mamabolo, René Gaigher, James S. Pryke","doi":"10.1016/j.pedobi.2024.150961","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Agricultural intensification is one of the major drivers of biodiversity decline and the losses of its functions in the soil. For soil health and sustainability planning, it is important to understand the effects associated with agricultural management on soil function and biodiversity. This study explored soil fauna, physicochemical properties, soil quality and multifunctionality and how they are affected by agroecosystem management in four different land uses i.e., conventional agriculture, livestock-integrated agriculture, conservation agriculture and natural grassland. The conventional land use favoured some nutrients, however soil of both the integrated and conservation land uses had physical and chemical properties indicative of good soil quality e.g. low compaction, low C:N ratio and stable aggregates. Soil fauna abundance was more responsive to land use and the soil environment compared to species diversity which did not show significant responses as expected. Tillage is known to negatively influence soil fauna, soil functions and physicochemical properties through intense soil structure disruption. Here, its detrimental effect is reflected by the lowest record of soil fauna, poor soil physicochemical quality and low multifunctionality observed within the conventional landuses managed under deep tillage, compared to other land uses which are under zero tillage. Overall, the study shows that the implementation of sustainable soil management practices which improves the physical and chemical status will not only be beneficial for productivity but also for the promotion of important soil fauna, better soil quality and ecosystem multifunctionality.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49711,"journal":{"name":"Pedobiologia","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405624034826/pdfft?md5=d182849c00582cf15fb6bdddf65fc04a&pid=1-s2.0-S0031405624034826-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pedobiologia","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031405624034826","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Agricultural intensification is one of the major drivers of biodiversity decline and the losses of its functions in the soil. For soil health and sustainability planning, it is important to understand the effects associated with agricultural management on soil function and biodiversity. This study explored soil fauna, physicochemical properties, soil quality and multifunctionality and how they are affected by agroecosystem management in four different land uses i.e., conventional agriculture, livestock-integrated agriculture, conservation agriculture and natural grassland. The conventional land use favoured some nutrients, however soil of both the integrated and conservation land uses had physical and chemical properties indicative of good soil quality e.g. low compaction, low C:N ratio and stable aggregates. Soil fauna abundance was more responsive to land use and the soil environment compared to species diversity which did not show significant responses as expected. Tillage is known to negatively influence soil fauna, soil functions and physicochemical properties through intense soil structure disruption. Here, its detrimental effect is reflected by the lowest record of soil fauna, poor soil physicochemical quality and low multifunctionality observed within the conventional landuses managed under deep tillage, compared to other land uses which are under zero tillage. Overall, the study shows that the implementation of sustainable soil management practices which improves the physical and chemical status will not only be beneficial for productivity but also for the promotion of important soil fauna, better soil quality and ecosystem multifunctionality.
期刊介绍:
Pedobiologia publishes peer reviewed articles describing original work in the field of soil ecology, which includes the study of soil organisms and their interactions with factors in their biotic and abiotic environments.
Analysis of biological structures, interactions, functions, and processes in soil is fundamental for understanding the dynamical nature of terrestrial ecosystems, a prerequisite for appropriate soil management. The scope of this journal consists of fundamental and applied aspects of soil ecology; key focal points include interactions among organisms in soil, organismal controls on soil processes, causes and consequences of soil biodiversity, and aboveground-belowground interactions.
We publish:
original research that tests clearly defined hypotheses addressing topics of current interest in soil ecology (including studies demonstrating nonsignificant effects);
descriptions of novel methodological approaches, or evaluations of current approaches, that address a clear need in soil ecology research;
innovative syntheses of the soil ecology literature, including metaanalyses, topical in depth reviews and short opinion/perspective pieces, and descriptions of original conceptual frameworks; and
short notes reporting novel observations of ecological significance.