Influence of agricultural practices on arthropod communities in a vertisol (Martinique)

Gladys Loranger (1) , Jean-François Ponge (2) , Patrick Lavelle (1)

1 LEST - Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Sols Tropicaux
2 CESCO - Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation

The influence of human activities on soil arthropods of vertisols was assessed in several plots characterized by different land uses in the south-eastern part of Martinique (French West Indies). Abundance acid diversity of soil invertebrate groups and collembolan species were measured in a 40-year-old secondary forest, a 15-year-old fallow, a 4-year-old fellow, a 4-year-old pasture, a 15-year-old pasture and a 20-year-old market-garden. Agricultural practices modified abundance and species distribution of soil arthropods, compared to forest. Arthropod richness (number of taxa present) decreased from forest to market-garden, according to a gradient of intensification of agricultural use (pesticides, tillage, weed control). In the old pasture, the arthropod diversity was lower in spite of a high carbon content. Species richness of Collembola decreased together with plant diversity and water availability.

Mots clés: soil arthropods; Collembola; agricultural practices; biodiversity

Domaines: Science des sols

Gladys Loranger, Jean-François Ponge, Patrick Lavelle. Influence of agricultural practices on arthropod communities in a vertisol (Martinique). European Journal of Soil Biology, 1998, 34 (4), pp.157-165. ⟨10.1016/S1164-5563(00)86658-3⟩. ⟨hal-00505462⟩