An indicator system of nature quality on organic fields

Summary

Soil fauna diversity, as well as total mite and springtail numbers was correlated with soil type, tillage intensity and fertiliser use as well as crop and grazing history and duration of the current state of the field. 430 samples taken in 2002 on a wide range of organically farmed fields also showed that soil type interacted with crop type and grazing intensity. A higher number of mites and springtails were found in crops that included clover, almost independently of soil type. Higher numbers of mites were found at high grazing intensity compared to low grazing intensity on the same soil type.
In 2003, microarthropods were collected in spring, summer and autumn in Southern Jutland, Mid-Jutland and Sealand. In each region both cereal and vegetable fields were sampled to broaden the knowledge on the influence on agricultural practice on soil microarthropods.
The data were analysed by different statistical tools and the best results were obtained by aid of stepwise multiple regression of Shannon-Wiener diversity index, mite abundance, number of springtail species and springtail abundance in relation to a wide range of agro-technical parameters. By this technique a model that could predict the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, mite abundance and springtail abundance based on four parameters were developed, and by using the model parameters from 2003 it was possible to produce predictions of the data from 2002 that correlated significantly with the observed data. These models for Shannon-Wiener diversity, mite abundance, and springtail abundance can be used as a soil fauna nature quality index.