Abstract
The influence of different agricultural practices on the sex ratio shown by Trachelipus rathkei (Isopoda: Oniscidea) populations was investigated by pitfall trapping in three nearby sites from an agricultural landscape in northern Italy, a conventional, high chemical input apple orchard, a biological, no chemical input apple orchard, and an uncultivated deciduous forest. In the forest site, the sex ratio changed from a significant male-bias during the first part of the annual activity period to a female-bias during the last part of the activity season. In the conventional orchard, however, the sex ratios showed a female-bias during the whole activity period. The biological orchard population showed a temporal pattern rather similar to that found in the forest population. These results are congruent with the hypothesis that distorted sex ratios, and especially female-biased ones, are likely to arise within populations subjected to one higher environmental disturbance. Accordingly, biological agriculture, at least in this case, could be considered as a gentler, less disturbing anthropogenic disturbance for isopod populations, so allowing the maintenance of more natural ecological features relatively to modern conventional, high chemical input agriculture. The adaptive, environmental and bioindicative significance of these results are discussed.
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