Soil Insect Diversity and Abundance Following Different Fertilizer Treatments on the Loess Plateau of China

Abstract

The presence of abundant and diverse communities of macro-arthropods is considered an indicator of sustainability in agroecosystems. This study was designed to investigate the effects of different fertilizer treatments on abundance and diversity of insects of arable loess soil on the Loess Plateau of China. These regimes included a control with no fertilizer addition or manure, treatments with application of mineral fertilizers (N, NK, NP, PK, NPK), treatments with NPK in combination with organic materials such as wheat straw or maize stalk, treatments with two rates of organic manure application; and different crop rotations (Rot.1: winter wheat summer maize; Rot.2: winter wheat summer maize soybean intercropping; and Rot.3: winter wheat or rapeseed summer maize soybean intercropping). Soil macro-arthropods were collected from the plough layer (0-20 cm) and sorted by hand after each harvest in June and October 2001 and 2002. A total of 3 132 individuals were collected, from 7 orders and 55 families, dominated by Formicidae (61.72%) and Staphylinidae (14.24%). The results showed that individuals and groups were significantly influenced by sampling dates, while groups were significantly influenced by the fertilization treatments. Soil insect biodiversity, as determined by the Shannon index, was significantly influenced by fertilization and sampling dates. The abundance of soil insects was positively and significantly correlated with soil moisture content in October 2002. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers and incorporation of organic materials were favorable factors for abundance and diversity in arable loess soil.