Invertebrates bioindicators of soil quality in the Center of Agroecology Rio Seco, Amélia Rodrigues, Bahia

Abstract

The edaphic fauna corresponds to the invertebrate community that lives in the soil. The characteristics
of the soil, as well as its quality, are determined to a large extent by the organisms
present in it. Therefore, the objective of this work was to quantify and identify individuals of the
edaphic fauna of three cultivated areas and a fragment of forest collected during rainy and dry
seasons. The collections were made in June and October 2015, using “Pitfalltrap” traps placed
every five meters of distance forming a transect in the central part of each area, where they remained
for seventy two hours. They were then screened and identified. From the identification
of the groups and morphotypes of the fauna sampled from the soil, we observed the richness
and abundance found in each area. A total of Five hundred and five and five individuals were
captured in the four sampled areas, belonging to eigth orders (Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Opiliones,
Diptera, Aranae, Isopoda and Blattodea). The morphospecies of the Formicidae family
showed higher numbers of individuals in all cultivated environments. The forest fragment showed higher richness indicating better environmental quality, despite the lower abundance of
the individuals.