Epigeal fauna and edaphic properties as possible soil quality indicators in forest restoration areas in Espírito Santo, Brazil

The study of soil quality indicators can indicate the efficiency of forest restoration practices. Litter, soil chemical attributes, and soil fauna can be used for this purpose since these factors are linked to each other in nutrient cycling and respond to changes in land use management. The present study aimed to identify accumulated litter biomass on topsoil, its nutrient concentration, composition of the epigeal fauna community, and topsoil chemical attributes as possible soil quality indicators in restoration areas of Atlantic Forest (T1, T2, and T3) with different levels of native tree seedlings richness (29, 58, and 114 species, respectively), pasture (T4), and native forest (T5, control), by three plots (50 × 50 m) in each area, in the municipality of Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Samples of accumulated litter on topsoil, topsoil (0–5 cm), and community of epigeal fauna (by pitfall traps) were collected during the dry and rainy seasons. Accumulated litter biomass on the topsoil, concentration of K and Mg in its biomass, abundance of Coleoptera and Pseudoscorpionida, total N and exchangeable K concentrations in the topsoil were the most relevant soil quality indicators, according to the principal component analysis. In both climatic seasons, T5 presented high dissimilarity in relation to the other areas and best soil quality due to its association to higher values of accumulated litter biomass, its nutrient concentration (N, K, Ca, Mg, S), relative frequency or abundance of Coleoptera, Pseudoscorpionida, and Others, concentrations of total organic carbon, total N, available P, exchangeable Ca, extractable acidity, sum of bases, and cation exchange capacity; T1, T2, and T3 were associated to higher values of relative frequency of Formicidae and presented low dissimilarity to each other; T4 was associated to higher values of pH. Therefore, the forest restoration areas have not yet contributed to the general quality of the soil approaching that observed in T5.