Soil and foliar arthropod abundance and diversity in five cropping systems in the coastal plains of North Carolina

Adams, PR, III; Orr, DB; Arellano, C; Cardoza, YJ

HERO ID

7641114

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

2017

Language

English

PMID

28881946

HERO ID 7641114
In Press No
Year 2017
Title Soil and foliar arthropod abundance and diversity in five cropping systems in the coastal plains of North Carolina
Authors Adams, PR, III; Orr, DB; Arellano, C; Cardoza, YJ
Journal Environmental Entomology
Volume 46
Issue 4
Page Numbers 771-783
Abstract Soil and foliar arthropod populations in agricultural settings respond to environmental disturbance and degradation, impacting functional biodiversity in agroecosystems. The objective of this study was to evaluate system level management effects on soil and foliar arthropod abundance and diversity in corn and soybean. Our field experiment was a completely randomized block design with three replicates for five farming systems which included: Conventional clean till, conventional long rotation, conventional no-till, organic clean till, and organic reduced till. Soil arthropod sampling was accomplished by pitfall trapping. Foliar arthropod sampling was accomplished by scouting corn and sweep netting soybean. Overall soil arthropod abundance was significantly impacted by cropping in corn and for foliar arthropods in soybeans. Conventional long rotation and organic clean till systems were highest in overall soil arthropod abundance for corn while organic reduced till systems exceeded all other systems for overall foliar arthropod abundance in soybeans. Foliar arthropod abundance over sampling weeks was significantly impacted by cropping system and is suspected to be the result of in-field weed and cover crop cultivation practices. This suggests that the sum of management practices within production systems impact soil and foliar arthropod abundance and diversity and that the effects of these systems are dynamic over the cropping season. Changes in diversity may be explained by weed management practices as sources of disturbance and reduced arthropod refuges via weed reduction. Furthermore, our results suggest agricultural systems lower in management intensity, whether due to organic practices or reduced levels of disturbance, foster greater arthropod diversity.
Doi 10.1093/ee/nvx081
Pmid 28881946
Wosid WOS:000408576300005
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English