The Diversification and Intensification of Crop Rotations under No-Till Promote Earthworm Abundance and Biomass

RODRÍGUEZ, MARÍA PÍA; DOMÍNGUEZ, ANAHÍ; MOREIRA FERRONI, MELISA; WALL, LUIS GABRIEL; BEDANO, JOSÉ CAMILO

Agronomy

MDPI

Año: 2020 vol. 10

The diversification and intensification of crop rotations (DICR) in no-till systems is a novelapproach that aims to increase crop production, together with decreasing environmental impact.Our objective was to analyze the eect of dierent levels of DICR on the abundance, biomass,and species composition of earthworm communities in Argentinean Pampas. We studied three levelsof DICR?typical rotation (TY), high intensification with grass (HG), and with legume (HL); alongwith three references?natural grassland (NG), pasture (PA), and an agricultural external reference(ER). The NG had the highest earthworm abundance. Among the DICR treatments, abundance andbiomass were higher in HL than in HG and, in both, these were higher than in TY. The NG and PAhad a distinctive taxonomic composition and higher species richness. Instead, the DICR treatmentshad a similar richness and species composition. Earthworm abundance and biomass were positivelyrelated to rotation intensity and legume proportion indices, carbon input, and particulate organicmatter content. The application of DICR for four years, mainly with legumes, favors the developmentof earthworm populations. This means that a subtle change in management, as DICR, can have apositive impact on earthworms, and thus on earthworm-mediated ecosystem services, which areimportant for crop production.