ABSTRACT: Springtails (Collembola) are soil organisms with wide morphological diversity and are sensitive to alterations in the soil, regardless of whether they are human-caused or not. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of land use on the morphological diversity of springtails and verify their relationships with soil physical, chemical, and microbiological properties. Samples were collected in the eastern region of Santa Catarina, in three municipalities: Joinville, Blumenau, and Timbó. They included the following land use systems […]

ABSTRACT Coleopterans (Coleoptera) are major ecosystem service providers. However ecomorphological features that are comparable in a wide range of invertebrates within this group and in various environments must be found, to be able to study regions with different species, contributing to overcome difficulties of the taxonomic approach and understand the functioning of ecosystems. This research addressed the diversity of Coleoptera, using a methodology of ecomorphological traits, as well as their relation with the land use systems (LUS) and the soil […]

ABSTRACT: Collembolan species are differently affected by soil tillage (conventional, minimum tillage, and no-tillage) and are known to modify plant growth. This study relies on the relationships between Collembola community structures and land use systems as a proxy for characterizing changes in soil quality. Thus, Collembola community structure (eco-morphological groups – edaphic, hemiedaphic and epigeic, and morphotypes) were examined in a no-tillage system and crop-livestock integration system to evaluate the discriminative power of the Collembola community structure and to determine […]