Abstract
In general, about 80–90% of the soil biological activity is carried out by soil fauna. Soil fauna has proved potentiality in soil formation and decomposition of waste materials. Of late, the importance of soil fauna in the functioning of soil ecosystem has been increasing gradually with integrated farming systems. Soil fauna mediate minute functions in soil viz., organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, C-storage, energy flow, water and oxygen infiltration and storage in soil. Due to intensification of agriculture, several undesirable side effects in soil have resulted in the degradation of environmental quality and natural resources and economic insecurity for the traditional farming families. Some of them are: loss of soil biodiversity due to continuous mono-cropping practices, top soil erosion, soil toxicity due to salinity, alkalinity and toxic mineral levels that are detrimental to soil biota. Further, dependence on synthetic fertilizers and scanty use of organic manures lead to the break-up of natural nutrient cycles and indiscriminate use of agrochemicals affecting human health, wild life and environment quality. The positive effects of soil biota on ecological function include organic matter decomposition and soil aggregation, inorganic transformations that release available N, P, S, Fe, Mn, etc., nitrogen fixation, detoxification of agrochemicals and toxic compounds by microbes.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Haifi MA, Khan MZ, Abdullah VM, Ghole S (2006) Effect of dimethoate residues on soil microarthropods population in the valley of Zendan, Yemen. J Appl Sci Environ Manage 10(2):37–41
Alves MV, Santos JCP, Gois DTD, Alberton JV, Baretta D (2008) Soil macrofauna as influenced by chemical fertilizers and swine manure use in western Santa Catarina state, Brazil. Rev Bras Cienc Solo 32(2):589–598
Amorim MJ, Rombke J, Scheffczyk A, Nogueira AJ, Soares AM (2005) Effects of different soil types on the collembolans Folsomia candida and Hypogastrura assimili using the herbicide phenmedipham. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 49:343–352
Amorim MJB, Pereira C, Menezes-Oliveira VB, Campos B, Soares AMVM, Loureiro S (2012) Assessing single and joint effects of chemicals on the survival and reproduction of Folsomia candida (Collembola) in soil. Environ Pollut 160:145–152
Anderson JM (1975) The enigma of soil animal species diversity. In: Progress in soil zoology. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 51–58
Anderson JM (1995) Soil organisms as engineers: microsite modulation of macroscale processes. In: Linking species & ecosystems. Springer, Boston, pp 94–106
Andrén O, Brussaard L, Clarholm M (1999) Soil organism influence on ecosystem-level processes–bypassing the ecological hierarchy? Appl Soil Ecol 11(2–3):177–188
Andrés P, Domene X (2005) Ecotoxicological and fertilizing effects of dewatered, composted and dry sewage sludge on soil mesofauna: a TIME experiment. Ecotoxicology 14(5):545–557
Andriuzzi WS, Adams BJ, Barrett JE, Virginia RA, Wall DH (2018) Observed trends of soil fauna in the Antarctic dry valleys: early signs of shifts predicted under climate change. Ecology 99(2):312–321
Badejo MA, Adejuyigbe TA (1994) Influence of hexazinone on soil microarthropods in Nigeria. Fresenius Environ Bull 3(5):263–268
Baldrian P (2017) Special thematic issue on the ecology of soil microorganisms. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 93(2):1–11
Bandyopadhyaya (2002) Effect of fertilization and edaphic properties on soil associated collembola in crop rotation. Eur J Soil Sci 38:111–117
Beare MH (1995) Fungal and bacterial pathways of organic matter decomposition and nitrogen mineralization in arable soils. In: Brussaard L, Ferreira-Cerrato R (eds) Soil ecology: biota in sustainable agriculture. CRC/Lewis Pub, New York, pp 37–70
Behan B (1972) The effects of urea on acarina and other arthropods in Quebecblack spruce (Picea mariana Mill.) humus. M.Sc. Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, p 175
Bengtsson J (1998) Which species? What kind of diversity? Which ecosystem function? Some problems in studies of relations between biodiversity and ecosystem function. Appl Soil Ecol 10:191–199
Berry EC, Karlen DL (1993) Comparison of alternative farming systems. II. Earthworm population density and species diversity. Am J Altern Agric 8(1):21–26
Bruce LJ, McCracken DL, Foster G, Aitken M (1999) The effects of sewage sludge on grassland edaphic and hemi edaphic collembola populations. Pedobiologia 43:209–220
Brussaard L (1998) Soil fauna, guilds, functional groups and ecosystem processes. Appl Soil Ecol 9:123–135
Campero M, Ollevier F, Stocks R (2007) Ecological relevance and sensitivity depending on the exposure time for two biomarkers. Environ Toxicol 22(6):572–581
Carey AM, Dindal DL, Leaf AL (1971) Responses of micro-arthropod populations to potassium fertilization and/or irrigation. American Society of Agronomy. Annual meeting, agronomy abstracts, p 119
Chardonnet P, des Clers B, Fischer J, Gerhold R, Jori F, Lamarque F (2002) The value of wildlife. Rev Sci Tech 21:15–51
Cole L, Buckland SM, Bardgett RD (2008) Influence of disturbance and nitrogen addition on plant and soil animal diversity in grassland. Soil Biol Biochem 40(2):505–514
Colinas C, Ingham E, Molina R (1994) Population responses of target and non-target forest soil organisms to selected biocides. Soil Biol Biochem 26(1):41–47
Curry JP (1994) Grassland invertebrates: ecology, influence on soil fertility and effects on plant growth. Springer, New York
Decaëns T, Jiménez JJ, Gioia C, Measey GJ, Lavelle P (2006) The values of soil animals for conservation biology. Eur J Soil Biol 42:S23–S38
Dritschilo W, Wanner D (1980) Ground beetle abundance in organic and conventional corn fields. Environ Entomol 9(5):629–631
Edwards CA (1965) Effects of pesticide residues on the soil invertebrates and plants. In: 5th symposium British Ecological Society, Ecology and the Industrial Society. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 239–261
Edwards CA, Lofty JR (1969) The influence of agricultural practices on soil microarthropod population. In: Sheals JG (ed) The soil ecosystem, vol 8. Systematics AssocPublications, London, pp 237–242
Eijsackers H (2009) Side effects of the herbicide 2,4,5-T on reproduction,food consumption and moulting of springtail Onychiurus quadriocellatus Gisin (Collembola), DIALOG. http://onlinelibrary.Wiley.com. Accessed 25 Oct 2010
Forster B, Garcia M, Francimari O, Rombke J (2006) Effects of carbendazim and lambda-cyhalothrin on soil invertebrates and leaf litter decomposition in semi-field and field tests under tropical conditions (Amazonia, Brazil). Eur J Soil Biol 42:171–179
Frampton GK (1997) Species spectrum, severity and persistence of pesticide side effects on UK arable springtail populations. In: Fourth international conference on pest in agriculture. ANPP, Paris, France, pp 129–136
Gardi C, Jeffery S (2009) Soil biodiversity. European commission joint research centre. Institute for environment and sustainability land management and natural hazards unit, Luxembourg, 24 pp
Gaston KJ, Spicer JI (1998) Biodiversity-an introduction. Blackwell Science, Oxford
Giller PS (1996) The diversity of soil communities, the poor man’s tropical rainforest. Biodivers Conserv 5:135–168
Greenslade PJ, Reid IA, Packer IJ (2010) Herbicides have negligible effects on ants and springtails in an Australian wheat field. Soil Biol Biochem 42(7):1172–1175
Hågvar S (1998) The relevance of the Rio-Convention on biodiversity to conserving the biodiversity of soils. Appl Soil Ecol 9(1–3):1–7
Hawksworth DL (1991) The fungal dimension of biodiversity: magnitude, significance, and conservation. Mycol Res 95(6):641–655
Hawksworth DL, Mound (1991) Biodiversity databases: the crucial significance of collections. In: Hawksworth DL (ed) The biodiversity of microorganisms and invertebrates: its role in sustainable agriculture. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 17–29
Hendrix PF, Crossley DA Jr, Blair JM, Coleman DC (1990) Soil biota as components of sustainable agroecosystems. In: Edwards CA et al (eds) Sustainable agricultural systems. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, pp 637–654
Hendrix PF, Mueller BR, Bruce RR, Langdale GW, Parmelee RW (1992) Abundance and distribution of earthworms in relation to landscape factors on the Georgia Piedmont, USA. Soil Biol Biochem 24(12):1357–1361
Heywood VH, Baste I (1995) Introduction. In: Heywood VH (ed) Global biodiversity assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–19
Hunter ML Jr (1996) Fundamentals of conservation biology. Blackwell Science, Cambridge
Huston MA (1994) Biological diversity. The coexistence of species on changing landscapes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 681
Joy VC, Bhattacharya T (1981) A comparative assessment of the effect of some herbicides on the microarthropods of cultivated soils. In Veeresh GK (Ed) Progress in soil biology and ecology in India, Bangalore, pp 299–304
Krogh PH (1991) Perturbation of the soil microarthropod community with the pesticides benomyl and isofenphos: I. Population changes. Pedobiologia 35:71–88
Kromp B (1989) Carabid beetle communities (Carabidae, Coleoptera) in biologically and conventionally farmed agroecosystems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 27(1–4):241–251
Kumar NG (2003) Soil management for increased fertility: the role of soil meso and macro fauna. Final report of NATP (ICAR) project
Kwon TS (2008) Change of abundance of arthropods in pine forests caused by aerial insecticide spray. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 54(1):92
Lavelle P (1994) Faunal activities and soil processes: adaptive strategies that determine ecosystem function. In XVth congress of ISSS, Acapulco, Mexico, vol I. INEGI, Mexico, pp 189–220
Lavelle P (1997) Faunal activities and soil processes: adaptive strategies that determine ecosystem function. In: Advances in ecological research, vol 27. Academic, Boston, pp 93–132
Lavelle P (2002) Functional domains in soils. Ecol Res 17:441–450
Lavelle P, Blanchart E, Martin A, Martin S, Spain A (1993) A hierarchical model for decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: application to soils of the humid tropics. Biotropica 25:130–150
Lee KE (1985) Earthworms: their ecology and relationships with soils and land use. Academic, Sydney
Lins VS, Santos HR, Gonçalves MC (2007) The effect of glyphosate, 2, 4-D, atrazine e nicosulfuron herbicides upon the edaphic collembola (Arthropoda: Ellipura) in a no tillage system. Neotrop Entomol 36(2):261–267
Majumdar A, Roy S (1991) Effects of a tridemorph fungicide-calaxin on collembola and fungal population of undisturbed grassland at Burdwan. J Soil Biol Ecol 11:24–29
Marshal VG (1977) Effects of manures and fertilizers on soil fauna: a review. CAB Special Publication no 3, p 79
Menta C, Leoni A, Tarasconi K, Affanni P (2010) Does compost use affect microarthropod soil communities? Fresenius Environ Bull 19(10a):2303–2311
Miguel JGS, Amadeu MVMS, Susana L (2010) Joint effect of three plant protection products to the terrestrial isopod Porcellionides pruinosus and the collembola Folsomia candida. Chemosphere 80(9):1021–1030
Pauli N, Abbott LK, Negrete-Yankelevich S, Andrés P (2016) Farmers’ knowledge and use of soil fauna in agriculture: a worldwide review. Ecol Soc 21(3):19
Pereira JL, da Silva AA, PicanÇco MC, Barros ECD, Jakelaitis A (2005) Effects of herbicide and insecticide interaction on soil entomofauna under maize crop. J Environ Sci Health B 40(1):45–54
Pfinner L, Niggli U (1996) Effects of bio-dynamic, organic and conventional farming on ground beetles (Coleoptera :Carabidae) and other epigaeic arthropods in winter wheat. Biol Agric Hortic 12:353–364
Pfotzer GH, Schüler C (1997) Effects of different compost amendments on soil biotic and faunal feeding activity in an organic farming system. Biol Agric Hortic 15(1–4):177–183
Ponge JF, Bandyopadhyaya I, Marchetti V (2013) Interaction between humus form and herbicide toxicity to collembola. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0929-1393(002)00026-4. Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com. Accessed April 2013
Quarluq Abdul Qahar (2010) Impact of agrochemicals on soil faunal composition. M.Sc (Agri) thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, p 147
Rashmi MA (2009) Role of agrochemicals on soil faunal composition in grassland ecosystem. M.Sc. (Agri) thesis, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, p 127
Ryan M (1999) Is an enhanced soil biological community, relative to conventional neighbours, a consistent feature of alternative (organic and biodynamic) agricultural systems? Biol Agric Hortic 17(2):131–144
Saha I, Joy VC (2014) Potential ill effects of IGR pesticides on life-history parameters in ecologically important soil collembola Cyphoderus javanus Borner. Int J Sci Environ Technol 3:365–373
Scheu S (2002) The soil food web: structure and perspectives. Eur J Soil Biol 38(1):11–20
Srinivas Reddy KM (2002) Impact of agro-chemicals and cropping systems on the abundance and diversity of soil invertebrates. Ph.D. thesis submitted to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, p 147
Stark JD (1992) Comparison of the impact of a neem seed-kernel extract formulation, “Margosan-O” and chlorpyrifos on non-target invertebrates inhabiting turf grass. Pestic Sci 36(3):293–299
Stenchly K, Dao J, Lompo DJP, Buerkert A (2017) Effects of wastewater irrigation on soil properties and soil fauna of spinach fields in a west African urban vegetable production system. Environ Pollut 222:58–63
Suss A, Von VJ, Von Voss J (1999) Ecotoxic effects of Fennekin (diflufenican+isoproturon) application to winter barley as influenced by different tillage systems. Part 4: effects on Collembola and soil mites. Nachrichtenblatt-des-deutshenpflanzenschutzdienstes 51(8):205–211
Swift MJ, Heal OW, Anderson JM, Anderson JM (1979) Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, vol 5. University of California Press, Berkeley
Tadros MS, Carey WF (1982) Effect of single application of chlorpyriphos on soil micro-arthropods existing in a turf plot, with reference to existing residues of chlordane, dursban and DDT. In: Griffiths DA, Bowman CE (eds) Acarology 2. Ellis Horwood Ltd, England, pp 941–950
Tao HH, Slade EM, Willis KJ, Caliman JP, Snaddon JL (2016) Effects of soil management practices on soil fauna feeding activity in an Indonesian oil palm plantation. Agric Ecosyst Environ 218:133–140
Thompson AR, Gore FL (1972) Toxicity of twenty-nine insecticides to Folsomia candida: laboratory studies. J Econ Entomol 65(5):1255–1260
Tomlin AD (1977) Toxicity of soil applications of the fungicide benomyl and two analogues to three species of Collembola. Can Entomol 109:1619–1620
Toutain F, Villemin G, Albrecht A, Reisinger O (1982) Etude ultrastructurale des processus de biodegradation. II Modèle Enchytraeids-litière de feuillus. Pedobiology 23:145–156
Tranvik L, Bengtsson G, Rundgren G (1993) Relative abundance and resistance traits of two Collembola species under metal stress. J Appl Ecol 30:43–52
Tresch S, Frey D, Le Bayon RC, Zanetta A, Rasche F, Fliessbach A, Moretti M (2019) Litter decomposition driven by soil fauna, plant diversity and soil management in urban gardens. Sci Total Environ 658:1614–1629
Wardle DA (2002) Communities and ecosystems: linking the aboveground and belowground components, vol 34. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Wardle DA, Lavelle P (1997) Linkages between soil biota, plant litter quality and decomposition. In: Cadisch R, Giller KE (eds) Plant litter quality and decomposition. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 107–124
Wardle DA, Nicholson KS, Yeates GW (1993) Effect of weed management strategies on some soil-associated arthropods in maize and asparagus ecosystems. Pedobiologia 37:257–269
Weetman GF, Knowles R, Hills (1972) Effects of different form of nitrogen fertilizer on nutrient uptake by black spruce and its humus and humus mesofauna. Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Canada. Wood Res Index 39:20
Wiktelius S, Chiverton PA, Meguenni H, Bennaceur M, Ghezal F, Umeh EN et al (1999) Effects of insecticides on non-target organisms in African agroecosystems: a case for establishing regional testing programmes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 75(1–2):121–131
Wolters V (2001) Biodiversity of soil animals and its function. Eur J Soil Biol 37(4):221–227
Yang X, Warren M, Zou X (2007) Fertilization responses of soil litter fauna and litter quantity, quality, and turnover in low and high elevation forests of Puerto Rico. Appl Soil Ecol 37(1–2):63–71
Yen JH, Chang JS, Huang PJ, Wang YS (2009) Effects of fungicides triadimefon and propiconazole on soil bacterial communities. J Environ Sci Health B 44(7):681–689
Zhong WH, Cai ZC (2007) Long-term effects of inorganic fertilizers on microbial biomass and community functional diversity in a paddy soil derived from quaternary red clay. Appl Soil Ecol 36(2–3):84–91
Acknowledgements
NGK is thankful to the authorities of University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore for their constant support and encouragement. BA acknowledges the support by Grant ‘EXTEMIT—K’, No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000433 financed by OP RDE.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kumar, N.G., Ammagarahalli, B., Gopalkrishna, H.R. (2020). Soil Fauna and Sustainable Agriculture. In: Chakravarthy, A. (eds) Innovative Pest Management Approaches for the 21st Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0794-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0794-6_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-0793-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-0794-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)