Earth Fauna in Different Environments in the Southern Amazon

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the soil fauna in Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) of restored and degraded watercourses, and in a preserved forest fragment, located in the municipality of Alta Floresta - MT.   Theoretical framework: Forest restoration is extremely important for the reestablishment of ecosystem functions, especially in areas on the banks of water bodies. And the evaluation of this process can be carried out through soil fauna, which is considered a bioindicator of environmental quality.   Methodology: The soil fauna was collected using pitfall soil traps (Provid model), installed in the three study environments along a linear transect of 70 meters, remaining in the field for 48 hours, with subsequent collection, cleaning and screening, followed by identification at order and/or family level. Soil sampling was also carried out at the points where meso- and macrofauna sampling was established, forming a composite sample from each study area. To analyze the results, the diversity, equitability, similarity and correlation indices were calculated using the PAST software.   Results and conclusion: The restored APP was the one that most matched the preserved forest fragment when evaluating the environments' soil fauna, also presenting the highest levels of diversity and equitability. The soil fauna responded to the heterogeneity of the environments, since the degraded APP had less incidence of soil organisms.   Implications of the research: Validates the use of soil fauna as an instrument to assess the environmental quality of environments that are in the process of ecological restoration.   Originality/value: The research helps overcome the bottleneck in the effective ecological restoration of previously degraded areas, as soil fauna can be used as another parameter for evaluating the restoration process.