Soil fauna at land revegetation in bauxite mining areas at Porto Trombetas, PA

Abstract

This research aims to observe the colonization process of edaphic fauna community after the revegetation of degraded areas by bauxite miningin Porto Trombetas, Pará state, Brazil. The soil fauna samples were collected in the years of 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2008, in different reforestation stages, and planted on subsoil with and without the addition of topsoil. The samplings were collected in pitfall traps and analyzed in laboratory. The evaluation parameters used were abundance, richness, the indexes of Shannon diversity and Pielou equability and the colonization pattern of individuals from the soil fauna. The planting age and the topsoil addition were determining factors in the restoration of the edaphic community, which was more intense in older plantings. In areas that went through older reforestation procedures, vegetation development has led to greater colonization and better structuring of the edaphic fauna community, increasing their diversity and restoring ecological processes.

Keywords:
Leguminous plants; Reclamation of degraded areas; Biological indicators