Assessing the impact of agricultural strategies on soil Artropods: a case study using environmental DNA

Elucidating how agricultural practices affect soil arthropod's communities is of relevant for both scientific and economic interests. The assumption that organic farming enhances the biodiversity in agroecosystems has been proved for birds. However, the impact of these agricultural strategies on soil fauna is still debated. In the present study, using state-of-the-art massive data generation technologies targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), the soil' arthropods communities of selected farms in the Po Plain (Italy) were characterized. The following main questions were addressed: i) is the biodiversity of soil Arthropods higher in organic vs conventional farms? ii) are the field use (crop vs stable meadow) and the field margins affecting the arthropods communities distribution?