Microarthropods biodiversity in natural, seminatural and cultivated soils-QBS-ar approach

In the last century, the exploitation of soil by humans has increased considerably. The need to evaluate several aspects of land degradation has become a priority in the soil management protection. Soil biota plays key roles in several supporting and regulating ecosystem services, being an important component of soil food webs. Among soil biota, soil arthropods are considered useful tool for bioindication. QBS-ar index (acronym of Soil Biological Quality) is an expeditious and inexpensive index that may represent a good first step to evaluate soil condition in degraded and natural landscapes. This paper aims to provide a brief guide for technicians and farmers interested in the QBS-ar application, and it summarizes the results obtained by ten years of QBS-ar application considering three important land uses: agriculture (several crops), alfalfa and wood.