Soil macrofauna communities in Brazilian land-use systems

Area of Science:

• Soil biology and ecology
• Biodiversity informatics
• Environmental science

Background:

• Soil animal communities represent over 23% of described species and are crucial for soil functions and ecosystem services.
• Despite Brazil's rich soil macroinvertebrate diversity, published data and open-access repositories remain limited.
• This work addresses the need for synthesized, accessible soil biodiversity data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide links to 29 soil macroinvertebrate datasets covering 42 taxa in Brazil.
• To increase the availability of openly-accessible soil biodiversity data in global repositories.
• To support research on land-use change impacts on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the standardized Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme (TSBF) protocol for soil macrofauna sampling.
• Collected quantitative estimates from soil monoliths (25x25 cm) across various land-use systems in Brazil.
• Compiled 83,085 georeferenced occurrences with associated soil and land management metadata.

Main Results:

• Presents data for 42 soil animal taxa across Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes.
• Includes 83,085 occurrences from 122 sites and over 1800 samples collected between 2001 and 2016.
• Provides detailed metadata on soil properties and human management practices.

Conclusions:

• The datasets offer valuable resources for understanding soil biodiversity in Brazil.
• Facilitates research into the effects of land-use change on below-ground foodwebs and ecosystem services.
• Enhances global synthesis efforts for soil macrofauna communities and promotes data sharing.