Table 3.

Mean values of the effects of the different farming practices on the soil microbial biomass and bacterial and fungal diversity indexes

	Crop types				Organic fertilization			Crop residues input			Tillage			Pesticides			Legume presence in rotation			Liming
	Annual crops	Temporary pasture	Permanent pasture	p	Low	High	p	Low	High	p	Low	High	p	Low	High	p	Yes	No	p	Low	High	p
Microbial biomass	48.8 a	60.2 b	94.2 b	**	63.1	54.7	ns	63.0	56.1	ns	67.8 b	49.1 a	***	69.1 b	49.1 a	***	64.6	57.8	ns	58.7	59.6	ns
Bacterial richness	762	765	736	ns	762	758	ns	762	757	ns	752 a	770 b	*	755	765	ns	758	761	ns	751 a	768 b	*
Bacterial evenness	0.868 b	0.867 ab	0.856 a	**	0.866	0.866	ns	0.866	0.866	ns	0.863 a	0.869 b	**	0.864	0.868	ns	0.865	0.866	ns	0.864	0.867	ns
Fungal richness	449 a	494 b	514 b	**	477	474	ns	472	478	ns	486	464	ns	486	466	ns	476	476	ns	488	464	ns
Fungal evenness	0.649 a	0.674 b	0.685 b	***	0.663	0.664	ns	0.661	0.665	ns	0.675 b	0.651 a	***	0.672 b	0.655 a	***	0.667	0.663	ns	0.671 b	0.657 a	*

Note. Values with different letters differ significantly. Significance level is indicated as follows: *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001. ns, nonsignificant.