ecosystem services, spontaneous plants, agrobiodiversity
From the valuation of traditional knowledge, researchers have heard the observations of the farmers under their perennial crops, related to the agronomic aspects that a spontaneous plant as a living cover of the soil can offer both organic and conventional management. The producers recognized a relevant function in relation to the reduction of the operational management, regarding manual weeding and the application of herbicide respectively to the systems, in which the perennial cover attenuates the dispersion of spontaneous propagules in both, and also presented resistance to trampling and to the effect of desiccant. Considering these parameters from the scientific perspective made the species Diodia saponariifolia to become a research instrument in favor of the amplitude of the development of the agroecological context tangent to the management of spontaneous plants in perennial cropping systems. Previous studies have indicated the species as a potential precursor element of agrobiodiversity for stimulating the propagation of other spontaneous species relevant to the agroecosystem. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ecosystem services offered by the living cover of Diodia saponariifolia under different management practices of perennial species, evaluating the following hypotheses: (I) The living cover of D. saponariifolia in perennial crop systems promotes sustainability conventional and organic under the economic-environmental aspect; (II) The living cover of D. saponariifolia offers soil benefits contributing to the attraction of natural enemies, under different management systems, conventional and organic; (III) It is feasible to establish a technical recommendation for the implantation of D. saponariifolia as a living cover of the soil in order to contemplate family farming.