Richness, abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna in environments under different forms of land use: secondary forest, agroforestry system and initial succession.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the richness, abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna morphospecies present in areas of different vegetation cover and land use on the campus of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Amazonas. The studied environments were: secondary forest, agroforestry system (SAF) and initial succession. In each environment, 6 plots in the 0.25 x 0.25 m space were collected at 4 depths including the litter. Wealth and diversity were greater and similar between secondary forest and agroforestry system. However, there was an increased abundance of organisms in the initial succession area, due to the high index of termites that are indicators of forest regeneration. Agroforestry systems are able to maintain macrofauna diversity in a similar way to secondary forests.