Abstract:

The aims are to investigate the impact of long-term no-tillage and mulching practices on the composition and diversity of soil macrofauna, and to provide a scientific basis for evaluating the ecological benefits of conservation tillage measures and sustainable management of farmland ecosystems. Taking the long-term conservation tillage pilot field in Chenghuang Village, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, as the research area, 4 treatments were selected, including 25-year no-tillage and straw mulching (25y-NTS), 21-year no-tillage and straw mulching (21y-NTS), traditional tillage (TC), and control (CK), to analyze the effects of conservation tillage on the composition and diversity of soil macrofauna. A total of 214 large soil animals were captured, belonging to 3 phyla, 8 classes, 20 orders, and 48 families. The results showed that no-tillage and straw mulching treatments significantly increased the individual number, group richness, and diversity index of soil animals (P<0.05), with the 25y-NTS treatment showing the most significant effect; no-tillage and straw mulching significantly increased the number of sensitive groups such as Acari, Porcellionidae, and Valloniidae, while traditional tillage was dominated by Formicidae and Carabidae. In the 25y-NTS, the abundance of Mutillidae was relatively high. In the 21y-NTS, taxa such as Geophilomorpha and Porcellionidae were significantly enriched. The Formicidae community was more dominant in TC, while Carabidae was the dominant family in CK. The distribution of soil animals exhibited significant ground aggregation, positively correlating with soil moisture content, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, and available potassium. Long-term no-tillage and straw mulching can significantly enhance the diversity and stability of large soil animal communities by reducing soil disturbance, improving the micro-environment, and enhancing resource availability, with the recovery effect of 25-year no-tillage and straw mulching being more pronounced. In conclusion, soil animal community structure and specific indicator groups can serve as effective biological indicators for evaluating the health of farmland ecosystems and the ecological benefits of management measures.

Key words: no-tillage with mulching, traditional farming, macrofauna, community diversity, community function