Arthropod Diversity and Cover Crops By Jeffrey Taylor
Arthropod Diversity and Cover Crops By Jeffrey Taylor August 11, 2003 Pennsylvania State University
Arrival of the Study n Land owner Steve Groff is interested to see what the benefits of long-term cover cropping are
Hypothesis n Fields with the least disturbance and a cover crop would have the greatest diversity and abundance of arthropods
Study Area Most Disturbed -Long term no-till ~20 years Least Disturbed -Pasture and then 7 years in no-till www. countryside-management. org. uk/ heathland/grazing. htm www. oznet. ksu. edu/notill/ images/nf_corninmay 2. jpg
Study Area n Sixteen plots – 4 Long term no-till with a cover crop – 4 Long term no-till without a cover crop – 4 Short term no-till without a cover crop
Study Area
Study Area n 2003: Field corn in a rye cover crop n 2002: Soybeans in a rye cover crop http: //www. sdnotill. com/membersh. htm
Methods of Collection Pitfall Trap Catches surface insects Tullgren Traps Catches soil insects
Methods of Calculation n Abundance -Addition of all insects caught n Diversity -Shannon index -D=-Σpilogpi
Factors n Diversity n Abundance n Herbivore n Predators n Detritivores
Collection Dates Tullgren: July 15, 2003 July 28, 2003 Pitfall: July 15 -17, 2003 July 28 -30, 2003
What was Found
In The Pitfalls n Orthoptera-crickets n Hymenoptera-ants n Isopoda-pill bugs n Araneae-spiders Cricket Ant Pill bug
In the Tullgren Traps Mites n Collembola-springtails n Diptera-flies springtail n Mesostigmatid mite
Results aa treatments do not differ significantly at p> 0. 05
Results aa a a aa bb b b a, b indicate treatments that differ significantly at p< 0. 05
Results Total Abundance Long term no-till with no cover crop 32. 77 Organic Matter 2. 8% Long term no-till with cover crop 29. 63 3. 0% Short term no-till no cover crop 19. 14 3. 6% Short term no-till with cover crop 13. 52 4. 7%
Conclusion Only the tullgren traps were studied in-depth n Population may be migrating between plots n Abundance of Arthropods was greater in the long term no-till fields n soils. usda. gov/sqi/Soil. Biology/ ATLAS 103_LR. jpg
Conclusion n Michael Hutson studied that diversity may decrease as fertility of soil increases -competitors completely dominate fertile environments http: //www. markscollection. com/christian/images/eden_riveroflife. jpg
www. stitchability. co. uk/ permin_cross_stitch_samplers_7. htm
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