Soil macrofauna communities in Brazilian land use systems
Authors: Brown George , Demetrio Wilian , Gabriac Quentin , Pasini Amarildo , Korasaki Vanesca , Oliveira Lenita , dos Santos Julio , Torres Eleno , Galerani Paulo , Gazziero Dionisio , Benito Norton , Nunes Daiane , Santos Alessandra , Ferreira Talita , Nadolny Herlon , Bartz Marie , Maschio Wagner , Dudas Rafaela , Zagatto Mauricio , Niva Cintia , Clasen Lina , Sautter Klaus , Froufe Luis , Seoane Carlos Eduardo , de Moraes Aníbal , James Samuel , Alberton Odair , Brandão Júnior Osvaldino , Saraiva Odilon , Garcia Antonio , Oliveira Elma , César Raul , Corrêa-Ferreira Beatriz , Bruz Lilianne , Silva Elodie , Cardoso Gilherme , Lavelle Patrick , Velásquez Elena , Cremonesi Marcus , Parron Lucília , Baggio Amilton , Neves Edinelson , Hungria Mariangela , Campos Thiago , da Silva Vagner , Reissmann Carlos , Conrado Ana , Bouillet Jean-Pierre , Gonçalves José , Brandani Carolina , Viani Ricardo , Paula Ranieri , Laclau Jean-Paul , Peña-Venegas Clara , Peres Carlos , Decaëns Thibaud , Pey Benjamin , Eisenhauer Nico , Cooper Miguel , Mathieu Jérôme 
Published: November 2023

Soil animal communities include more than 40 higher-order taxa, representing over 23% of all described species. These animals have a wide range of feeding sources and contribute to several important soil functions and ecosystem services. Although many studies have assessed macroinvertebrate communities in Brazil, few of them have been published in journals, and even fewer have made the data openly available for consultation and further use. As part of ongoing efforts to synthesize the global soil macrofauna communities, and to increase the amount of openly accessible data in GBIF and other repositories related to soil biodiversity, the present paper provides links to 29 soil macroinvertebrate datasets covering 42 soil fauna taxa, collected in various land use systems in Brazil. A total of 82,797 georeferenced occurrences of these taxa are presented, based on quantitative estimates performed using a standardize sampling method commonly adopted worldwide to collect soil macrofauna populations, i.e., the TSBF (Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme) protocol. This consists in digging soil monoliths of 25 x 25 cm area, with hansorting of the macroinvertebrates visible to the naked eye from the surface litter and from within the soil at depths of 10 to 40 cm). The land use systems included anthropogenic sites managed with agricultural systems (e.g., pastures, annual and perennial crops, agroforestry), as well as planted forests, and native vegetation located mostly in the Southern Brazilian state of Paraná (96 sites), with a few additional sites in the neighboring states of São Paulo (21 sites) and Santa Catarina (5 sites). Important metadata on soil properties, particularly soil chemical analyses (mainly pH, C, P, Ca, K, Mg, Al contents, Exchangeable acidity, Cation Exchange Capacity, Base Saturation, and infrequently total N) and particle size distribution (mainly % sand, silt and clay, and infrequently soil moisture, bulk density), as well as on human management practices (land use and vegetation cover) are provided, in order to better estimate land use change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. 

Quantitative estimates are provided for 42 soil animal taxa, for two biodiversity hotspots: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. Data are provided at the individual monolith level, representing sampling events ranging from February 2001 up to September 2016 in 122 sampling sites and over 1800 samples, for a total of 82,797 ocurrences.