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Biological properties of disturbed and undisturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Northeast Brazil

Propriedades biológicas de Cerrado sensu stricto preservado e não preservado do Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure soil microbial biomass and soil surface fauna in undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto (Css) from Sete Cidades National Park, Northeast Brazil. The following sites were sampled under Cerrado sensu stricto (Css) at the park: undisturbed and disturbed Css (slash-and-burn agricultural practices). Total organic and microbial biomass C were higher in undisturbed than in disturbed sites in both seasons. However, microbial biomass C was higher in the wet than in the dry season. Soil respiration did not vary among sites but was higher in the wet than in the dry season. The densities of Araneae, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were higher in the undisturbed site, whereas the densities of Formicidae were higher in the disturbed site. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis separated undisturbed from disturbed sites according to soil biological properties. Disturbance by agricultural practices, such as slash-and-burn, probably resulted in the deterioration of the biological properties of soil under native Cerrado sensu stricto in the Sete Cidades National Park.

Keywords:
soil microbial biomass; soil fauna; sustainability; soil disturbance

Resumo

O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar as propriedades biológicas do solo em área de Cerrado sensu stricto preservadas e não preservadas do Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades, Nordeste do Brasil. Os seguintes sites sob Cerrado sensu stricto (Css) foram avaliados: preservado (UND) e não preservado (DIS). O C orgânico total e da biomassa microbiana foram maiores na área preservada do que na não preservada em ambas estações seca e chuvosa. Entretanto, o C da biomassa microbiana foi maior na estação chuvosa do que na seca. A respiração do solo não variou entre as áreas, mas foi maior na estação chuvosa. As densidades de Araneae, Coleoptera e Ortoptera foram maiores na área preservada, enquanto as densidades de Formicidae foram maiores na área não preservada. A analise de escalonamento não-métrico separou a área preservada da não-preservada de acordo com as propriedades biológicas. Os distúrbios no solo pelas atividades agrícolas, como corte-e-queima, resultaram na deterioração das propriedades biológicas do Cerrado nativo no Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades.

Palavras-chave:
biomassa microbiana do solo; fauna do solo; sustentabilidade; distúrbio no solo

1 Introduction

The Brazilian Cerrado is one of the ecosystems with the greatest biodiversity found in Brazil and comprises riparian forest, seasonal semideciduous forest, seasonal deciduous forest, and wet grasslands (Forzza et al., 2010Forzza, R.C., Leitman, P.M., Costa, A.F., Carvalho, A.A., Peixoto, A.L., Walter, B.M.T., Bicudo, C., Zappi, D., Costa, D.P. and Lleras, E., 2010 [viewed 25 February 2015]. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro [online]. Available from: http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/
http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/...
). The ecosystem is the second largest Brazilian domain after the Amazonian (Gatti et al., 2014Gatti, A.B., Takao, L.K., Pereira, V.C., Ferreira, A.G., Lima, M.I. and Gualtieri, S.C., 2014. Seasonality effect on the allelopathy of cerrado species. Brazilian Journal of Biology = Revista Brasileira de Biologia, vol. 74, no. 3, suppl. 1, pp. S064-S069. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.21512. PMid:25627367.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.2151...
) and extends over all regions of Brazil.

In the northeast of Brazil, the Cerrado is concentrated in the states of Piauí and Maranhão with an area of ​​20 million ha (Felfili and Matos, 2010Felfili, J.M. and Matos, M.Q., 2010. Florística, fitossociologia e diversidade da vegetação arbórea nas matas degaleria do Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades (PNSC), Piauí, Brasil. Acta Botanica Brasílica, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 483-496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062010000200019.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062010...
). In particular, in Piauí, the Brazilian government created the Sete Cidades National Park (PNSC), covering an area of 6,221 ha, aiming to study and protect the diversity of water, vegetation, and soil resources (IBDF, 1979INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO FLORESTAL – IBDF, 1979. Plano de Manejo: Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades. Brasília: IBDF/FBCN.). During the last ten years, geomorphological and quantitative surveys of vegetation and animals have been conducted (Digby et al. 1996Digby, L., Ferrari, S.F. and Castro, A.A.J.F., 1996. Preliminary records of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) from the Sete Cidades Park, Piauí, Brazil. Neotropical Primates, vol. 4, pp. 53-55.; Cavalcanti and Mobin, 2001Cavalcanti, L.H. and Mobin, M., 2001. . Hemitrichia serpula var. piauiensis (Trichiaceae, Myxomycetes) - a new variety from BrazilActa Botanica Brasílica, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 133-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062001000100013.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062001...
; Castro et al., 2002Castro, N.M.C.F., Porto, K.C., Yano, O. and Castro, A.A.J.F., 2002. Levantamento florístico de bryopsida de cerrado e mata ripícola do Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades, Piauí, Brasil. Acta Botanica Brasílica, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 61-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062002000100008.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062002...
).

However, some areas under Cerrado around the PNSC are being converted to croplands through the practice of slash-and-burn. In this practice, the forest is cut manually by small farmers. The farmers burn the dried vegetation residues aiming to clear their land and subsequently establish crops (Farella et al., 2001Farella, N., Lucotte, M., Louchouarn, P. and Roulet, M., 2001. Deforestation modifying terrestrial organic transport in the Rio Tapajós, Brazilian Amazon. Organic Geochemistry, vol. 32, no. 12, pp. 1443-1458. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(01)00103-6.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(01)...
). The nutrient-rich ashes resulting from the burnt forest biomass is used as a fertilizer and temporarily increases soil fertility (Fabian et al. 2005Fabian, P., Kohlpaintner, M. and Rollenbeck, R., 2005. Biomass burning in the Amazon-fertilizer for the mountaineous rain forest in Ecuador. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 290-296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2005.07.272. PMid:16206723.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1065/espr2005.07.27...
). This practice influences nutrient cycling patterns by modifying plant cover and biodiversity (Sankaran et al., 2005Sankaran, M., Hanan, N.P., Scholes, R.J., Ratnam, J., Augustine, D.J., Cade, B.S., Gignoux, J., Higgins, S.I., Le Roux, X., Ludwig, F., Ardo, J., Banyikwa, F., Bronn, A., Bucini, G., Caylor, K.K., Coughenour, M.B., Diouf, A., Ekaya, W., Feral, C.J., February, E.C., Frost, P.G., Hiernaux, P., Hrabar, H., Metzger, K.L., Prins, H.H., Ringrose, S., Sea, W., Tews, J., Worden, J. and Zambatis, N., 2005. Determinants of woody cover in African savannas. Nature, vol. 438, no. 7069, pp. 846-849. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04070. PMid:16341012.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature04070...
) and by directly altering chemical and biological properties of soil (Michelsen et al., 2004Michelsen, A., Andersson, M., Jensen, M., Kjøller, A. and Gashew, M., 2004. Carbon stock, soil respiration and microbial biomass in fireprone tropical grassland, woodland and forest ecosystems. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, vol. 36, no. 11, pp. 1707-1717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2004.04.028.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2004...
). Therefore, little is known about the soil biological properties in the protected areas of Cerrado, and how slash-and-burn practices affect soil properties at the PNSC.

The lack of knowledge about soil biological properties is of concern because soil organisms play critical roles in essential ecosystem functions (Rodrigues et al., 2013Rodrigues, J.L.M., Pellizari, V.H., Mueller, R., Baek, K., Jesus, E.C., Paula, F.S., Mirza, B., Hamaoui JUNIOR, G.S., Tsai, S.M., Feigl, B., Tiedje, J.M., Bohannan, J.M. and Nüsslein, K., 2013. Conversion of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture results in biotic homogenization of soil bacterial communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 110, no. 3, pp. 988-993. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1220608110. PMid:23271810.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.122060811...
). Microbial communities are responsible for much of the organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling, influencing the chemical and physical properties of the soil, and consequently, its primary productivity (Pereira et al., 2013Pereira, J.M., Baretta, D., Bini, D., Vasconcellos, R.L.F. and Cardoso, E.J.B.N., 2013. Relationships between microbial activity and soil physical and chemical properties in native and reforested Araucaria angustifolia forests in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ciencia do Solo, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 572-586. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-06832013000300003.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-06832013...
). These communities can be used as an efficient and dynamic indicator of soil quality (Araújo et al., 2014ARAÚJO, A. S. F., TSAI, S. M., BORGES, C.D., CESARZ, S. and EISENHAUER, N., 2014. Soil bacterial diversity in degraded and restored lands of Northeast Brazil. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, vol. 106, pp. 891-899. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10482-014-0258-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10482-014-025...
). In addition, soil surface fauna provide important information on ecosystem stability due to the strong dependency of these taxa on plant and soil diversity (Eisenhauer et al., 2013Eisenhauer, N., Cesarz, S., Koller, R., Worm, K. and Reich, P.B., 2013. Global change belowground: impacts of elevated CO2, nitrogen, and summer drought on soil food webs and biodiversity. Global Change Biology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 435-447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02555.x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.20...
).

As slash-and-burn is being used at the edge of National Park, we hypothesized that this practice would affect the soil biological properties of the native Cerrado. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the soil biological properties of the undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from PNSC, Northeast Brazil.

2 Material and Methods

The study was conducted in the Seven Cities National Park (PNSC) (04º02'-08'S and 41°40'-45'W), located in the northeastern state of Piauí. The park covers an area of ​​6,221 ha. The climate is sub-humid and there are two distinct seasons (wet and dry) during the year, with the annual average temperatures at 25oC. The area has an annual average rainfall of 1,558 mm distributed throughout February, March and April.

The following locations were sampled under Cerrado strictu sensu (Css) at the park: undisturbed Css (UND) belonging to the Long-Term Ecological Program (PELD-CNPq) from Brazilian government; and disturbed Css (DIS) site by slash-and-burn. The disturbed site was characterized by slash-and-burn practice of Cerrado strictu sensu and subsequent cultivation of maize or rice for one season. In this study, the last burning occurred on October 2012 and maize crop was planted in November 2012. The sites have about 1,000 m2 and are homogeneous in terms of soil and slope. At each plot, we sampled eight subplots (50 m2), which represented replicates (in each subplot we sampled three soil cores, at 0-20 cm depth which were mixed to make a composite sample per subplot), in March (wet season) and September (dry season) of 2013. All samples were immediately stored in sealed plastic bags in a cooler and transported on ice to the laboratory.

Soil pH was determined in a 1:2.5 soil/water extract. Exchangeable Al3+ was determined using extraction with 1 M KCl. Available P was extracted using Mehlich-1 extraction method (Tedesco et al., 1995Tedesco, M.J., Gianello, C. and Bissani, C.A., 1995. Análises de solos, plantas e outros materiais. Porto Alegre: UFRGS. 230 p.). Total organic C (TOC) was determined by the wet combustion method using a mixture of potassium dichromate and sulfuric acid under heating (Yeomans and Bremner, 1988Yeomans, J.C. and Bremner, J.M., 1988. A rapid and precise method for routine determination of organic carbono in soil. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, vol. 19, no. 13, pp. 1467-1476. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00103628809368027.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00103628809368...
).

Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) was determined according to Vance et al. (1987)Vance, E.D., Brookes, P.C. and Jenkinson, D.S., 1987. An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 703-707. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(87)90052-6.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(87)9...
with extraction of C from fumigated and unfumigated soils by K2SO4. Moreover, we calculated the ratio between MBC and TOC, which is a common indicator for carbon availability.

Surface-active soil fauna were measured using pitfall traps, consisting of plastic containers of 10 cm height and 10 cm in diameter with 50% ethanol to about 1/3 of its volume. Each trap was buried leaving its opening at ground level, spaced twenty meters in the form of a transect towards the central part of each area, where it remained for seven days. Each site was fitted with a total of eight traps to capture some of the spatial heterogeneity. The soil fauna was identified and quantified with a binocular microscope and grouped to order or family level. Data were log10-tranformed to meet the requirements for parametric statistical tests. The means and standard deviations of these groups are nevertheless calculated. Only those four invertebrate groups were analyzed (Araneae, Coleoptera, Formicidae, Orthoptera) for which the sampling method was adequate (Araujo et al., 2015ARAÚJO, A.S.F., EISENHAUER, N., NUNES, L.A.P.L., LEITE, L.F.C. and CESARZ, S., 2015. Soil surface-active fauna in degraded and restored lands of Northeast Brazil. Land Degradation & Development, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 1-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2247.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2247...
).

Soil chemical and microbiological properties were analyzed using the SPSS 11.0 for Windows software package. Means and standard deviations were calculated. Analysis of variance procedures (ANOVA) were used for comparing the differences between the sites (disturbed and undisturbed) and season (dry and wet). Least significant difference (LSD) analysis was performed and all differences reported in the text were tested and considered significant at p<0.05. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) with Sorensen distances was performed with the variables using multivariate ordination. NMS of CLPP was performed on normalized, transformed absorbance data. Ordination was performed using the PC-ORD v. 6.0 software.

3 Results

Soil chemical and biological properties differed between the undisturbed and disturbed sites in both wet and dry seasons (Table 1 and 2). The soil pH values and Ca content were lower in the undisturbed than the disturbed site. In contrast, the available P and exchangeable K did not differ between sites (Table 1).

Table 1
Soil pH, Ca, P and K content at undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Sete Cidades National Park, Brazil.
Table 2
Total organic C (TOC), microbial biomass C (MBC), soil respiration (CO2), metabolic quotient (qCO2), and ratio between soil microbial biomass C and total organic carbon content (MBC-to-TOC) at undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Sete Cidades National Park, Brazil.

TOC and MBC content were higher in the undisturbed than in the disturbed site in both seasons (Table 2). However, the MBC was higher in the wet than in the dry season. Soil respiration did not vary among sites but was higher in the wet than in the dry season. Conversely, the metabolic quotient (qCO2) was higher in the disturbed site in the wet season, whereas qCO2 did not vary among sites in the dry season. The MBC-to-TOC ratio was higher in the undisturbed than in the disturbed site but did not vary between seasons.

Investigations of the soil surface fauna indicated that the densities of Araneae, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were higher in the undisturbed site, whereas the density of Formicidae was higher in the disturbed site (Table 3). Seasonally, the densities of Coleoptera, Formicidae, and Orthoptera were higher in the wet season, whereas the density of Araneae was higher in the dry season.

Table 3
Soil surface fauna (Araneae, Coleoptera, Formicidae and Orthoptera) at undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Sete Cidades National Park, Brazil.

The MNS of soil microbial biomass (Figure 1) and active fauna (Figure 2) explained 93% and 98% of variation, respectively, and separated undisturbed from disturbed sites according to soil properties. TOC, MBC, qmic, Araneae, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were grouped with the undisturbed site and clustered with P and Al content. Soil respiration, qCO2, and Formicidae were grouped with the disturbed site and clustered with soil pH and Na content.

Figure 1
NMS based on microbial biomass and chemical properties of soil at undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Sete Cidades National Park, Brazil. pH – soil pH; P – available P; Ca – Exchangeable Ca; Na – Exchangeable Na; SOC – Soil organic C; MBC – Microbial biomass C; qMIC – Microbial quotient; RESP – Basal respiration; qCO2 – Metabolic quotient.
Figure 2
NMS based on soil surface fauna and chemical properties of soil at undisturbed and disturbed Cerrado sensu stricto from Sete Cidades National Park, Brazil. pH – soil pH; P – available P; Ca – Exchangeable Ca; Na – Exchangeable Na.

4 Discussion

Soils under Cerrado are usually acidic and show low levels of exchangeable Ca (Ruggiero et al., 2002Ruggiero, P.G.C., Batalha, M.A., Pivello, V.R. and Meirelles, S.T., 2002. Soil-vegetation relationships in cerrado (Brazilian savanna) and semideciduous forest, Southeastern Brazil. Plant Ecology, vol. 160, no. 1, pp. 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1015819219386.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:101581921938...
). Therefore, the higher values found for soil pH and Ca content in the disturbed site are probably due to the slash-and-burn practice that contributes to increasing Ca content and consequently soil pH (Beliveau et al., 2014Béliveau, A., Davidson, R., Lucotte, M., Canto Lopes, O., Paquet, S. and Vasseur, C., 2014. Early effects of slash-and-burn cultivation on soil physicochemical properties of small-scale farms in the Tapajós region, Brazilian Amazon. The Journal of Agricultural Science, vol. 23, pp. 1-17.). The increase in Ca content is related to the carbonization of plant biomass resulting in the production of calcite (CaCO3) (Yuan et al., 2011Yuan, J.H., Xu, R.K., Wang, N. and Li, J.Y., 2011. Amendment of acid soils with crop residues and biochars. Pedosphere, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 302-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(11)60130-6.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(11)...
). In addition, soil pH may also increase due to incorporation of alkaline ash from slash-and-burn practices (Kopecky et al., 2012Kopecky, M.J., Meyers, L.N. and Wasko, W., 2012. Using industrial wood ash as a soil amendment. Madison: Cooperative Extension Publications, pp. 4.). The similar P and K concentrations at all sites may be associated with the presence of organic residues at the undisturbed site or the slash-and-burn practice at the disturbed site (Tabi et al., 2013Tabi, F.O., Mvondo, A.D., Boukong, A., Mvondo, R.J. and Nkoum, G., 2013. Changes in soil properties following slash and burn agriculture in the humid forest zone of Cameroon. African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 8, pp. 1990-1995.).

The higher TOC content in undisturbed Cerrado sensu stricto indicates that the presence of plant litter contributes to an increase in organic C, whereas soil disturbance through the slash-and-burn practice promotes a strong decrease in TOC content (Tabi et al., 2013Tabi, F.O., Mvondo, A.D., Boukong, A., Mvondo, R.J. and Nkoum, G., 2013. Changes in soil properties following slash and burn agriculture in the humid forest zone of Cameroon. African Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 8, pp. 1990-1995.; Leite et al., 2014Leite, L.F.C., Iwata, B.F. and Araujo, A.S.F., 2014. Soil organic matter pools in a tropical savanna under agroforestry system in northeastern Brazil. Revista Árvore, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 711-723. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-67622014000400014.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-67622014...
). The decrease in organic C can have a major impact on soil, leading to an overall decline in soil quality due the reduction in available water capacity, nutrient status, and soil structure (Kimble et al., 2001KIMBLE, J.M., LAL. R. and MAUSBACH, M., 2001. Erosion effect on soil organic carbon pool in soils of Iowa. In: D.E. STOTT, R.H. MOHTAR and G.C. STEINHARDT, eds. Sustaining the global farm. Washington: USDA-ARS, pp. 472-475.).

Soil microbial biomass is an important indicator of soil quality and also a sensitive early indicator of soil change (Zhang and Fang, 2007Zhang, M. and Fang, L., 2007. Effect of tillage, fertilizer and green manure cropping on soil quality at an abandoned brick making site. Soil & Tillage Research, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 87-93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2006.03.016.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2006.0...
). Soil microbial biomass C differed seasonally, and this pattern may be attributed to different soil humidity (Silva et al., 2012Silva, D.K.A., Freitas, N.O., Sousa, R.G. and Silva, F.S.B., 2012. Soil microbial biomass and activity under natural and regenerated forests and conventional sugarcane plantations in Brazil. Geoderma, vol. 189, pp. 257-261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.06.014.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.201...
) or temperature (Rodrigues et al., 2015RODRIGUES, R.C., ARAUJO, R.C., COSTA, C.S., LIMA, A.J.T., OLIVEIRA, M.E., CUTRIM JUNIOR, J.A.A., SANTOS, F.N.S., ARAUJO, J.S., SANTOS, V.M. and ARAÚJO, A.S.F., 2015. Soil microbial biomass in an agroforestry system of Northeast Brazil. Tropical Grasslands, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 41-48.). During both seasons, the undisturbed Cerrado sensu stricto showed higher soil microbial biomass. This difference may be attributed to a more diverse quantity of litter under the native vegetation, which is able to support a larger microbial biomass (Nsabimana et al. 2004Nsabimana, D., Haynes, R.J. and Wallis, F.M., 2004. Size, activity and catabolic diversity of the soil microbial biomass as affected by land use. Applied Soil Ecology, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 81-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2003.12.005.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2003....
).

Soil respiration was higher during the wet season, possibly because of activation of soil biological activity by soil moisture. However, for the disturbed site, the qCO2 was higher. This difference may be a signal of stress on soil microbial biomass by the disturbance. For the MBC-to-TOC ratio, an index indicating the availability of organic matter in soils (Santos et al., 2012Santos, V.B., Araujo, A.S.F., Leite, L.F.C., Nunes, L.A.P.L. and Melo, W.J., 2012. Soil microbial biomass and organic matter fractions during transition from conventional to organic farming systems. Geoderma, vol. 170, pp. 227-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.11.007.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.201...
), the results showed that the more stable soil microbial biomass under undisturbed Cerrado sensu stricto contributed to a higher MBC-to-TOC ratio during both seasons.

Soil surface fauna showed different patterns in the undisturbed and disturbed sites. Aranaea, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were lower in the disturbed sites, possibly due to the loss of vegetation cover after slash-and-burn. This practice results in the loss of an adequate habitat for arthropods. In contrast, Formicidae were more abundant in disturbed soil. This result suggests that this agricultural practice degraded the habitat for litter-dwelling species and at the same time, created an open and dry habitat that favored the Formicidae (Graham et al., 2004GRAHAM, J.H., HUGHIE, H.H., JONES, S., WRINN, K., KRZYSIK, A.J., DUDA, J.J., FREEMAN, D.C., EMLEN, J.M., ZAK, J.C., KOVACIC, D.A., CHAMBERLIN-GRAHAM, C. and BALBACH, H., 2004. Habitat disturbance and the diversity and abundance of ants (Formicidae) in the Southeastern Fall-Line Sandhills. Journal of Insect Science, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 30-37.). A similar finding was found by Luz et al. (2013)Luz, R.A., Fontes, L.S., Cardoso, S.R. and Lima, E.F., 2013. Diversity of the Arthropod edaphic fauna in preserved and managed with pasture areas in Teresina-Piauí-Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology = Revista Brasileira de Biologia, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 483-489. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842013000300004. PMid:24212687.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842013...
, who reported a higher frequency of Formicidae in managed areas than in native forests in Northeast Brazil.

The NMS analyses of the soil biological and chemical properties revealed distinct trends for each site, indicating a strong relationship among biological properties and soil conditions. The undisturbed Cerrado in both seasons clustered together was characterized by higher microbial biomass C and densities of all soil fauna compared to the other site. These data may indicate that undisturbed soil presents greater availability of source of plant litter and organic residues for soil biota. In contrast, the disturbed Cerrado had a high respiratory quotient, which can be indicative of stress due to limited availability of resources.

5 Conclusion

Disturbance by agricultural practices, such as slash-and-burn, likely resulted in the deterioration of the biological properties of soil under native Cerrado sensu stricto in the PNSC. The removal of vegetation by slash-and-burn practices promoted a decrease in soil microbial biomass and surface fauna in the preserved site. These declines are sufficient to result in soil degradation and loss of biodiversity in the long-term. Therefore, policies of protection and conservation of native Cerrado in PNSC should be implemented to avoid further soil degradation and loss of soil biodiversity.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank “Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa no Estado do Piauí” (FAPEPI) and “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico” (CNPq) for financial support to this project trough of PRONEX (FAPEPI/CNPq).

  • (With 2 figures)

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    Mar 2017

History

  • Received
    22 Apr 2015
  • Accepted
    12 Nov 2015
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