Abstract
Sewage sludge is an organic matter-rich material with abundant fractions of nitrogen and other macro and micronutrients, essential for plant growth and development such as Acacia mangium Willd. (Fabales: Fabaceae) used in recovering actions of degraded areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate over 24 months the abundance and diversity of chewing and pollinator insects and arthropod predators on A. mangium plants and the mass production and soil coverage by this plant, fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge, in a degraded area. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with two treatments (with and without dehydrated sewage sludge) and 24 replications. The number of leaves per branch and branches per plant, defoliation percentage by chewing insects, soil cover and abundance of chewing and pollinator insects and arthropod predators were higher on A. mangium plants fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge. Nasutitermes sp. (Blattodea: Termitidae) and Trigona spinipes F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were the most observed insects on trunks and leaves, respectively, of A. mangium plants fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge. The A. mangium fertilization increases the populations of different insect and spider groups on this plant.
Highlights
Sewage sludge is the residual and semi-solid material produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal waste [1]
Leaves per branch and branches per plant, percentages of defoliation by chewing insects and soil cover were higher for A. mangium plants fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge than for those without fertilization, but no effect was observed on the predator per prey ratio
The presence of Nasutitermes sp., as the most abundant insect on A. mangium plant trunks fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge may be owing to the organic matter richness of this fertilizer [8,51] and the higher litter production by this plant (e.g. >leaves ≥ Nasutitermes sp.)
Summary
Sewage sludge is the residual and semi-solid material produced as a by-product during sewage treatment of industrial or municipal waste [1]. It is rich in organic matter and nutrients with potential for reuse as a fertilizer and media for seedling production after processes of its stabilization such as anaerobic digestion and composting [2]. Sewage sludge can be re-used as fertilizer in forest plantations, degraded area under recovery process and in agriculture, reducing production costs and environmental risks [4,5,6]. A treated sewage sludge from the ‘Estação de Tratamento de Esgoto (ETE)’ in the municipality of Juramento, Minas Gerais State, Brazil had no helminth eggs and protozoan cysts, and did not increase the heavy metal contents in grains of maize, Zea mays L. (Poales: Poaceae), and cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. (Fabales: Fabaceae) [8]
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