Soil macrofauna in agricultural landscapes dominated by the Quesungual Slash - and -

Running title: 23 Soil macrofauna in the 'Quesungual' agroforestry system 24 25 2 Abstract 26 Smallholder agroforestry systems often incorporate features that are associated with abundant, 27 diverse soil macrofauna populations. This study sampled soil macrofauna communities across 28 four major land uses present within agricultural landscapes where the Quesungual Slash-and-29 Mulch Agroforestry System (QSMAS) has been increasingly adopted by smallholder farmers 30 in western Honduras. The four land uses were: secondary forest (F), agroforestry plots of less 31 than two years of age (AF<2), agroforestry plots of more than 10 years of age (AF>10), and 32 silvipastoral fields (SP). Transect-based sampling of soil macrofauna using the standard 33 Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) method was employed in both the dry 34 season and wet season. All four land uses sampled in this study harboured diverse, abundant 35 and highly variable soil macrofauna populations. In the dry season, total density of soil 36 macrofauna ranged from 1265±308 individuals m-2 in F sites to 1924 ± 436 individuals m-2 in 37 AF<2 sites. In the wet season, total density ranged from 907 ± 294 individuals m-2 in F, to 38 1637 ± 358 individuals m-2 in AF<2. Biomass values followed a similar pattern, ranging from 39 4.3 ± 1.1 g m-2 to 24.8 ± 8.2 g m-2 in the dry season and from 13.1 ± 3.0 g m-2 to 41.9 ± 11.1 g 40 m-2 in the wet season. In order of decreasing strength of statistical relationship, soil depth, 41 land use and season were all related to some aspects of soil macrofauna density, biomass and 42 community composition. At a broad functional group level, soil macrofauna community 43 composition was very similar across all four land uses. The results suggest that the 44 agricultural practices associated with the 'Quesungual' agroforestry system may promote a 45 relatively abundant, diverse soil macrofauna community. The presence of an abundant soil 46 macrofauna community may have important effects on aspects of soil quality that are 47 particularly important to resource-limited smallholder farmers.