Effects of Land Use on Soil Arthropod Communities

The impact of agricultural practices and changes in land use on soil microarthropod communities was investigated by analyzing the data from 53 sample sites with five different land-use categories (natural habitats, orchards, arable crops, olive groves and vineyards). These datasets are a mix of published and unpublished studies and were analyzed using statistical techniques that enabled a determination and comparison of the values of the biological soil quality index for each of the five land-use systems based on the richness and community composition of the biological forms of the microarthropods identified (QBS-ar), and the chemical and physical properties of the soil [e.g., pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), dominant particle sizes present (e.g., clay) and texture] for each locality. Our results confirm that different agricultural practices diminish, in different ways, the dominance and variety of species present in soil microarthropod communities. Furthermore, these agroecosystem communities represent a sub-sample of the soil microarthropod communities found in natural habitats; presumably due to the stress factors experienced from impact(s) of the differing chemical and physical properties of the soils, and the resultant selection pressures placed upon the biological forms present in the soil.