The amount of mulch increases the abundance, and its composition the species diversity of springtails in crop rotation on chernozem soils
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25674/so95iss3id333Keywords:
Agroecosystems, Collembola, plant residues, field experiment, steppe zoneAbstract
Mulching is widely used in agriculture to improve soil structure and agrochemical parameters. This is especially true for agroecosystems of steppe chernozems with strong wind erosion and occasional drought. The effect of mulch introduction to the springtail communities was studied in a multi-year field experiment using different mulch quantities (0 tons/ha, 4 tons/ha, 8 tons/ha, 12 tons/ha and 16 tons/ha) and composition (pea and wheat plant residues). No-till technology was applied in a six-field crop rotation (peas — winter wheat— sunflower— winter wheat — corn— winter wheat). Collembola or springtails, playing a significant role in soil formation, were set as a model group for assessing the state of soil animals. Both the general characteristics of the springtail community and the response of individual species to the introduction of plant residues were studied. Their total abundance was correlated positively with an increase in the amount of plant residues of any composition, while no significant changes in species richness (number of species) were noted. Species diversity, assessed by the Shannon-Weaver index, significantly differed when plant residues of different compositions were introduced, while the amount of mulch did not affect this indicator. Different groups of springtail life forms reacted differently to the composition and amount of mulch. The number of springtails increased mainly due to hemiedaphic springtail species, both when plant residues of peas and wheat were introduced. Certain springtail species increased in abundance to the maximum (P. notabilis) and minimum (S. elegans, S. niger, C. succinea) amount of plant residues, while other species were associated with the composition of the mulch (D. tigrina, S. pumilis, P. alba) were identified. These results show that mulch management has pronounced impacts on springtail communities, which can inform management practices to improve the functioning of sustainable soil ecosystems in the future.
Downloads
References
Badejo, M. A., G. Tian, L. & Brussaard (1995): Effect of various mulches on soil microarthropods under a maize crop. – Biology and Fertility of Soils 20: 294–298.
Baker, C. J., & K. E. Saxton, (2007): The ‘what’and ‘why’of no-tillage farming. – In: Baker, C. J., & K. E. Saxton (eds): No-tillage seeding in conservation agriculture. – CAB International, London: 1–3.
Barrios, E. (2007): Soil biota, ecosystem services and land productivity. – Ecological economics 64(2): 269–285.
Basche, A. D., T. C. Kaspar, S. V. Archontoulis, D. B. Jaynes, T. J. Sauer, T. B. Parkin & F. E. Miguez (2016): Soil water improvements with the long-term use of a winter rye cover crop. – Agricultural Water Management 172: 40–50.
Bates, D. M. (2010): lme4: Mixed-effects modeling with R. – Springer: 131рр.
Bender, S. F., C. Wagg & M. G. van der Heijden (2016): An underground revolution: biodiversity and soil ecological engineering for agricultural sustainability. – Trends in ecology & evolution 31(6): 440–452.
Berg, M. P. & J. Bengtsson (2007): Temporal and spatial variability in soil food web structure. – Oikos 116(11): 1789–1804.
Brennan, A., T. Fortune & T. Bolger (2006): Collembola abundances and assemblage structures in conventionally tilled and conservation tillage arable systems. – Pedobiologia 50(2): 135–145.
Buchholz, J., P. Querner, D. Paredes, T. Bauer, P. Strauss, M. Guernion, J. Scimia, D. Cluzeau, F. Burel, S. Kratschmer & et al. (2017): Soil biota in vineyards are more influenced by plants and soil quality than by tillage intensity or the surrounding landscape. – Scientific Reports 7(1): 17445.
Chahartaghi, M., R. Langel, S. Scheu & L. Ruess (2005): Feeding guilds in Collembola based on nitrogen stable isotope ratios. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 37(9): 1718–1725.
Chernov, T. I., N. A. Kuznetsova, I. P. Taranets, A. K., Tkhakakhova, M. I. Kartashov & A. A. Goncharov (2020): Springtails Parisotoma notabiilis (Collembola: isotomidae) indicate favourable conditions for Fusarium species in arable soil: an experimental study in a winter wheat field. – In: Conceptual and applied aspects of scientific research and education in the field of invertebrate zoology: сollection of articles V International conference. – Tomsk: Tomsk State University Press: 55–58.
Cluzeau, D., M, Guernion , R. Chaussod, F. Martin-Laurent, C. Villenave, J. Cortet, N. Ruiz-Camacho, C. Pernin, T. Mateill, L. Philippot & et al. (2012): Integration of biodiversity in soil quality monitoring: Baselines for microbial and soil fauna parameters for different land-use types. – European Journal of Soil Biology 49: 63–72.
Conti, F. D. (2015): Conservation agriculture and soil fauna: only benefits or also potential threats? A review. – ECronicon Agriculture 2: 473–482.
Coulibaly, S. F., V. Coudrain, M. Hedde, N. Brunet, B. Mary, S. Recous & M. Chauvat (2017): Effect of different crop management practices on soil Collembola assemblages: A 4-year follow-up. – Applied Soil Ecology 119: 354–366.
Culik, M. P., J. L. de Souza & J. A. Ventura (2002): Biodiversity of Collembola in tropical agricultural environments of Espırito Santo, Brazil. – Applied Soil Ecology 21(1): 49–58.
Dabney, S. M., J. A. Delgado & D. W. Reeves (2001): Using winter cover crops to improve soil and water quality. – Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 32(7-8): 1221–1250.
Dray, S., P. Legendre & G. Blanchet (2007): Packfor: forward selection with permutation. – R package version 0.0-7.
Fjellberg, A. (1998): The Collembola of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Part I: Poduromorpha. – Brill, Leiden: 186pp.
Fjellberg, A. (2007): The Collembola of Fennoscandia and Denmark, Part II: Entomobryomorpha and Symphypleona. – Brill, Leiden: 265pp.
Frey, S. D., E. T. Elliott & K. Paustian (1999): Bacterial and fungal abundance and biomass in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems along two climatic gradients. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31(4): 573–585.
Fujii, S., M. P. Berg & J. H. Cornelissen (2020): Living litter: dynamic trait spectra predict fauna composition. – Trends in Ecology & Evolution 35(10): 886–896.
Gagnarli, E., G. Valboa, N. Vignozzi, D. Goggioli, S. Guidi, F. Tarchi, L. Corino & S. Simoni (2021): Effects of Land-Use Change on Soil Functionality and Biodiversity: Toward Sustainable Planning of New Vineyards. – Land 10 (4): 358.
Gardi, C. & V. Parisi (2002): Use of microarthropods as biological indicators of soil quality: The BSQ sinthetic indicator. – In: 7. International Meeting on: Soils with Mediterranean Type of Climate. – Valenzano, Italy: 297–304.
Groen, A. H., & S. W. Woods (2008): Effectiveness of aerial seeding and straw mulch for reducing post-wildfire erosion, north-western Montana, USA. – International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(5): 559–571.
Hågvar, S. & K. Klanderud (2009): Effect of simulated environmental change on alpine soil arthropods. – Global Change Biology 15(12): 2972–2980.
Hobbs, P. R. (2007): Conservation agriculture: what is it and why is it important for future sustainable food production? – The Journal of Agricultural Science 145(2): 127.
Hopkin, S. P. (1997): Biology of the springtails: (Insecta: Collembola). – OUP Oxford: 334рр.
Jiang, Y., H. Xie & Z. Chen (2021): Relationship between the amounts of surface corn stover mulch and soil mesofauna assemblage varies with the season in cultivated areas of northeastern China. – Soil and Tillage Research 213: 105091.
Kassam, A., T. Friedrich & R. Derpsch (2019): Global spread of conservation agriculture. – International Journal of Environmental Studies 76(1): 29–51.
Knapp, S. & M. G. van der Heijden (2018): A global meta-analysis of yield stability in organic and conservation agriculture. – Nature communications 9(1): 3632.
Kromp, B. (1989): Carabid beetle communities (Carabidae, Coleoptera) in biologically and conventionally farmed agroecosystems. – Agriculture, ecosystems & environment 27(1-4): 241–251.
Kulintsev, V. V., E. I. Godunova & L. I. Zhelnakova (2013): System of New Generation Agriculture of the Stavropol territory. – Stavropol. Agrus of Stavropol, State Agrarian University: 520рр. (In Russ.).
Lal, R. (2015): Restoring soil quality to mitigate soil degradation. – Sustainability 7(5): 5875–5895.
Moos, J. H., S. Schrader & H. M. Paulsen (2020): Minor changes in collembolan communities under different organic crop rotations and tillage regimes. – Journal of Sustainable and Organic Agriculture 70: 113–128.
Mordhorst, A., S. Peth & R. Horn (2014): Influence of mechanical loading on static and dynamic CO2 efflux on differently textured and managed Luvisols. – Geoderma 219: 1–13.
Nakamoto, T. & M. Tsukamoto (2006): Abundance and activity of soil organisms in fields of maize grown with a white clover living mulch. – Agriculture, ecosystems & environment 115(1-4): 34–42.
Ojala, R. & V. Huhta (2001): Dispersal of microarthropods in forest soil. – Pedobiologia 45(5): 443–450.
Oksanen, J., F. G. Blanchet, R. Kindt, P. Legendre, P. R. Minchin, R. B. O’hara, G. V. Simpson, P. Solymos, M. H. H. Stevens & H. Wagner (2013): Package ‘vegan’. – Community ecology package, version 2(9): 1–295.
Phillipson, J. (1971): Methods of study in quantitative soil ecology: population, production and energy flow. – Oxford, Paris.
Pittelkow, C. M., X. Liang, B. A. Linquist, K. J. van Groenigen, J. Lee, M. E. Lundy, N. van Gestel, J. Six, R. T. Venterea & C. van Kessel (2015): Productivity limits and potentials of the principles of conservation agriculture. – Nature 517(7534): 365–368.
Plaas, E., F. Meyer-Wolfarth, M. Banse, J. Bengtsson, H. Bergmann, J. Faber, M. Potthoff, T. Runge, S. Schrader & A. Taylor (2019): Towards valuation of biodiversity in agricultural soils: A case for earthworms. – Ecological economics 159: 291–300.
Ponge, J. F., F. Dubs, S. Gillet, J. P. Sousa & P. Lavelle (2006): Decreased biodiversity in soil springtail communities: the importance of dispersal and landuse history in heterogeneous landscapes. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38(5): 1158–1161.
Ponge, J. F. & S. Salmon (2013): Spatial and taxonomic correlates of species and species trait assemblages in soil invertebrate communities. – Pedobiologia 56(3): 129–136.
Potapov, M. (2001): Synopses on Palaearctic Collembola: Isotomidae. – Abhandlungen und Berichte des Naturkundemuseums Görlitz 73: 1–603.
Santorufo, L., S. Joimel, A. Auclerc, J. Deremiens, G. Grisard, M. Hedde, J. Nahmani, C. Pernin & J. Cortet (2021): Early colonization of constructed technosol by microarthropods. – Ecological Engineering 162: 106174.
Schneider, T. K. M. Keiblinger, E. Schmid, K. Sterflinger-Gleixner, G. Ellersdorfer, B. Roschitzki, A. Richter, L. Eberl, S. Zechmeister-Boltenstern & K. Riedel (2012): Who is who in litter decomposition? Metaproteomics reveals major microbial players and their biogeochemical functions. – The ISME journal 6(9): 1749–1762.
Schneider, C., & C. A. D’Haese (2013): Morphological and molecular insights on Megalothorax: the largest Neelipleona genus revisited (Collembola). – Invertebrate Systematics 27(3): 317–364.
Shveenkova, Yu. B. (2022): The collembolan fauna (Hexapoda: Collembola) of the «Privolzhskayalesostep» reserve and adjacent territories in the Penza region. – Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology 7(4): (In Russ.).
Siczek, A. & J. Lipiec (2011): Soybean nodulation and nitrogen fixation in response to soil compaction and surface straw mulching. – Soil and Tillage Research 114(1): 50–56.
Singh, B. & Z. Rengel (2007): The Role of Crop Residues in Improving Soil Fertility. – In: Marschner, P. & Z. Rengel (eds): Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems. – Soil Biology, vol 10. – Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg: 183–214.
Six, J., C. Feller, K. Denef, S. Ogle, J. C. de Moraes Sa & A. Albrecht (2002): Soil organic matter, biota and aggregation in temperate and tropical soils-Effects of no-tillage. – Agronomie 22(7-8): 755–775.
Stebaeva, S. K. (1970): Life forms of springtails (Collembola). – Zoologicheskii zhurnal 49(10): 1437–1455 (in Russian).
Thakur, M. P. & S. Geisen (2019): Trophic regulations of the soil microbiome. – Trends in microbiology 27(9): 771–780.
Thomson, L. J. & A. A. Hoffmann (2007): Effects of ground cover (straw and compost) on the abundance of natural enemies and soil macro invertebrates in vineyards. – Agricultural and Forest Entomology 9(3): 173–179.
Turnbull, M. S. & Z. Lindo (2015): Combined effects of abiotic factors on Collembola communities reveal precipitation may act as a disturbance. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 82: 36–43.
Vandermeer, J., M. van Noordwijk, J. Anderson, C. Ong & I. Perfecto (1998): Global change and multi-species agroecosystems: concepts and issues. – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 67(1): 1–22.
Wall, D. H. & U. N. Nielsen (2012): Biodiversity and ecosystem services: is it the same below ground. – Nature Education Knowledge 3(12): 8.
Wang, K. H., C. R. R. Hooks & S. P. Marahatta (2011): Can using a strip-tilled cover cropping system followed by surface mulch practice enhance organisms higher up in the soil food web hierarchy?. – Applied soil ecology 49: 107–117.
Yin, R., L. Gruss, N. Eisenhauer, P. Kardol, M. P. Thakur, A. Schmidt, Z. Xu, J. Siebert, C. Zhang, G.-L. Wu & M. Schädler (2019): Land use modulates the effects of climate change on density but not community composition of Collembola. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 138: 107598.
![Front cover: Neanura muscorum (Templeton, 1835) [Photo: Julian Taffner (Terra Aliens)]](https://soil-organisms.org/public/journals/1/cover_issue_50_en_US.jpg)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 SOIL ORGANISMSAll articles on www.soil-organisms.org may be read, copied, distributed, and (in limited quantity) printed for non-commercial, private, scientific purposes.
