ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION The soil macrofauna includes both epigeic and endogeic species, responsible for an enormous range of contributions to soil processes. The fact that it also shows a vast number of different response patterns to cultivation makes it a very interest ing object of study. However, investigations on the biological and ecological characteristics of taxa other than earth worms (Chapter 5) and some predaceous macroarthropods (Chapter 9) are a neglected field of agroecological research (Anderson, 1988; Zwart and Brussaard, 1991). In this chapter we focus on some of the widely overlooked groups: gastropods, isopods, and myriapods (Fig. 1; Table 1). Most species belonging to these groups react more sensitively to cul tivation than other soil animals (Curry, 1986b). Their density is thus compara tively low in agricultural soils (Table 2). As absurd as it may sound, in confining the research to the most abundant species in arable fields the investigation of the most sensitive groups has been neglected, because of their susceptibility to agricultural practices.
