Soil invertebrate diversity in a traditional livestock agroforestry landscape in southeastern Mexi

Abstract

Background: Soil invertebrates play an active role as ecosystem engineers in physical, chemical, and biological processes, and are therefore important bioindicators of the health of natural and agroecosystems, such as pastoral landscapes, where these organisms have been poorly studied. Objectives: To evaluate the abundance, richness, and diversity of soil invertebrates and their importance as bioindicators in a livestock agroforestry landscape in southeastern Mexico. Methods: We used 45 pitfall traps placed in three production units (PU1, PU2 and PU3). Each PU’s maintain similarly grazing areas, with grass monocultures and dispersed native trees, and natural vegetation patches within the same area. Sampling was performed across three periods (the dry season, the transition between the dry and rainy seasons, and the rainy season) to account for seasonal variation. Results: We obtained a total abundance of 12,342 invertebrates and a richness of 26 orders (taxa). The most abundant taxa were Hymenoptera (52 %), Coleoptera (15 %), Diptera (11 %), and Orthoptera (5%), and the remaining 17 % corresponded to 22 taxa. Taxon diversity was higher in PU3 compared to the other production units. Implications: Maintaining a livestock landscape with habitat heterogeneity can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainability of production systems. Conclusions: The presence of indicator taxa was heterogeneous among the production units, which shows that, at the livestock agroforestry landscape scale, are able to maintain a functional structure that preserves the ecosystem services provided by the diversity of soil invertebrates.