SOCARRAS, Ana    IZQUIERDO, I. Evaluation of agroecological systems through biological indicators of the soil quality: edaphic mesofauna. []. , 37, 1, pp. 47-54. ISSN 0864-0394.

In a farm with livestock production-agriculture integrated management, located in Cangrejeras, Artemisa province, the impact of agroecological methods was evaluated through the variation of the soil mesofauna. Three management systems were selected: pastureland area, designated as control area, which had been established for more than 20 years; forage area, planted in mosaic form, with small plots of perennial crops, and subject to an organic manure treatment; and polycrop area, with a rotation system of short-cycle crops and application of compost. The samplings were conducted six and eight years after making the transformations in the forage and crop areas, in both seasons. Five samples were taken in each system, at a depth of 0-10 cm, according to a completely randomized design. In general, in the forage and pastureland areas, regarding the Oribatida/Astigmata, Oribatida/Prostigmata and Astigmata/Mesostigmata ratios (in both seasons and years of transformation), the edaphic groups that constitute indicators of soil stability and fertility prevailed (Oribatida and Mesostigmata), as they are favored by the incorporation of organic matter and a higher soil cover, which stimulates the mesofauna to recover higher stability conditions. In the polycrop area the groups which are indicators of the soil instability and infertility (Astigmata and Prostigmata) prevailed, because the crop rotation and the management of the agroecological techniques did not guarantee yet the conditions that benefit the establishment of the other groups.

: soil fertility; soil management; soil organisms.

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