IMPROVING BIODIVERSITY: MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL LAND USE IN A SMALL-SCALE MARKET GARDEN, MULLUMBIMBY, NSW, AUSTRALIA
ERIN MARSH 2018
Very grateful for having had the opportunity to explore a research project with Erin this year for her 3rd year Environmental Science paper through the support of Southern Cross University - Live Ideas platform.
Exciting to have had the chance to get some real data on the advantages of localised organic agriculture systems in improving biodiversity and ecologies.
Hope now that this will provide us with a great foundation to access and develop opportunities for further analysis and more extensive research.
The full report is available below with permission from the Author.
Exciting to have had the chance to get some real data on the advantages of localised organic agriculture systems in improving biodiversity and ecologies.
Hope now that this will provide us with a great foundation to access and develop opportunities for further analysis and more extensive research.
The full report is available below with permission from the Author.
Conclusion
Macroinvertebrate biodiversity was seen to be influenced by land use in this study. Land used for conventional pasture and grazing at Sites A and B was seen to have lower macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity and richness when compared to soil samples taken from the market garden at Site C which was utilising sustainable agricultural management practices. The market garden also exhibited the highest Shannon’s Diversity index which represented a further indicating of the superior ecosystem health at this site. Furthermore, the market garden also had the highest abundance of earthworm species while the grazing sites had higher abundance of potworm. This acted as a further indicator of superior soil quality within the sustainably managed market garden as earthworm abundance corresponds with soil organic matter and potworms are more likely to inhabit areas where conditions are not tolerable for earthworms. Reasons for grazing sites having less soils biodiversity include compaction and reduced porosity associated with cattle and grazing land use and less diverse vegetation due to clearing and grazing.
Macroinvertebrate biodiversity was seen to be influenced by land use in this study. Land used for conventional pasture and grazing at Sites A and B was seen to have lower macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity and richness when compared to soil samples taken from the market garden at Site C which was utilising sustainable agricultural management practices. The market garden also exhibited the highest Shannon’s Diversity index which represented a further indicating of the superior ecosystem health at this site. Furthermore, the market garden also had the highest abundance of earthworm species while the grazing sites had higher abundance of potworm. This acted as a further indicator of superior soil quality within the sustainably managed market garden as earthworm abundance corresponds with soil organic matter and potworms are more likely to inhabit areas where conditions are not tolerable for earthworms. Reasons for grazing sites having less soils biodiversity include compaction and reduced porosity associated with cattle and grazing land use and less diverse vegetation due to clearing and grazing.
