Metabolic diversity and microbial activity in the soil in an integrated crop-livestock system under grazing intensities

The objective of this work was to evaluate the metabolic diversity and the microbial activity in an integrated crop-livestock system under no-tillage, and at different grazing intensities and soybean production. The experiment was carried out in Sao Miguel das Missoes county, in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, in a clayey Rhodic Hapludox (Oxisol), subjected to grazing intensities at 10, 20, 30 and 40 cm-height of pasture with black oat + italian ryegrass, and a nongrazing treatment, in the winter. The metabolic diversity was evaluated with the Biolog EcoPlate technique, by the Shannon diversity index, and the microbial activity by the fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis method. There was higher functional diversity at the moderate grazing intensities (20 to 40 cm). The highest microbial activity, in the soil, occurred in the nongrazing treatment because of the high quantity of plant residues. Microbial functional diversity and activity had alterations caused by the grazing intensities, which can be used as soil quality indicators on integrated crop-livestock systems under no-tillage.