Abundance and diversity of soil mesofauna in six municipalities of Norte de Santander, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction- The edaphic mesofauna intervenes in the decomposition processes of organic matter, constituting an important characteristic of soil quality.

Objective-. Characterize the soil mesofauna in six municipalities of Norte de Santander

Methodology. The present study was developed in 15 farms of the municipalities; Arboledas, Convencion, La Playa, La Esperanza, Ocaña and Mutiscua in the Department of Norte de Santander where 18 agroecological models would be established (3 / municipality). The abundance and diversity of the mesofauna were characterized before establishing the crops, comparing the situation of the main groups by municipalities.

Results- In Arboledas the highest abundance of mesofauna was observed, with the presence of six classes, with detritive habits Crustacea, Collembola, Anelida, Symphyla and Arachnia: Oribatida, while in Esperanza and Mutiscua there were four classes; Insecta, Collembola, Symphyla and Arachnida and in the rest, the last three, which gives a measure of the processes of decomposition of organic matter and recycling of nutrients in these farms.

Conclusions: In five municipalities, the highest abundance of mesofauna corresponded to the Collembola class, while Insecta was more abundant in Esperanza and ranked second in Mutiscua, Symplyla was second in Convencion, and La Playa and Arachnida in Ocaña and Arboledas. The specific richness varied from 5.0 for Convencion and Ocaña to 28 for Arboledas and the diversity of species from 0.91 in Convencion to 3.54 in Arboledas, a municipality that was statistically separated from the rest, leaving Mutiscua and Esperanza intermediate concerning the rest.