Crop production in water‐limited environments may be enhanced through improved soil function by facilitating precipitation capture and erosion control. Soil macrofauna are known to support improved soil structure and water dynamics through ecosystem engineering activities, and their populations can be influenced by management. We examined the effect of bare summer fallow frequency on soil macrofauna communities and soil physical properties in a long‐term (32‐yr) dryland no‐till agroecosystem experiment at two sites in eastern Colorado, USA. Treatments represented a gradient of fallow frequency and organic matter inputs, which included wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–fallow, wheat–corn (Zea mays L.)–fallow, and continuously cropped with no planned summer fallow. The design also included a perennial grass treatment with minimal management consisting of six native grasses. We observed links between soil macrofauna and soil functional metrics, particularly related to soil aggregation and water infiltration. There was a trend toward higher macrofauna populations and soil function with increased cropping system intensity, and perennial grass outperformed the cropped treatments significantly for most soil health parameters. Multivariate analyses revealed that different treatments support relatively distinct macrofauna communities. Our results suggest that soil macrofauna populations may be important facilitators of soil structure and associated water dynamics in dryland no‐till agroecosystems and respond positively to reduced fallow and higher organic inputs.

中文翻译：

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旱地耕作制度强度对大型动物群落土壤功能及相关变化的影响

在水有限的环境中，可通过促进降雨的捕获和侵蚀控制来改善土壤功能，从而提高作物产量。众所周知，土壤大型动物可通过生态系统工程活动来支持改善的土壤结构和水动力学，其种群可能受到管理的影响。我们在美国科罗拉多州东部的两个地点进行了长期（32年）旱地免耕农业生态系统试验，研究了夏季裸休频率对土壤大型动物群落和土壤物理特性的影响。处理代表休耕频率和有机质输入量的梯度，其中包括小麦（Triticum aestivum L。）-小食，小麦-玉米（Zea mays）L.）–休耕，连续播种，没有计划的夏季休耕。该设计还包括一种多年生草皮处理方法，其管理最少，由六种本地草皮组成。我们观察到土壤大型动物群与土壤功能指标之间的联系，特别是与土壤聚集和水分入渗有关。随着耕作制度强度的提高，大型动物种群和土壤功能呈增加趋势，并且在大多数土壤健康参数下，多年生禾草的表现明显优于农作物。多变量分析表明，不同的处理方法支持相对不同的大型动物群落。