Compacted soil affects soil macrofauna populations in a semi-arid environment in central Queensland |
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Institution: | 1. Professor, University of Buenos Aires, Faculty of Agronomy, Department of Animal Production, Buenos Aires, Argentina;2. Professor, CONICET-University of Buenos Aires, Institute of Physiological and Ecological Research Related to Agriculture, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
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Abstract: | Population densities of soil macrofauna were assessed in a field experiment with annually compacted treatments (applied to whole plots) and management treatments to repair initially compacted soil. Earthworms accounted for about half the macrofauna recovered during the experiment. Compaction of wet surface soil (water content>plastic limit) by agricultural machinery generally reduced numbers of macrofauna and earthworms. Annual compaction with a 10 Mg axle load on wet soil reduced mean macrofauna numbers from 70 to 15 m−2 and mean earthworm numbers from 41 to 2 m−2. Annual compaction with 6 Mg on soil drier than the plastic limit to a depth of 0.08 m had no adverse effect on the soil macrofauna. A 3-year pasture ley had more macrofauna (211 m−2) than a control treatment under cropping (29 m−2) but numbers declined when cropping was resumed. |
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