Ethanol’s growing demand and belowground biodiversity: soil macroinvertebrate community responses to sugarcane expansion in Brazil

We examined the soil macrofaunal community responses to sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) expansion from pasturelands, and the relationship to the contents and plant availability of soil phosphorus, the main agriculture-limiting nutrient in tropical soils. We sampled 3 field sites to represent the Brazilian sugarcane-expansion region. In each field site we identified one chronosequence comprising a 30 years old conversion from native vegetation to pasture , and a conversion from PA to sugarcane differing in time between the 3 field sites.