Published
Associations between soil macroinvertebrate assemblages and physicochemical properties of tropical pasture soils in coastal Ecuador
Asociaciones entre los ensamblajes de macroinvertebrados del suelo y las propiedades fisicoquímicas de suelos con pasturas tropicales en la costa de Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/rfnam.v79.125368Keywords:
Biological diversity, Earthworms, Land use, Livestock production, Organic matter, Soil quality (en)Diversidad biológica, Lombrices de tierra, Uso de la tierra, Producción ganadera, Materia orgánica, Calidad del suelo (es)
Downloads
Soil macroinvertebrates mediate key soil processes, but field evidence is scarce in coastal Neotropical pastures. This study evaluated how soil physicochemical properties covary with macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity in tropical pastures of Manabí, Ecuador. Thirty-five cattle farms, seven per locality, were sampled by convenience between April and July 2022. Eleven physicochemical variables (0–20 cm) and macroinvertebrates from four 50×50 cm monoliths per farm (30 cm depth) were analyzed at taxonomic group level. Diversity indices and principal component analysis were applied. Of 19,358 individuals in seven groups, Oligochaeta reached 64.20% of abundance, with a mean density of 553 individuals m-2. Cation exchange capacity and clay content contributed most to physicochemical variation; diversity was lowest where physical conditions were most restrictive. Although the measured properties were adequate for pasture production, macroinvertebrate density was less than half the worldwide reference, indicating that physicochemical characterization alone did not capture soil biological condition.
Los macroinvertebrados del suelo median procesos edáficos clave, pero la evidencia de campo es escasa en las pasturas neotropicales costeras. Este estudio evaluó cómo las propiedades fisicoquímicas covarían con la abundancia y la diversidad de macroinvertebrados en pasturas tropicales de Manabí, Ecuador. Se muestrearon por conveniencia 35 fincas ganaderas, siete por localidad, entre abril y julio de 2022. Se analizaron once variables fisicoquímicas (0–20 cm) y los macroinvertebrados de cuatro monolitos de 50×50 cm por finca (30 cm de profundidad), a nivel de grandes grupos taxonómicos. Se aplicaron índices de diversidad y análisis de componentes principales. De 19.358 individuos en siete grupos, Oligochaeta alcanzó el 64,20% de la abundancia, con una densidad media de 553 individuos m-2. La capacidad de intercambio catiónico y la arcilla aportaron más a la variación fisicoquímica; la diversidad fue menor donde las condiciones físicas fueron más restrictivas. Aunque las propiedades medidas resultaron adecuadas para la producción de pasturas, la densidad de macroinvertebrados fue menos de la mitad de la referencia mundial, lo que indica que la caracterización fisicoquímica por sí sola no captó la condición biológica del suelo.
References
Alvarez F, Ríos P and Sterling A (2023) Effects of Organic Fertilization on Biomass Production in Urochloa spp. Pastures and Soil Biological and Physical Properties in the Colombian Amazon Region. Sustainability 15(21): 15217. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115217
Anderson JM and Ingram JSI (1993) Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: A Handbook of Methods. Second edition. CAB International, Wallingford. 221 p.
Augusto Feitosa de Souza T, Kormann S, Laurindo LK and Rodrigues da Silva LJ (2023) Land use and soil properties shifts soil fauna community complexity in subtropical ecosystems. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 69(11): 2081–2091. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2022.2135176
Batista I, Machado D, Correia M, Spinelli M and Corá J (2023) Soil macrofauna correlations with soil chemical and physical properties and crop sequences under no-tillage. Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo 47: e0230006. https://doi.org/10.36783/18069657rbcs20230006
Bedaso NH, Bezabih M, Zewdu-Kelkay T, Adie A, Khan NA, Jones CS et al (2022) Effect of fertilizer inputs on productivity and herbage quality of native pasture in degraded tropical grasslands. Agronomy Journal 114(1): 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20862
Bieluczyk W, Asselta FO, Navroski D, Gontijo JB, Venturini AM, Mendes LW et al (2023) Linking above and belowground carbon sequestration, soil organic matter properties, and soil health in Brazilian Atlantic Forest restoration. Journal of Environmental Management 344: 118573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118573
Blake GR and Hartge KH (1986) Bulk density. pp. 363–375. In: Klute A (ed.) Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 1: Physical and Mineralogical Methods. Second edition. ASA–SSSA, Madison. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssabookser5.1.2ed.c13
Bonini da Luz F, Castioni GAF, Tormena CA, Freitas RS et al (2022) Soil tillage and machinery traffic influence soil water availability and air fluxes in sugarcane fields. Soil and Tillage Research 223: 105459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2022.105459
Bünemann EK, Bongiorno G, Bai Z, Creamer RE, De Deyn G, de Goede R et al (2018) Soil quality – A critical review. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 120: 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.01.030
Coelho VO, Ribeiro Neto A, Anhê ACBM, Lima SS et al (2021) Soil macrofauna as bioindicator of soil quality in different management systems. Research, Society and Development 10(6): e54210616118. https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i6.16118
Costa Jr C, Villegas DM, Bastidas M, Matiz-Rubio N et al (2022) Soil carbon stocks and nitrous oxide emissions of pasture systems in Orinoquía region of Colombia: Potential for developing land-based greenhouse gas removal projects. Frontiers in Climate 4: 916068. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.916068
Cuenca-Nevárez GJ and Menjivar-Flores JC (2025) Physicochemical factors affecting nitrogen mineralization in soil cultivated tropical pastures. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 39(Special issue 2): 129–138. https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2023/39/s2.129.138
de Camargo TA, Denardin LGO, Pacheco LP, Pires GC et al (2023) Plant diversity and cattle grazing affecting soil and crop yield in tropical sandy soils. Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science 69(11): 2053–2064. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2022.2134564
de Lima AFL, Campos MCC, Martins TS, Silva GA et al (2022) Soil chemical attributes in areas under conversion from forest to pasture in southern Brazilian Amazon. Scientific Reports 12: 22555. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25406-9
Echeverría-Sáenz S, Ugalde-Salazar R, Guevara-Mora M, Quesada-Alvarado F and Ruepert C (2022) Ecological integrity impairment and habitat fragmentation for Neotropical macroinvertebrate communities in an agricultural stream. Toxics 10(7): 346. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10070346
Edwards CA and Arancon NQ (2022) The influence of environmental factors on earthworms. pp. 191–232. In: Edwards CA and Arancon NQ, Biology and Ecology of Earthworms. Fourth edition. Springer, New York.
Guarderas P, Trávez K, Boeraeve F, Cornelis J-T and Dufrêne M (2022) Native forest conversion alters soil macroinvertebrate diversity and soil quality in tropical mountain landscapes of northern Ecuador. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5: 959799. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.959799
IGAC – Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (2006) Métodos analíticos del laboratorio de suelos. Sexta edición. IGAC, Bogotá. 648 p.
Lavelle P, Mathieu J, Spain A, Brown G, Fragoso C, Lapied E et al (2022) Soil macroinvertebrate communities: A world-wide assessment. Global Ecology and Biogeography 31(7): 1261–1276. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13492
Locatelli JL, de Lima RP, Santos RS, Cherubin MR, Creamer RE and Cerri CEP (2023) Soil strength and structural stability are mediated by soil organic matter composition in agricultural expansion areas of the Brazilian Cerrado biome. Agronomy 13(1): 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13010071
Michel J, Lehnert M and Quandt D (2023) Elevation and cation exchange capacity determine diversity of ferns in a low-montane tropical rainforest in Ecuador. Journal of Tropical Ecology 39: e20: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467423000081
Montagnini F, Levin B and Berg KE (2022) Introduction. Biodiversity Islands: Strategies for Conservation in Human-Dominated Environments. In: Montagnini, F. (eds) Biodiversity Islands: Strategies for Conservation in Human-Dominated Environments. Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92234-4_1
Nel T, Bruneel Y and Smolders E (2023) Comparison of five methods to determine the cation exchange capacity of soil. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 186: 311–320. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.202200378
Pouyat RV, Page-Dumroese DS, Patel-Weynand T and Geiser LH (eds.) (2020) Forest and Rangeland Soils of the United States Under Changing Conditions: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis. Springer, Cham. 289 p. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45216-2
Quintero-Angel M, Ospina-Salazar DI (2022) Agricultural Soil Degradation in Colombia. In: Pereira, P., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Bogunovic, I., Zhao, W. (eds) Impact of Agriculture on Soil Degradation I. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 120. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2022_914
Ruiz N, Lavelle P and Jiménez J (2008) Soil Macrofauna Field Manual: Technical Level. FAO, Rome. 112 p. https://www.fao.org/4/i0211e/i0211e.pdf
Silva RM, Silva RM, Souza JRM, Gedgeski TP, Lima SS and Lima E (2021) Soil fauna as a bioindicator of soil quality in sugarcane crops: a theoretical framework. Research, Society and Development 10(10): e1874110. https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i10.18741
Tapia-Coral S, Teixeira LA, Velásquez E and Waldez F (2016) Macroinvertebrados del suelo y sus aportes a los servicios ecosistémicos, una visión de su importancia y comportamiento. Revista Colombiana de Ciencia Animal – RECIA 8(s): 260–267. https://doi.org/10.24188/recia.v8.n0.2016.380
Villanueva-López G, Lara-Pérez LA, Oros-Ortega I, Ramírez-Barajas PJ et al (2019) Diversity of soil macro-arthropods correlates to the richness of plant species in traditional agroforestry systems in the humid tropics of Mexico. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 286: 106658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2019.106658
Wu Y, Deng M, Huang J, Yang S, Guo L, Yang L et al (2022) Global patterns in mycorrhizal mediation of soil carbon storage, stability, and nitrogen demand: A meta-analysis. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 166: 108578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108578
Dimensions
PlumX
Article abstract page views
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal allows the author(s) to maintain the exploitation rights (copyright) of their articles without restrictions. The author(s) accept the distribution of their articles on the web and in paper support (25 copies per issue) under open access at local, regional, and international levels. The full paper will be included and disseminated through the Portal of Journals and Institutional Repository of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and in all the specialized databases that the journal considers pertinent for its indexation, to provide visibility and positioning to the article. All articles must comply with Colombian and international legislation, related to copyright.
Author Commitments
The author(s) undertake to assign the rights of printing and reprinting of the material published to the journal Revista Facultad Nacional de Agronomía Medellín. Any quotation of the articles published in the journal should be made given the respective credits to the journal and its content. In case content duplication of the journal or its partial or total publication in another language, there must be written permission of the Director.
Content Responsibility
The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the journal are not necessarily responsible or in solidarity with the concepts issued in the published articles, whose responsibility will be entirely the author or the authors.
