SOIL MACROFAUNA INDUCED BY THE EXPANSION OF CONVENTIONAL COFFEE CULTIVATION IN SOUTHEAST BRAZIL

Abstract

This work deals with the changes that occurred in the soil macrofauna induced by the expansion of the coffee park. Edaphic and epigeal macrofauna were evaluated in the rainy (2022) and dry (2023) seasons. There were 17 taxa identified (Acarina, Araneae, Blattodea, Chilopoda, Coleoptera, Diplopoda, Diptera, Formicidae, Gastropoda, Hemiptera, Scolopendridae, Homoptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Oligochaeta, Oniscidea and Orthoptera). The composition of the macrofauna was affected by the change in land use in both seasons. The coffee tree areas (planting line, inter-row and traffic line) had visibly more organisms than the native vegetation and the fallow pasture in the dry season. The interline in both seasons presented the highest frequencies of organisms, perhaps behaving as an ecological corridor, which allows transit within the agroecosystem. This study draws attention to the gain in abundance and diversity of macrofauna in coffee production systems, especially between rows and in the dry season.