SOIL MACROFAUNA AND PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES UNDER SOIL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN THE SANTA CATARINA HIGHLANDS, BRAZIL

Soil use can change processes such as soil organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and particle aggregation, which, in turn, influence the occurrence of macrofauna. The objective of this study was to relate land use systems to their effects on the distribution of soil macrofauna groups, as well as their relation to soil physical and chemical properties. The land use systems evaluated were native forest, an Eucalyptus plantation, pasture, a crop-livestock integration area, and a no-tillage crop area. Samples were collected from a 3 x 3 grid with a total of nine points at a distance of 30 m from each other, in winter and summer, in three municipalities in the southern Santa Catarina highlands, Brazil, considered as true replications. Soil physical and chemical properties were analyzed and the abundance and diversity of macrofauna were evaluated by the TSBF (Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility) method. Soil organisms belonging to 16 taxonomic groups were distinguished, with 4,702 individuals m(-2) in the winter and 7,438 individuals m(-2) in the summer. There was an interaction effect between the season and land use system, with fluctuation in the soil organism population dependent on land use and related to soil physical and chemical properties, demonstrated by redundancy analysis, which showed high correlation between environmental variables and soil fauna. Changes in the composition of soil macrofauna were observed in land use systems with more human impact. Native forest, eucalyptus plantation, and pasture were more stable in terms of biodiversity of soil macrofauna compared to agricultural areas under no-tillage and crop-livestock integration.