The litter macrofauna of 8 plantations of Populus italica (Du Roi) Moench, P. deltoides Marsh. and P. alba L. was studied in the city of Dnipro. The invertebrates were taken by manual sifting of litter from experimental plots of 8 m 2 . The total number of litter macrofauna in the poplar plantations varied from 8 to 187 specimen/m 2 , on average 53 specimen/m 2 . The greatest variety of species was obtained from a white poplar plantation with common hop and an elm-poplar plantation with bare soil and Amorpha fruticosa L. bushes (15 and 9 species correspondingly). The maximum readings on the Shannon-Weaver diversity index come from the abovementioned areas (3.2 and 2.9 bits respectively). The highest number of zoophages (40%) was obtained from the white poplar plantation with common hop. There was great consistency in the species composition across the plots, with the same 60 species (more than 50% of the total number of species of litter macrofauna recorded in the study) being found in 7 out of the 8 study plots. The share of species rare for any given ecosystem exceeded 10% in only 2 out of the 8 plantations studied. The dominant group in the size structure of the litter macrofauna of the poplar plantations (44-96%) was invertebrates of 4-7 mm length. In 5 out of 8 poplar plantations no species over 15 mm in length were found. This indicates the degraded size structures of the litter macrofauna communities. In taxonomic structure the dominant groups were Formicidae, Pulmonata, Porcellionidae, Lygaeidae, Julidae, Silphidae, Araneae, Carabidae, Staphylinidae. The results obtained indicate the low variety and degradation of the trophic and size structure of the litter macrofauna of these urban poplar plantations, which are subject to lack of moisture.
Pest control should be ecologically-based, therefore use of ecologically safe approaches is the best variant. Essential oils of plants can affect the main metabolic, biochemical, physiological and behavioural functions of insects. In the experiment, we evaluated the influence of 20 essential oils on migration activity of imagoes of Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val, 1863 in the conditions of a laboratory experiment. Notable repellent activity against T. confusum was exhibited by essential oils of Jasminum officinale and Thuja occidentalis. Essential oils of Zingiber officinale and Cedrus atlantica had an attractant effect on imagoes of T. confusum. Essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis, Melaleuca alternifolia, Lavandula angustifolia and Cinnamomum verum exhibited repellent properties while essential oils of Juniperus communis and Citrus sinensis had an attractant effect on the pests. Therefore, out of 20 studied essential oils, only four samples had notable biological effect on migration activity of T. confusum imagoes. These data indicate the possibility of using essential oils or their main components as ecologically safe natural repellents against pests of stored wheat and products of its processing.
Measures against pests should be performed in the context of integrated management of agricultural crops and complex control of pests. Therefore, use of ecologically safe approaches is the best option. Essential oils of plants can make an impact on the main metabolic, biochemical, physiological and behavioural functions of insects. We evaluated the effect of 18 essential oils and 18 dried plants on migratory activity of Sitophilus granarius (Linnaeus, 1758) and Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758 in conditions of laboratory experiment. Notable repellent activity against S. granarius was exhibited by Citrus sinensis and Picea abies. Repellent action against T. molitor was displayed by dried and cut leaves of Origanum vulgare and Eucalyptus globulus, and also essential oils from Juniperus communis, Р. abies, Pterocarpus santalinus, C. sinensis and C. aurantiifolia. Therefore, out of 18 studied essential oils, only two samples had a notable biological effect on migratory activity of S. granarius and five samples – on T. molitor. These data indicate a possibility of using essential oils or their main components as ecologically safe natural repellents against pests of stored wheat and products of its processing.
Parasites of agricultural crops cause significant losses of quality and decrease in the profitability of agricultural production. Complex measures against pests are aimed both at termination of parasites and prevention of repeated infection of plants. One of the most progressive ways of protecting plants against harmful insects is the use of entomopathogenic nematodes. This method is most expedient in the conditions of organic arable farming. The results of our study reveal the impact of the fertilizers in various concentrations on the vitality of nematode larvae (L3) of four species (Steinernema feltiae, S. kraussei, S. carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora) and the possibility of their combined application for the treatment of plants. Mineral fertilizers and stimulators of growth of plants in 1% concentration insignificantly reduced the vitality of larvae, allowing them to be applied at the same time. We determined the tolerance of invasive larvae to pH for S. carpocapsae equaling рН = 0.9–13.4; optimum values of рН without reliable increase in the mortality during 24 h – рН = 1.3–12.8. Increase in the vitality of larvae (L3) of entomopathogenic nematodes was studied. The survivability of the cultures of larvae increased during the use of solutions of vitamins С, В1, В6, В12. We determined the influence of 21 pigment colourings on larvae (L3), the lowest effect on the vitality of nematode larvae was exerted by pigment bases Abrikos (7.0–10.8% mortality during 24 h), Zolotoi Pesok (6.0–11.8%), Pudra Ananasa (7.7–13.4%), and complex DMAE (7.6–17.4%). The results we obtained allow development of recommendations for agriculturalists for combined use of entomopathogenic nematodes with various substances and also improving the vitality of invasive nematodes.
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