Effect of cultivation of cover crops on soil fauna

Abstract

The agroecological systems of production aim at the conservation of the soil and improvements of its characteristics, which may favor the development of crops of great food interest. The objective of this study was to evaluate the soil fauna community as an indicator of the effect of different plant consortia for soil cover. The treatments consisted of spontaneous vegetation (T1), single crotalaria (T2), crotalaria intercropped with maize (T3), single pig bean (T4) and pig bean intercropped with maize (T5). Sampling was performed before and after the incorporation of the cover plants, using a randomized block design. The type and consortium of cover crops before incorporation causes changes in the community of the organisms that live in the interior of the soil, presenting a greater number of individuals in the presence of the single pig bean and greater diversity where there are spontaneous plants. These organisms also had relation with the levels of carbon, calcium, magnesium and the pH of the soil. However, for the organisms living on the surface, no differences were observed between treatments.