Soil macrofauna communities in a long-term soil and crop management experiment at Embrapa Soybean, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

The soil macrofauna community was assessed in a long-term soil and crop management experiment established in 1988 at the Embrapa Soybean research station in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. The experiment includes two rotation systems (soybean-wheat double cropping and a rotation with lupine/maize-oats/soybean-wheat/soybean-wheat/soybean) and three soil tillage types (no-tillage, conventional tillage and minimum tillage with chisel plow every 3 years). The experiment was replicated four times, and one sample was taken in each plot. Sampling was performed in April 2001 and April 2005, using the standard methodology of the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme (TSBF). Monoliths were hand-sorted for all litter and soil-dwelling taxa (down to 30 cm depth), and the abundance of a total of 45 taxa assessed.