ECOLOGICAL INTENSIFICATION WITHIN FORAGE SYSTEMS BENEFITS SOIL ARTHROPODS AND SOIL BIOTA-MEDIATED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Abstract

Modern agricultural practices, such as intensive soil tillage, crop monocultures, andoverfertilization pose sustainability challenges in forage and livestock farming, impacting soil quality and ecosystem stability. Throughout the world, studies have revealed that agricultural intensification negatively impacts aboveground arthropods, prompting interest in ecologically intensified forage systems for agricultural sustainability. Belowground, soil arthropods provide many essential ecosystem services on the farm, including decomposition, biological control, and bioturbation; however, these organisms and their services are generally overlooked. Understanding the response of soil arthropods and soil properties to changes in land use/agricultural management practices is vital for ecologically and economically balanced systems. To investigate how land use in forage systems influences soil arthropod communities, soil properties, and their ecosystem services, I sampled soil biotic and abiotic properties and measured the rate of feeding activity by soil biota. This study was conducted across a land use gradient ranging from intensively managed to semi-natural habitats, including established cornsoybean rotations, forage pastures, grass margins, and woodlots. I found significant differences in several soil properties including soil bulk density and soil moisture between land use types. Soil arthropod communities were more abundant and diverse in pastures compared to corn plots and the soil biological quality was significantly lower in corn plots compared to all other land uses. Soil taxa such as Acari, Collembola, Diplopoda, and Chilopoda were associated with soil properties investigated here and soil biota feeding activity was highest in ecologically intensified land use types (characterized by high plant diversity, plant perenniality, and system circularity). The results of this study suggest that ecological intensification, through the presence of plant diversity, perenniality, and system circularity, supports soil quality and soil arthropod communities within forage systems. This research informs decision-making in livestock systems as they continue to dominate land use throughout the United States.