Soil Macrofauna Dynamics in Agroecosystem Management
Summary
Soil macrofauna—comprising invertebrates such as earthworms, termites, ants, beetles and other arthropods—play a pivotal role in driving nutrient cycling, soil structure formation and the regulation of microbial communities within agricultural landscapes. Their burrowing, feeding and casting activities enhance porosity, water infiltration and organic matter decomposition, thereby sustaining key ecosystem services that underpin crop productivity and resilience. Management practices—including tillage intensity, crop rotations, organic amendments, agroforestry and integrated crop–livestock or silvopastoral systems—profoundly influence macrofaunal assemblages. In tropical regions, the retention of tree components and litter layers tends to mitigate the suppressive effects of monocultures, whereas in temperate zones reduced tillage and cover crops support a richer macrofaunal community. Long-term experiments have demonstrated that green manures and mixed grass–legume pastures can restore macrofaunal diversity in degraded soils, while diversified rotations alleviate nutrient imbalances and stabilise soil organic carbon. The global decline in soil macrofauna under conventional intensive agriculture has prompted renewed interest in ecological intensification, whereby enhancing the abundance and functional diversity of ecosystem engineers fosters sustainable yield gains and climate-mitigation co-benefits. Integrative approaches that combine biological, chemical and physical indicators are emerging as best practice for monitoring soil health and guiding adaptive management across diverse agroecosystems.
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Soil Macrofauna Dynamics in Agroecosystem Management publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in soil macrofauna dynamics in agroecosystem management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Soil macrofauna: Invertebrate organisms larger than 2 mm that inhabit soil and leaf litter, directly affecting soil structure, porosity and nutrient cycling.
Ecosystem engineers: Organisms that create, modify or maintain habitat structures, such as earthworms and termites, which influence multiple soil processes.
Agroecosystem: A managed ecological system in which crops, livestock, soil organisms and human interventions interact.
Green manure: The practice of growing specific plant species to be incorporated into the soil to enhance fertility, organic matter and biological activity.
Silvopastoral system: An agroforestry arrangement combining trees, shrubs and pasture to provide forage while enhancing soil and biodiversity.
References
- Soil macroinvertebrate communities: A world‐wide assessment. Global Ecology and Biogeography (2022).
- Long-Term Integrated Systems of Green Manure and Pasture Significantly Recover the Macrofauna of Degraded Soil in the Brazilian Savannah. Soil Systems (2023).
- Soil macrofauna density and diversity across a chronosequence of tropical forest restoration in Southeastern Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Biology (2017).
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