Resumen

SOCARRAS-RIVERO, Ana  y  IZQUIERDO-BRITO, Irma. Variation of the components of the edaphic mesofauna in a farm with agroecological management. Pastos y Forrajes [online]. 2016, vol.39, n.1, pp. 41-48. ISSN 2078-8452.

In order to evaluate the variation of the groups of the edaphic mesofauna from the application of agroecological methods, a study was conducted in a farm with more than 20 years of establishment in the Artemisa province (Cuba). Previously the farm did not receive organic amendments and it was used as a grazing area for Zebu cattle with a low stocking rate. The area was transformed into three productive systems: 25 % of forage, 25 % of polycropping and 50 % of traditional pastureland, which was designated as control area. The forage area was established in mosaic form, with small plots of perennial crops, and had a periodical supply of organic fertilizers; while the polycropping area integrated a short-cycle crop rotation system, mainly, and compost was applied. The samplings were carried out in the dry and rainy seasons, six and eight years after the transformation. A total of 1 915 edaphic microinvertebrates was collected, belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, represented by two sub-phyla, three classes, two subclasses, six orders and two families. The dominance-diversity curves showed that in the pastureland and in the forage area the fauna communities were more abundant and diverse, and were distinguished by a high dominance of detritivoremicroarthropods. In the polycroppingarea no dominant taxa were present. It is concluded that the performance of the edaphic mesofauna was highly dependent on the type of soil management and the seasonality.

Palabras clave : biodiversity; soil management; exploitation system.

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