Litter decomposition by soil fauna: effect of land use in agroecosystems

• Autores: Cassani, Mariano Tomás; Sabatté, María Leticia; Riveira Rubin, Mailén; Sfeir, Alberto Jorge; Massobrio, Marcelo Juan
• Año de publicación: 2021
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: Heliyon; Vol.7, no.10; e08127; https://www.cell.com/heliyon/about
• Materia: SOIL CONSERVATION; COMPLEX SYSTEMS; DECOMPOSITION RATE; REMAINING LITTER; DISTURBANCE; LITTER BAG
• Institución: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía

Fil: Cassani, Mariano Tomás. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso de la Tierra. Cátedra de Manejo y Conservación de Suelos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Sabatté, María Leticia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso de la Tierra. Cátedra de Manejo y Conservación de Suelos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Riveira Rubin, Mailén. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Cerealicultura. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Riveira Rubin, Mailén. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Riveira Rubin, Mailén. CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Sfeir, Alberto Jorge. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Catedra de Conservación y Manejo del Suelo. Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fil: Massobrio, Marcelo Juan. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso de la Tierra. Cátedra de Manejo y Conservación de Suelos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Soil fauna plays a key role in organic matter decomposition. Litter decomposition depends on the relationships of soil fauna and microorganisms as well as climate and litter quality. The decomposer community is sensitive to land use. Thus, physical-chemical disturbances, like soil tillage, can exercise important control on the soil fauna. In order to study the effect of land use and its impact on litter decomposition by soil fauna, a litter-bag experiment was conducted in the Pampa Serrana region, Azul district, Argentina. Litter-bags were made in three different mesh-sizes, allowing the access of micro, micro þ meso and micro þ meso þ macrofauna. Four different treatments were defined: naturalized grassland and three agricultural agroecosystems under different tillage systems, i.e., conservation tillage, conventional-conservation tillage and conventional tillage. Decomposition rate and remaining litter were measured across three different seasons. We found that naturalized grassland obtained the highest decomposition rates and the least remaining litter compared to conservation and conventional tillage systems. No difference in litter decomposition was identified among agricultural agroecosystems. Micro þ meso þ macrofauna presented the highest decomposition rate and the lowest remaining litter of soil fauna groups, in all agroecosystems. In contrast, microfauna decomposition rate was the lowest and produced the highest remaining litter. Micro þ mesofauna presented values of decomposition rate and remaining litter that differed significantly from the rest of the groups in some seasons. These results highlight the importance of soil fauna in litter decomposition and the negative effects of different land use systems on litter decomposition by soil fauna.
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