Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela
Conventional agricultural in the Venezuelan Llanos has generated gradual soil degradation. Therefore, conservationist agriculture has been proposed. According to several works, this type of management favors soil macrofauna. To test this hypothesis, the response of soil macrofauna to the establishme...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/464 |
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| author | Jimmy A. Morales-Márquez Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández Gloria K. Sánchez Zenaida Lozano Ignacio Castro |
| author_facet | Jimmy A. Morales-Márquez Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández Gloria K. Sánchez Zenaida Lozano Ignacio Castro |
| author_sort | Jimmy A. Morales-Márquez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Conventional agricultural in the Venezuelan Llanos has generated gradual soil degradation. Therefore, conservationist agriculture has been proposed. According to several works, this type of management favors soil macrofauna. To test this hypothesis, the response of soil macrofauna to the establishment of conservationist maize crops, associated with <i>Brachiaria dictyoneura</i> (Bd) and <i>Centrosema macrocarpum</i> (Cm), was evaluated. The samples of soil and soil macrofauna were taken per vegetation cover at different climatic season over 2 years and 10 months. For this period and under the conditions studied, the results partially refute the hypothesis; on the one hand, they showed that the soil macrofauna of a natural savanna (NS) is the most diverse and equitable (N<sub>1</sub> = 4.5 ± 2.8), followed by the cultivation of maize associated with Cm (N<sub>1</sub> = 3.2 ± 1.9) and the least diverse with Bd (N<sub>1</sub> = 2.6 ± 2.1). Additionally, some taxonomic groups apparently did not tolerate soil intervention, while Termitidae was favored. On the other hand, the temporal variation of the soil macrofauna did not differ between vegetation covers (F: 1.18; <i>p</i> = 0.37). This variation could be due to the decrease in TP (<i>r</i> = −0.55) and increased BD (<i>r</i> = 0.56). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:31:06Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:31:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-b03ae356eb3e41d7a338059f251632ae2023-12-03T13:35:47ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2022-03-0111446410.3390/land11040464Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of VenezuelaJimmy A. Morales-Márquez0Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta1Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández2Gloria K. Sánchez3Zenaida Lozano4Ignacio Castro5Ecological World for Life, 28003 Madrid, SpainDepartment of Geology and Geochemistry, Autonoma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, SpainIDECYT, Universidad Simón Rodríguez, Caracas 1050, VenezuelaCentro de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela, Caracas 1041, VenezuelaInstituto de Edafología, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas 1040, VenezuelaIDECYT, Universidad Simón Rodríguez, Caracas 1050, VenezuelaConventional agricultural in the Venezuelan Llanos has generated gradual soil degradation. Therefore, conservationist agriculture has been proposed. According to several works, this type of management favors soil macrofauna. To test this hypothesis, the response of soil macrofauna to the establishment of conservationist maize crops, associated with <i>Brachiaria dictyoneura</i> (Bd) and <i>Centrosema macrocarpum</i> (Cm), was evaluated. The samples of soil and soil macrofauna were taken per vegetation cover at different climatic season over 2 years and 10 months. For this period and under the conditions studied, the results partially refute the hypothesis; on the one hand, they showed that the soil macrofauna of a natural savanna (NS) is the most diverse and equitable (N<sub>1</sub> = 4.5 ± 2.8), followed by the cultivation of maize associated with Cm (N<sub>1</sub> = 3.2 ± 1.9) and the least diverse with Bd (N<sub>1</sub> = 2.6 ± 2.1). Additionally, some taxonomic groups apparently did not tolerate soil intervention, while Termitidae was favored. On the other hand, the temporal variation of the soil macrofauna did not differ between vegetation covers (F: 1.18; <i>p</i> = 0.37). This variation could be due to the decrease in TP (<i>r</i> = −0.55) and increased BD (<i>r</i> = 0.56).https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/464soil macrofaunacommunity analysisagroecologymaizeimproved pasturestropical savannas |
| spellingShingle | Jimmy A. Morales-Márquez Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández Gloria K. Sánchez Zenaida Lozano Ignacio Castro Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela Land soil macrofauna community analysis agroecology maize improved pastures tropical savannas |
| title | Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela |
| title_full | Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela |
| title_short | Effect of Maize Conservation Crops Associated with Two Vegetal Covers on the Edaphic Macrofauna in a Well-Drained Savanna of Venezuela |
| title_sort | effect of maize conservation crops associated with two vegetal covers on the edaphic macrofauna in a well drained savanna of venezuela |
| topic | soil macrofauna community analysis agroecology maize improved pastures tropical savannas |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/4/464 |
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