Soil mesofauna in consolidated land use systems: how management affects soil and litter invertebrates

ABSTRACT: Soil mesofauna consists of small invertebrates that live in the soil or litter and are sensitive to climatic conditions, management systems, plant cover and physical or chemical soil attributes. These organisms are active in the cycling of nutrients, since they fragment the organic matter hereby accelerating microbial decomposition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the invertebrate community in no-tillage, conventional tillage, minimum tillage and secondary forest in regeneration to determine the relationship of mesofauna to litter, soil attributes, management and seasonality. T...