Insect Faunal Diversity and Relative Abundance Associated with Trifolium alexandrinum (Berseem) in District Sialkot, Pakistan

Assessment of diversity and relative abundance of insect fauna associated with Triticum aestivum from district Sialkot, Pakistan

The practice of planting cover crops during fallow periods has increased due to the benefits provided to the soil system including improved nutrient cycling, addition of organic matter and a more diverse soil fauna resulting in better crop yield and an overall improvement of soil health. Research has shown that microbial activity is sensitive to changes in management practices and is a good indicator of whether the changes are benefiting the production system. To study the effects of cover type on corn (Zea mays L.) harvest parameters and soil chemical and biological properties a field trial consisting of a split plot design was established at LSU Agcenter’s Macon Ridge Research Station in northeast Louisiana. Treatments consisted of 8 covers: fallow, cereal rye (Secale cereal L.), forage radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus), berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), winter pea (Pisium sativum L.) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and 4 N rates (0, 235, 268 and 302 kg ha-1). Corn grain yield decreased by 20% after cover crop but responded to the addition of N both seasons. Cover crops had a positive effect on soil C:N over time, indicating active mineralization, and NO3- - N decreased almost three-fold between fall 2014 and spring 2015 (p<0.05). Cycling of C, N and S was also affected by cover crops; β-glucosidase and arylsulfatase activity were highest in spring 2015 (after cover crop termination) and averaged 73 and 32.9 mg p-nitrophenol kg-1 soil h-1, respectively. Microbial community structure shifted after cover crop with soil microbial communities under leguminous covers (hairy vetch, crimson clover, winter pea and berseem clover) separating from the brassica (forage radish) and grass (cereal rye) covers. Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (AMF) was higher (9.07 mol %) under the 0 N rate compared to the 263-302 kg ha 1 N rates (average 7.28 mol %) indicating the establishment of symbiotic relationship between plants and AMF as a response to nutrient deficient conditions. Cover crops established under Mid-South corn production systems show potential for improving the chemical and biological properties of soil.

Point count method was used to determine the relative abundance of non-passerine species at Marala wetlands (District Sialkot, Pakistan) during different calendar months between October, 2000 and September, 2001. Six species (Hoopoe, Lapwing, Spotted Owlet, Osprey, Indian Roller and Indian Nightjar) were recorded. Osprey and Spotted Owlet appearing in smaller numbers and Red Wattled Lapwing as a dominant resident. All the species were resident with some variation in population sizes during different seasons, though Osprey was a winter visitor.

Landscape structure, habitat fragmentation, and the ecology of insects

The camel is known to survive in harsh environmental conditions, due to its higher digestive efficiency of high-fiber diets compared with other ruminants. However, limited data are available on the microbial community in the rumen of a camel. In this study, the Illumina sequencing of V4 region of 16S rRNA genes based on RNA isolation was employed to get insight into the bacterial and archaeal communities associated with liquid and solid rumen fractions in eight camels under different feeding systems. Camels in group C1 were fed Egyptian clover hay plus concentrates mixture and camels of group C2 were fed fresh Egyptian clover. The results showed that liquid fraction has higher operational taxonomic units (OTUs) than solid fraction, and camel group C1 showed a higher microbial diversity than C2. The UniFrac analysis indicated that the microbial communities in camel groups are distinct. Moreover, phylum Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominated the bacterial community and Candidatus Methanomethylophilus dominated the archaeal community with a significant difference in the relative abundance between camel groups. Dominant bacterial genera were Prevotella, Fibrobacteres, Ruminococcus, and Butyrivibrio. There were many negative and positive correlations between and within bacterial and archaeal genera. The composition of microbial community in the rumen of a camel is similar to other ruminants with differences in the abundance.

In Fayoum Governorate, Egypt, the influence of tillage on the soil fauna was studied. For this reason, two plots (the first and the third) were not tilled, and were cultivated with various crops (tomatoes and different crop residues). The second study plot consisted of fallow land and was ploughed and cultivated with tomato with conventional tillage practices. Data of activity density of the soil fauna taxa were treated by multivariate statistical methods: correspondence analysis and ascending hierarchic classification. Comparisons indicated that higher activity densities of the herbivorous soil fauna taxa were generally associated with no-tillage practices. After the incorporation of the live green Lupinus termis and Trifolium alexandrinum in the soil, activity densities of some groups of soil fauna taxa increased such as Collembola and Orthoptera. Carnivorous soil fauna also increased after ploughing soils. Agricultural practices that adversely affect activity density as well as diversity of soil fauna study are fallow land and ploughing. On the other hand, no-tillage, cover crops and crop residues favour and enhance the activity density.

Core Ideas Use of N‐fertilizers decreased AMF populations and P, Ca, and Mg concentrations. Conservation tillage and cover crops increased C, N, and S cycling enzymes. Grass and brassica cover crops increased microbial populations compared to legumes. Agricultural production in the US Mid‐South has relied on frequent tillage and synthetic fertilizers decreasing soil health and system sustainability. Conservation tillage and cover crops can fill a vital role in reducing soil erosion while improving ecosystem functions. Seven cover crop blocks, including four legumes (berseem clover [ Trifolium alexandrinum ], crimson clover [ Trifolium incarnatum L.], winter pea [ Pisium sativum L.], and hairy vetch [ Vicia villosa Roth], three grass & brassica (cereal rye [ Secale cereale ], forage radish [ Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ], and a cereal rye–forage radish mix), and one fallow control were established in northeast Louisiana to examine the influence of cover crop and urea fertilizer application rates (0, 235, 268, 302 kg N ha −1 ) on corn production and soil health under conservation tillage. Soil health indicators were measured each year following corn harvest and cover crop termination. The combination of cover crops and conservation tillage increased C and N enzyme activity over the 2 yr while arylsulfatase increased in the spring following cover crop termination only. Relative abundance of saprophytic fungi tended to be higher in legume plots compared to grass & brassica treatments. Overall, the application of N fertilizer at rates of 235 kg N ha −1 or higher decreased populations of AMF and concentrations of P, K, Ca, and Mg, but increased populations of Gram‐positive bacteria. The use of grass & brassica cover crops promoted K, S, Ca, and Mg availability, and supported greater abundance of total FAMEs and all FAME biomarkers except for saprophytic fungi.

Abstract. Asghar A, Qadeer O, Mushtaq S, Maalik S, Majeed W, Bano N, Nargis S. 2022. Assessment of insects diversity with the influence of industrial pollutants in agricultural zones of District Sialkot, Pakistan. Biodiversitas 23: 2047-2053. Insects are the most important creatures on earth due to their multifunctional role in the environment by providing different services such as biological indicators, decomposers, pollinators, scavengers, pests, and predators agroecosystem. However, with time due to anthropogenic activities such as environmental pollution, industrial waste, and the use of effluents for agriculture, insect fauna has been facing a dramatic threat to their diversity, particularly in most polluted areas. The present study was designed to find insects diversity variation under polluted environments (heavy metals) in agriculture fields having brassica and Rice crops. Two different sites, the tannery and non-tannery areas were selected to sample insects. The total number of insects found in tannery area fields were 2195 and 3753 from the non-tannery area. The abundance of Melanoplus bivittatus (Say, 1825) was highest in the non-tannery area, and Acrida exaltata (Walker, 1859) was highest in tannery area fields. From the tannery area and non-tannery area, the maximum abundance of 32% and 37% were found for order orthoptera. The cadmium concentration in tannery rice crops was 0.626 ppm, and brassica concentration was 0.315 ppm. The cadmium concentration in non-tannery area samples was 0.115 ppm for rice and 0.101 ppm for brassica plants, while 0.1231 ppm for rice and 0.104 ppm for brassica insects. The lead concentration in tannery areas of rice crops was 0.637 ppm, and brassica concentration was 0.672 ppm. The lead concentration in non-tannery area samples was 0.324 ppm for rice and 0.267 ppm for brassica plants, while 0.214 ppm for rice and 0.266 ppm for brassica insects. The diversity and richness were recorded at 3.11 and 3.525 for rice and 3.124 and 3.913 for brassica fields. The species maximum was seen in the non-tannery area, and less abundance was recorded in the tannery area. It is further suggested that preventive measures should be taken to protect insect diversity from balancing nature's ecological balance.

Relative abundance and diversity of insects were studied in the four spots of Chittagong University Campus, from October 2015 to September 2016. The studied insect orders were- Odonata, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. Two families under Odonata, four under Orthoptera, five under Coleoptera, three families under Hymenoptera and eight under Lepidoptera were examined from the four study spots. Among these, sixteen species of Odonata, eight species of Orthoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera in each and 32 Lepidoptera species were identified. Highest numbers of insects (276) was collected in April'16 and December'15 whereas lowest numbers of insects (201) were collected in October'15. The highest abundance (906) of insects was found in Spot 3 (Hilly area), medium (785) in Spot 1 (Pond area) and lowest (642) and (648) in Spot 2 (Garden area) and Spot 4 (Artificial forest area), respectively. Lepidoptera (1217) was the most dominant order in the four studied spots followed by Odonata (636), Coleoptera (395), Hymenoptera (381) and Orthoptera (352). The average highest species richness, species diversity and species evenness were observed in October'15 (2.40 ± 0.11), August'16 (2.22 ± 0.03) and August'16 (0.96 ± 0.01), respectively and lowest in April'16 (2.18 ± 0.04), April'16 (1.98 ± 0.07) and April'16 (0.85 ± 0.03), respectively. During the study period, the highest species richness was observed in Spot 2 and Spot 4 (2.32 ± 0.03) and lowest in Spot 3 (2.13 ± 0.02); the highest species diversity was observed in Spot 3 (2.16 ± 0.02) and lowest in Spot 1 and Spot 2 (2.04 ± 0.03); and the highest species evenness was observed in Spot 3 (0.93 ± 0.01) and lowest in Spot 1 and Spot 2 (0.88 ± 0.01). Abundance and diversity of insects were dependent on seasonal fluctuation, and also on ecological and environmental conditions.J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2017, 3(1): 55-64

The practice of rice crop cultivation will affect the trophic structure and the diversity of insects that are formed. One of the common cultivation practices carried out by farmers was the control of pests by using pesticides. This study aimed to find out which pest management strategies that are effective in maintaining environmental health and understanding how natural enemies were affected by the application of synthetic pesticides. The first treatment was paddy field with integrated pest management (IPM), the second treatment was conventional rice field with a technique of chemical pest management (C-T), while the third treatment was mixed pest management (M-T). Insect sampling was conducted using sweep net, pitfall trap, and direct observation for 10 weeks after planting. Overall, it was found 100 morphospecies, 9 Orders, 56 families, with a total abundance of 6242 individuals per planting season. Based on functional roles it was found 39% as herbivores, 30% as predators, and 14% as parasitoids, 1% pollinators, and 13% decomposers. High insect diversity and abundance were found in the plots using low synthetic pesticides. The C-T control plot had a lower relative abundance of herbivorous insects, parasitoid insects, predators, and decomposers than the other control plots. H' and D index in the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Mixed Pest Management (M-T) plots did not show significant differences but differed significantly from the Chemical Control plot (C-T). Therefore, controlling the herbivore insects could apply the pest management based on IPM strategies. Keywords: Diversity of insects, integrated pest management (IPM), natural enemies, pesticides, rice pests

The distribution and diversity of aquatic insects and water quality variables were studied among three streams of the Mae Klong Watershed. In each stream, two sites were sampled. Aquatic insects and water quality variables were randomly sampled seven times in February, May, September, and December 2010 and in January, April, and May 2011. Overall, 11,153 individuals belonging to 64 families and nine orders were examined. Among the aquatic insects collected from the three streams, the order Trichoptera was most diverse in number of individuals, followed by Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, Odonata, Coleoptera, Diptera, Plecoptera, Megaloptera, and Lepidoptera. The highest Shannon index of diversity of 2.934 and 3.2 was recorded in Huai Kayeng stream and the lowest was in Huai Pakkok stream (2.68 and 2.62). The high diversity of insect fauna in streams is an indication of larger microhabitat diversity and better water quality conditions prevailing in the streams. The evenness value was recorded as high in most sites. The high species diversity and evenness in almost all sites indicated good water quality.

Bacterial wilt caused by Xanthomonas vasicola pv. musacearum (Xvm) is an important disease of enset and banana in south and south-western Ethiopia where, the diversity of the insect fauna on banana inflorescences was unknown and the role of insects as vectors of the disease had not been studied. The objectives of this study wereto assess the occurrence of bacterial wilt and male bud infection, the diversity of insect families in banana plantations and the presence of the bacteria on insects collected from diseased inflorescences in south and southwestern Ethiopia. Surveys were carried out and insects were collected from three different zones in 2005. The diversity and richness of the insect families was assessed across sites and genotypes and comparisons were made using the Shannon Diversity Index and the Jack knife estimator, respectively. Correlations were made betweenthe abundance and incidence of insects with the incidence of male bud infection on 'Pisang Awak' plants. A wide range of insect families were recorded and they varied according to banana genotype and altitude. The Drosophilidae and Apinae families were most frequently recorded across sites and genotypes. The 'Wendo' variety (AAACavendish group) had the highest diversity and richness of insect families within and across sites. In contrast to the Kembata Tembaro and Bench Maji zones, severe and widespread male bud infection of banana was found in Kaffa, where there was a high diversity of insects on the 'Pisang Awak' and 'Abesha muz' plants. The incidenceof male bud infection on 'Pisang Awak' plants was highly correlated with the incidence of insects (R2 = 0.964). The incidence of male bud infection however depends on the floral morphology and altitude. Artificial inoculation with Xvm ooze on fresh male bract and flower scars resulted in infections on 'Pisang Awak' and 'Abesha muz' plants, but the 'Dwarf Cavendish' plants with persistent bracts and flowers remained healthy. Few male bud infections were observed at altitudes above 1,700 masl. Xvm was isolated from Apinae, Lonchaeidae, Muscidae,Tephritidae and Vespidae insect families. Lonchaeidae (Silba spp.) were frequently observed on banana bract and flower scars and could thus be an important insect vector of Xvm in Ethiopia.

The aim of the presented study was to estimate the species richness and diversity of insects were investigated in an agro-ecosystem in Bhabar region of Uttarakhand. In total, 992 individuals were collected representing 7 orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, Diptera and Odonata), 30 families and 91 species that included herbivores, predators, omnivores and saprophages. The most dominant order was Lepidoptera with a relative abundance of (46.15%) and, the least was Diptera (6.59%). The five most abundant families by numbers of individuals were Pieridae (14.8%), Nymphalidae (13.9%), Lycaenidae (6.1%), Papilionidae (5.9%), and Libellulidae (5.4%). The five most diverse families by species were Nymphalidae (13), Pieridae (9), Lycaenidae (8), Papilionidae (7), and Libellulidae (6). The diversity index showed significant Diversity (Hʹ=1.832), Evenness (E=0.9449) and Margalef species richness (d=2.076) of insect fauna. Diversity indices of insect orders showed that Lepidoptera was the most diverse (Hʹ=1.641), Dipterans had highest Evenness (E=0.9449), and Coleopterans had the maximum species richness as per Margalef’s Index (d=2.056). There were 720 individuals of insect pollinators visitors were observed, which belonged to 62 species in 4 orders (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Hemiptera).

An insect diversity survey was carried out in May, 2011 in the Crocker Range Forest Reserve. This is a Class VI Forest Reserve (Virgin Jungle Reserve), gazetted in 1967 and then regazetted in 1984. It comprises an area of 3,279 ha. The nocturnal insect diversity was very high, with an average of 148 insect species from 207 individuals in a square metre of the light-trapping cloth. The mean Shannon, Simpson and Fisher Alpha indices are H’ = 4.77 (>3.0), D = 322.49 and S = 417.04 respectively. Apart from having the highest diversity of nocturnal insects in all the 20 forest reserves surveyed within the Heart of Borneo area in Sabah, it has also recorded a number of endemic species. Some beetles are hyper-endemics, such as Cyclommatus chewi, Odontolabis schenki and Odontolabis katsurai (all Lucanidae beetles) which are found only in Mt. Alab of the Crocker Range F.R. At least 10 butterfly species are known to be confined to the Crocker Range, including the Kinabalu Tiger, Parantica crowleyi, which was sampled during the survey. A stick insect, Orthonecrosia felix, was recorded and it is only confined to the Crocker Range. New species are still being described. Such interesting scientific insect data from this survey and also from past records support the need to enhance biodiversity conservation in this Virgin Forest Reserve. In view of the high diversity and intriguing insect fauna, Crocker Range F.R. has potential in nature tourism for special interest tourists who contribute to Sabah’s economy. A private initiative, Kipandi Park set up adjacent to the forest reserve, not only showcases the diversity of insects in Sabah but is also doing its part in studying the life cycle of rare and endemic insects which contributes towards insect conservation. The park also cooperates with government agencies in promoting conservation of biodiversity. In this paper, some of the issues pertaining to insect diversity and conservation are discussed.

Insect diversity is huge and immensely complex with making up an important component of the functional biodiversity of the terrestrial ecosystem. The study of diversity is a systematic approach to assess composition, abundance and comparison of inhabiting species in the various habitats. The Rajasthan state is divided into different climate zones from a western arid desert to a humid region of the south-eastern plateau that represents significant insect diversity. The present review aims to provide baseline information of insect diversity in four eco-geographical regions of the Rajasthan. The exact number of species is still not clear. Although, after perusal of the literature, the study revealed that there were 878 insect species and subspecies recorded belonging to 104 families and 14 orders. Among all, the order Lepidoptera is most diverse representing 234 species followed by Hymenoptera with 208 species and Coleoptera with 129 species. The maximum number of 398 species were recorded from the Aravalli range followed by 283 species in the Thar Desert, 225 species from the eastern plain while the Southeastern plateau is less diverse with 86 species of insects. This review will be helpful to assess the comparison and identify species data of the insect fauna for further study.