Soil dwelling beetle community response to tillage, fertilizer and weeding intensity in a sub-humid environment in Zimbabwe

Mashavakure, Nilton; Mashingaidze, A. B.; Musundire, Robert; Nhamo, Nhamo; Gandiwa, Edson; Thierfelder, Christian; Muposhi, Victor K.

doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2018.12.001

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Cultivation practices often result in the reduction of invertebrate abundance [69][70][71][72] with reduced tillage having beneficial impacts on invertebrate populations [65,[73][74][75][76][77][78]. In our research sensitivity of particular invertebrate taxa to topsoil disturbance, as expressed by a decline in abundance, as agricultural management regimes intensified such as greater frequency of cultivation or more frequent use (shorter periods of fallow), showed few consistent trends across invertebrate orders.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…While Coleoptera numbers were greater under conventional tillage, Rhytidoponera numbers were higher under short fallow, regardless of tillage intensity (Table 4). In a study on soil dwelling, Coleoptera community composition in maize the influence of tillage, fertilizer and weeding intensity were examined and there was a general decline in Coleoptera species diversity under conventional tillage, and under high weeding intensity, but no effect of fertilizer application [69] that was not demonstrated in this study. Possibly the larval stages of Scarabaeidae beetles would be susceptible to conventional tillage in autumn, before they emerge as adults in late winter to early spring.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

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The Effect of Increasing Topsoil Disturbance on Surface-Active Invertebrate Composition and Abundance under Grazing and Cropping Regimes on Vertisols in North-West New South Wales, Australia

Nkem

Bruyn

King

2020

Insects

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Agricultural intensification practices involve varying degrees of disturbance to the soil ecosystem. This study evaluated six agricultural management regimes with increasing levels of topsoil disturbance, on the composition and abundance of surface-active invertebrates on Vertisols at a sub-catchment scale. Two grazing (native and introduced pastures), and four cropping (combining short and long fallow, with zero and conventional tillage) management regimes were examined. Surface-active invertebrates were collected seasonally with pitfall traps over 2 years (8 seasons), and identified to order, while ants (Formicidae) that comprised 47% of total invertebrates collected, were identified to genera. Season had a significant effect on ant abundance and number of genera recorded with higher abundance and twice the number of genera in summer than all other seasons. Ants, particularly Iridomyrmex, were mainly active in summer, while other invertebrates especially Coleoptera, were more active in winter. Surface-active invertebrates were 30% more abundant in grazing than cropping land use types. Native pasture, with little surface soil disturbance, recorded the highest number of invertebrates, mainly ants, compared to other agricultural management regimes. Coleoptera and Dermaptera were higher in abundance under conventional tillage compared with those agricultural management regimes that disturb the topsoil less. Optimizing surface-active invertebrate activity on Vertisols for most taxa will require reducing topsoil disturbance. However, the research findings also suggest that the impact of agricultural management regimes on invertebrate activity was difficult to predict with any certainty as the three main ant genera, and most abundant invertebrate collected, did not respond in a consistent manner.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 54%

The Effect of Increasing Topsoil Disturbance on Surface-Active Invertebrate Composition and Abundance under Grazing and Cropping Regimes on Vertisols in North-West New South Wales, Australia

Nkem

Bruyn

King

2020

Insects

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“…In addition, CA systems need to be supported by good management to function (Thierfelder et al ., 2018). CA has many benefits such as improved and more stable yields, improved rain water use efficiency, increased microbial activity and, in the longer term, improved soil fertility (Twomlow et al ., 2008; Kassam et al ., 2009; Mashavakure et al ., 2019 a , 2019 b ). Improvement in soil biology is associated with increases in soil organic carbon, which may sequester under CA in the longer term (Guo et al ., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tillage and crop rotations enhance populations of earthworms, termites, dung beetles and centipedes: evidence from a long-term trial in Zambia

et al. 2019

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Macro-organisms contribute significantly to soil fertility improvement. The influence of conservation agriculture (CA) in southern Africa on their populations has not yet been fully understood. Thus, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of CA and conventional tillage on below ground biological activity in a CA long-term trial in Monze, Zambia from 2011 to 2013. The study had ten treatments which differed by tillage systems (conventional ploughing, planting basins and direct seeding) and crop diversification intensity (sole cropping, 2- or 3-year crop rotations) involving maize, cotton and sunn hemp. These factors were combined to create rotation-tillage (RotTill) treatments. Sampling of macrofauna was done once per year using a metal frame measuring 0.25 m2, hand-sorted to 30-cm depth. RotTill treatments had a significant effect on earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris), termites (Coptotermes formosanus), dung beetles (Scarabaeus viettei) and centipedes (Lithobius forficatus). Earthworms and termites were more abundant in CA treatments than in conventionally ploughed (CP) treatments. Biota diversity was generally higher in CA treatments than in CP controls. Conventional mouldboard ploughing generally reduced macrofauna, thus affecting biological soil fertility and the beneficial effect of the interactions of these organisms with the soil. CA treatments had the highest maize grain yields throughout the study period. Based on the results, reduced tillage systems and crop rotations increase biological activity shown by increased densities of termites and earthworms.

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“…The greater species richness of detritivores (termites, millipedes and woodlice) in sugarcane and veld was not surprising because these habitat types have abundant plant debris, which provided shelter and food. Mashavakure et al (2019b) reported the dominance of beetle detritivores in minimum tillage agroecosystems than in conventional tillage; they attributed this to the abundance of plant debris in minimum tillage systems. Sugarcane and veld would also have stable habitat conditions because there was minimum disturbance to the soil for long periods.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does habitat type in no‐tillage agroecosystems influence ground‐dwelling macroarthropod community structure? A case study in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa

2023

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Loss of biodiversity in agroecosystems has negative implications for crop production and the functioning of the ecosystem. As such, agroecologists advocate minimum tillage practices in order to conserve biological diversity. To establish the influence of agricultural practices on biodiversity, we compared the species richness, abundance and composition of beetles, ants, spiders and small groups of ground dwelling arthropods in a veld and three agroecosystems (maize, sugarcane and multispecies pasture) under minimum tillage. Sampling was by pitfall trapping during the summer rainfall season in December 2019. Although ants were the most abundant (47%), followed by beetles (31%); beetles were the most speciose making up 40% of the morphospecies followed by spiders (31%). The veld had significantly greater relative proportion of species richness of spiders (54%) than the three agroecosystems, while significantly low relative proportion of species richness of ants was in the pasture (6%) compared to the veld (63%). Species richness and abundance of beetles were similar across habitat types. The four habitats supported different assemblages of ants, beetles and spiders. The differences in species composition among the habitats support the notion that agricultural practices with minimum soil disturbance enhance conservation of biological diversity, particularly, specialist species.

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Soil dwelling beetle community response to tillage, fertilizer and weeding intensity in a sub-humid environment in Zimbabwe

Cited by 13 publications

References 32 publications

The Effect of Increasing Topsoil Disturbance on Surface-Active Invertebrate Composition and Abundance under Grazing and Cropping Regimes on Vertisols in North-West New South Wales, Australia

The Effect of Increasing Topsoil Disturbance on Surface-Active Invertebrate Composition and Abundance under Grazing and Cropping Regimes on Vertisols in North-West New South Wales, Australia

Tillage and crop rotations enhance populations of earthworms, termites, dung beetles and centipedes: evidence from a long-term trial in Zambia

Does habitat type in no‐tillage agroecosystems influence ground‐dwelling macroarthropod community structure? A case study in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa

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