Effect of Soil Management on Mites and Springtails Populations in Agroecosystems from Santa Clara, Cuba.
Fecha
2018-09-19
Autores
Hernández Arboláez, Héctor Pablo
Aguila Alcantara, Edith
Ruiz González, Yanetsy
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
CUVILLIER VERLAG, Göttingen
Resumen
For assessing the effect of soil management on mites and springtails were selected
twelve farms located on brown calcareous soil in Santa Clara, Cuba. Farms were
grouped according to their soil practices and landownership, resulting in three groups:
State farms run under conventional agriculture, private farms managed conventionally,
and private farms organically managed. Besides, there were chosen three reference
patterns (Pasture, Marabou and Natural), all under homogeneity edaphic and climatic.
Two or three fields of each farm were selected for the study. Four composite soil samples
per field were taken to 20 cm of depth. Sampling was done twice: November,
2015 and June, 2017 in order to study the dry and the rainy season. The analyses
of mites and springtails were done by the Bayer’s methodology (2006). For the extraction
of the mesofauna components, 300 g of soil were placed in modified Berlese
funnels, which separated the organisms from the soil by entrapping them in alcohol.
Generally, mites and springtail populations are lower in soils under agriculture. In
both seasons, the higher number of mites and springtails were found in the marabou
and in the natural forest, without difference with the pasture area. The farms under organic
management showed populations lower than these references areas, but higher
and significantly different from those farms under conventional agriculture. No significant
differences were found between the fields under conventional farming, either
from the private or state sectors. It can be assumed that the organic management diminished
the negative effect of agriculture on soil mesofauna. The structure of the
mites’ community showed that Oribatid was the most abundant order and never was
below 60 %, followed by Mesostigmata and Gasamids. The Prostigmatide was the order
with low populations. In the springtails’ group, the family Isotomidae presented
the highest number of individuals and the lower was found in the family Entomobrydae.
These results suggest that the effect of soil management in agricultural systems
showed influence on soil mesofauna component used as indicators for determine soil
health.
Descripción
Palabras clave
Farming Systems, Mesofauna, Mites, Soil Management, Springtails