The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the influence of different handling systems, the microbial population and its activity. To that end, soil samples were collected in October 2006 and March 2007, at Fazenda Sereno in the city of Jaciara, Mato Grosso State. The samples were removed at 0-10 cm deep with four replications in five areas with different handling systems: agriculture-livestock integration, corn/soy fields, pastures, native vegetation, and native vegetation under recovery. The method of Chloroform Fumigation-Incubation (CFI) was used to evaluate microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial respiration (MR). The qCO2 was obtained through the relationship between MR and MBC. The averages were compared through the Scott-Knott test at 5%. During the analyses, it was observed that the different agricultural practices substantially affect the soil, causing disturbances in the microbial community, which may influence the biogeochemical processes occurring on the soil. The data obtained also makes it possible to conclude that: in the agriculture-livestock integration and pasture systems, the microbial population is influenced by collection times. In this work, in the field-livestock integration system, the microbial activity is constant at the different collection times and management systems influence the metabolic activity of microorganisms in the soil.
soil microorganisms; chloroform fumigation-incubation; bioindicators; metabolic quotient; agriculture-livestock integration
