Soil macrofauna trophic structure and its relationship with soil factors in oases of contrasting cultivation ages

Abstract

Transforming arid and semi-arid deserts into farmlands significantly alters soil moisture and fertility, affecting the trophic structure and functionality of soil fauna. Diversity and function of soil macrofaunal community can accurately reflect changes in soil quality and health during the succession of oasis farmlands. In this study, the assemblage of soil macrofauna and soil environmental factors in cultivated and abandoned croplands in the Zhangye Oasis of Gansu Province, were investigated using a hand-sorting method, and we analyzed the relationship between the trophic structure of soil macrofauna and the soil environment. Our results showed that: 1) Farmland cultivation increased the soil water content, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP), while reducing pH. 2) The density, taxon richness, and Shannon-Wiener index of soil macrofauna in cultivated croplands were higher than in abandoned croplands, increasing with cultivation duration. The density of soil macrofauna in 100-year-old farmlands was 2.5, 1.5 and 1.4 times of that in 10-year-old, 30-year-old and 50-year-old farmlands; 3) the density and taxon richness of predatory, phytophagous, and other feeding types of soil macrofauna in cultivated croplands were higher than those of abandoned croplands. The observed increases in density and taxon richness are likely due to the improved soil conditions resulting from cultivation practices. The density-based ratio of predatory to phytophagous and other feeding types of soil macrofauna initially increases then decreases, inversely related to cultivation age. 4) changes in soil environment had little effect on the predatory soil macrofaunal community, and the explained variance by SOC, TP, and pH indicates the significant influence of these soil properties on the composition of the phytophagous soil macrofaunal community. SOC, TP, and pH explained 7.3 % of the variation in phytophagous soil macrofaunal community, while TN, TP, and pH explained 15.4 % of the variation in other feeding types of soil macrofauna. In conclusion, our findings highlight the positive impact of oasis farmland cultivation on soil quality and the enhancement of soil macrofauna diversity, which in turn could contribute to the resilience and productivity of these agricultural ecosystems.