Arthropod Diversity Research Articles

DNA barcodes reveal the hidden arthropod diversity in a threatened cactus forest of the central Andes

DNA barcodes reveal the hidden arthropod diversity in a threatened cactus forest of the central Andes

Restoration of native saltmarshes can reverse arthropod assemblages and trophic interactions changed by a plant invasion.

Plant invasions profoundly impact both natural and managed ecosystems, and removal of the invasive plants addresses only part of the problem of restoring impacted areas. The rehabilitation of diverse communities and their ecosystem functions following removal of invasive plants is an important goal of ecological restoration. Arthropod assemblages and trophic interactions are important indicators of the success of restoration, but they have largely been overlooked in saltmarshes. We determined how arthropod assemblages and trophic interactions changed with the invasion of the exotic plant Spartina alterniflora and with the restoration of the native plant Phragmites australis following Spartina removal in a Chinese saltmarsh. We investigated multiple biotic and abiotic variables to gain insight into the factors underlying the changes in arthropod assemblages and trophic structure. We found that although Spartina invasion had changed arthropod diversity, community structure, feeding-guild composition, and the diets of arthropod natural enemies in the saltmarsh, these changes could be reversed by the restoration of native Phragmites vegetation following removal of the invader. The variation in arthropod assemblages and trophic structure were critically associated with four biotic and abiotic variables (aboveground biomass, plant density,leaf N, and soil salinity). Our findings demonstrate the positive effects of controlling invasive plants on biodiversity and nutrient cycling and provide a foundation for assessing the efficacy of ecological restoration projects in saltmarshes.

Guild-dependent effects of forest fragmentation in canopy arthropod diversity associated to Quercus deserticola

Guild-dependent effects of forest fragmentation in canopy arthropod diversity associated to Quercus deserticola

A comparison of sampling methods and temporal patterns of arthropod abundance and diversity in a mature, temperate, Oak woodland

Arthropods underpin fundamental ecological processes such as herbivory, pollination and nutrient cycling, and are often responsive to subtle changes in environmental conditions. Thus, changes in their abundance and phenology may be crucial indicators of system-wide responses to climate change.The new Birmingham Institute for Forest Research (BIFoR) Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) facility provides a unique opportunity assess arthropod diversity and abundance in mature deciduous forest and the effect of sampling method and seasonality. This is an essential first step before attempting to measure the potential impacts of climate change, such as elevated CO2, on arthropod populations. Two fundamental criteria are: i) diverse sampling methods in order to effectively assess diversity and in particular, differences between structural layers of the woodland system, e.g., ground, sub-canopy and canopy layers, ii) a temporal resolution that can identify seasonal patterns of change (phenology). This paper sets out the methodological approaches employed to achieve these objectives.A total of 22,568 invertebrates from 108 families were sampled across 12 months of continuous sampling using a range of techniques from forest floor to canopy. Diptera were the most abundant order sampled and had the greatest number of families represented (45). Phenology patterns generally followed the anticipated seasonal cycle, with increasing abundance and diversity from spring to summer. Temperature was the best environmental predictor of abundance within Malaise and pitfall traps. Precipitation was not correlated with any monthly patterns of trap data. Yellow pan traps collected more arthropods than white or blue traps. Canopy beating yielded a greater diversity than that in the understory samples.These data provide an important baseline from which to assess any future impacts of eCO2 over the 10-year BIFoR FACE experiment, and highlight the importance of employing diverse sampling methods, temporal replication and measuring environmental factors over appropriate timescales.

The invasiveness of Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) is characterized by habitat and differing herbivore assemblages in its native and invaded range

A significant challenge of global change is the human-mediated movement of pasture grasses and their subsequent impact on ecosystem processes when they become invasive. We must understand invasive grass ecology and their natural enemies in native and introduced ranges to mitigate these impacts. Guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus) is a pantropically introduced pasture grass that escapes intended areas and invades native ecosystems – threatening biodiversity and ecosystem function. The success of invasive plants has often been attributed to ecological release from stressors, including natural enemies and resource availability. Our objective was to assess Guinea grass functional traits across three different habitat types in native and invaded ranges by documenting ungulate and arthropod abundance, diversity, and feeding guilds. Guinea grass functional traits were assessed in three habitat types: grassland, riparian, and woody thickets around nitrogen-fixing Prosopis glandulosa in its introduced range in Texas, USA, and Senegalia mellifera in its native range in Kenya. We characterized Guinea grass functional traits by measuring plant height, cover, biomass, root-to-shoot ratios, and reproductive traits. We then examined the phytophagous arthropod and ungulate abundance and feeding guild diversity across the three habitat types. We hypothesized that functional trait expression related to invasiveness would be associated with Guinea grass in its introduced range. Also, we hypothesized that the abundance and diversity of phytophagous arthropods and ungulates would be lower in the invaded range. Finally, we hypothesized that Guinea grass functional traits would differ between the three habitat types, given the habitat types’ innate differences in resource availability. We found that Guinea grass was 2.5 times taller and 3.3 times more productive and covered 2.5 times more area in its invaded versus native ranges. Introduced Guinea grass had higher reproduction rates with 2.5 times more reproductive tillers, while habitat type drove vegetative reproduction with 15 times more stoloniferous establishment in wooded and riparian sites than grasslands. Texan ungulate communities were less species-rich, less functionally diverse, and less abundant than the Kenyan ungulate community. The phytophagous arthropod diversity on plants was twice as high on Kenyan Guinea grass than on Texan Guinea grass. Total arthropod family richness was nearly double, with 15 families represented in Kenya and 8 in Texas. These results suggest that Guinea grass has escaped a rich assemblage of arthropods and ungulates and likely explains some of its spread in introduced ranges. This study demonstrates how the invasive success of Guinea grass can be understood in terms of its competitive ability and interaction with natural enemies in the introduced and native ranges and may inform future biological control.

The effect of semi-natural habitat types on epigaeic arthropods: Isolate habitats make critical contribution to biodiversity in agricultural landscape

Semi-natural habitats in agricultural landscapes vary greatly in shape and vegetation characteristics. They can appear either as relatively large patches of several hectares or as narrow bands (less than 1 m wide) between fields and roads and between fields. Semi-natural habitats support biodiversity and associated ecosystem services on farmland, thereby contributing to sustainable agriculture.However, the effects of different semi-natural habitat types on the polytrophic level of epigaeic arthropods are still unclear. In this study, we classified semi-natural habitats into five types. (1) woody areal (WA), (2) woody line (WL), (3) herbaceous areal (HA), (4) herbaceous line (HL) and (5) isolate habitat (IH). We aimed to explore differences in epigaeic arthropod community composition in five different semi-natural habitats and the effects of different semi-natural habitats and different sampling locations on epigaeic arthropod activity-density and diversity. The results showed that epigaeic arthropod communities show significant differences, not only between farmland and semi-natural habitats, but also between different types of semi-natural habitats. Isolate habitats have the highest activity-density of epigaeic arthropods and Linear herbaceous maintain the highest epigaeic arthropod diversity. We also found in this study, both the activity-density and diversity of epigaeic arthropods showed edge-biased distribution. It may be possible to promote sustainable agricultural ecosystems by understanding the effect of semi-natural habitats on epigaeic arthropods, which is conducive to improving the quality of the agricultural ecological environment.

Population Dynamics of Arthropods in New Caledonian Citrus Orchards

Aims: Agroecological infrastructures are central to the preservation of arthropod populations and ecosystem services associated. There is little data on the population dynamics of New Caledonian citrus orchards. Thus, this study focuses on the response of arthropods to four management methods in the orchard: conventional management, inter-row vegetated, row mulching and edge windbreaks.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in the village of La Foa in New Caledonia. It took place over three months, from the end of February to the end of May 2022.
 Methodology: To collect the greatest possible diversity of insects, four complementary trapping methods were used: pitfall traps, yellow plates, Malaise traps and sweeping nets. Once collected, the trapped insects are then sorted and identified. The sorting is done with a binocular magnifying glass. Insects are identified using specific determination keys, documentation, or with the help of the Reference Collection of Terrestrial Invertebrates of New Caledonia - Xavier Montrouzier (CXMNC). When identification is not immediately possible, a morphotype number is assigned. For each species and morphospecies, a photograph is taken. Alpha and beta diversity was studied using rarefactions, Shannon index and Generalized Linear Models.
 Results: A positive effect of agroecological infrastructures on insects’ abundance and diversity was recorded. In contrast, low arthropod abundances and diversities were presented in the orchard under conventional management (P < 0.001). Mulching management was the parameter showing the much higher insects’ abundance. Moreover, populations dynamics were generally correlated with the related infrastructures. Thus, windbreaks acted as ecological corridors and the inter-row vegetation as refuge habitats for beneficial insects. 
 Conclusion: These results demonstrate the damage of conventional agriculture on arthropod diversity in New Caledonian orchards. They also show that agroecological infrastructures can bring back insect biodiversity, especially with the mulching management.

Lustrochernes grossus (Pseudoscorpiones: Chernetidae) associated with decaying wood in riparian cloud forests

We analysed the dead-wood characteristics that determine the presence of saproxylic pseudoscorpion species in remnants of riparian cloud forest. We examined 98 dead-wood pieces (70 logs and 28 stumps), and recorded tree species, decaying wood stages, presence of the pseudoscorpion Lustrochernes grossus (Banks, 1893) (Chernetidae) and the Bess beetle Helicus tropicus. In these wood samples we found 24 L. grossus and one chela. We recorded the highest number of individuals in Clethra mexicana (11), followed by Quercus corrugata (6) and Liquidambar styraciflua (6). In Annona cherimola and Trema micrantha, one chela and one female were recorded, respectively. The presence of this pseudoscorpion is likely due to its relationship with the Bess beetle, which coexists in decaying wood. The distribution of L. grossus in dead wood may also be influenced by tree species and stage of decay. Forest fragmentation and the extraction of firewood from the remnant riparian fragments of cloud forest are factors that could jeopardize the saproxylic pseudoscorpion species and other arthropod diversity associated with decaying wood in this threatened ecosystem.

Diversity and abundance of soil arthropods in Jahangirnagar University campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Soil arthropods are an essential part of an ecosystem contributing significantly to maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The present study was conducted to investigate the diversity and abundance of soil arthropods in selected habitats in Jahangirnagar University campus, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sampling was conducted at three different habitats, viz., woodland (W), grassland with herbs (GH), and woodland with herbs (WH), from February 2022 to July 2022 using pitfall traps. A total of 9054 arthropods belonging to 19 different orders viz., Collembola, Diplura, Thysanoptera, Odonata, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Acari, Araneae, Mesostigmata, Polydesmida, Isopoda, Scolopendrellida and Scolopendromorpha were collected. The most abundant order was Collembola (64.49%) followed by Diptera (12.89%), Hymenoptera (9.82%), Orthoptera (4.73%), Araneae (2.85%) and Coleoptera (1.38%), and the least abundant orders were Isoptera (0.17%), Scolopendrellida (0.13%), Thysanoptera (0.10%), Acai (0.09%), and Diplura (0.08%). Blattodea, Polydesmida, Lepidoptera and Isopoda represented 0.76%, 0.64%, 0.34% and 0.27% of the total captured individuals, respectively. The greatest number of individuals were collected from habitat-W (49.78%) followed by habitat-GH (28.32%) and habitat-WH (21.90%). The collembolans exhibited the highest abundance in all three habitats. Both the Shannon-Weiner index (H') and Pielou’s evenness index. (J') showed the highest score in habitat-GH (H'=1.49, J'=0.5), whereas the least score in habitat-W (H'=1.04, (J'=0.36). Information revealed in this study is expected to contribute to developing baseline data of arthropod fauna in Jahangirnagr University campus. More importantly, this information would help us monitor any change in the abundance and diversity of soil-dwelling arthropods in Jahangirnagar University campus.

Diversity of Arthropods in Relation to Insecticide and Biopesticide Treatments in Okra

Present study was carried out during 2019 at the Vegetable Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana to generate information on diversity of invertebrates in okra. Study revealed that okra crop was harboured by 27 invertebrate species belonging to 11 orders and 26 families. Of these, maximum belonged to order Hemiptera followed by Coleoptera. Higher values of Shannon-Wiener index (1.75, 1.84) and Simpson’s index (0.26, 0.17), respectively were recorded for both phytophagous arthropods and predators in untreated control plots. This is followed by neem/ other insecticides treated plots. Imidacloprid lowered the arthropod population. Occurrence of predators and phytophagous arthropods revealed a significant positive correlation with temperature (r=+0.37 to +0.99) and relative humidity (r=+0.04 to +0.80) except for few hemipterans and coleopterans.

The Effect of Artificial Field Margins on Epigeic Arthropod Functional Groups within Adjacent Arable Land of Northeast China

Providing food security to meet the growing human demand while improving the biodiversity of arable land is a global challenge. Although semi-natural field margins are known to enhance biodiversity in arable land systems globally, the role that abundant artificial field margins play in maintaining epigeic arthropod diversity within arable land remains unclear. Here, we compared epigeic arthropods within adjacent arable land with an artificial field margin (paved and dirt roads) and a semi-natural field margin (ditch, woodland, or grassland), as well as vegetation community characteristics at a field scale for identifying the ecological effects of different field margin types. Our results indicated the following: (i) Compared with semi-natural field margins, there is less epigeic arthropod diversity and less stable ecological networks within adjacent arable land with artificial field margins, with more herbivores within adjacent arable land with artificial field margins and more natural enemies within adjacent arable land with semi-natural field margins. (ii) Arable land adjacent to a dirt road (DR) maintained more resilient ecological networks than that adjacent to a paved road (PR), and there are more flowering plants at DRs, which attracts natural enemies, whereas Orthoptera is more active at PRs with abundant weeds. (iii) The main factors affecting epigeic arthropod functional groups were the tree layer cover (TC), herb layer abundance (HA), and herb layer height (HH) of the artificial and semi-natural field margins. We concluded that increasing the number of flowering plants and removing noxious weeds can eliminate negative effects on epigeic arthropod functional groups within adjacent arable land with artificial field margins. Delineating a certain percentage of vegetation strips to be a buffer zone in artificial field margins or creating a suitable vegetation community in semi-natural field margins can maintain and protect natural enemies and strengthen the ecological network stability between functional groups.

Metabarcoding for biodiversity inventory blind spots: A test case using the beetle fauna of an insular cloud forest.

Soils harbour a rich arthropod fauna, but many species are still not formally described (Linnaean shortfall) and the distribution of those already described is poorly understood (Wallacean shortfall). Metabarcoding holds much promise to fill this gap, however, nuclear copies of mitochondrial genes, and other artefacts lead to taxonomic inflation, which compromise the reliability of biodiversity inventories. Here, we explore the potential of a bioinformatic approach to jointly "denoise" and filter nonauthentic mitochondrial sequences from metabarcode reads to obtain reliable soil beetle inventories and address open questions in soil biodiversity research, such as the scale of dispersal constraints in different soil layers. We sampled cloud forest arthropod communities from 49 sites in the Anaga peninsula of Tenerife (Canary Islands). We performed whole organism community DNA (wocDNA) metabarcoding, and built a local reference database with COI barcode sequences of 310 species of Coleoptera for filtering reads and the identification of metabarcoded species. This resulted in reliable haplotype data after considerably reducing nuclear mitochondrial copies and other artefacts. Comparing our results with previous beetle inventories, we found: (i) new species records, potentially representing undescribed species; (ii) new distribution records, and (iii) validated phylogeographic structure when compared with traditional sequencing approaches. Analyses also revealed evidence for higher dispersal constraint within deeper soil beetle communities, compared to those closer to the surface. The combined power of barcoding and metabarcoding contribute to mitigate the important shortfalls associated with soil arthropod diversity data, and thus address unresolved questions for this vast biodiversity fraction.

DIVERSITY OF SOIL SURFACE ARTHROPODS IN THE FOREST SURROUNDING BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT MANADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Diversity in animals is a variation of the structure, shape, number, and other properties at a particular time and place. Diversity describes a situation that varies from one person to another, objects that occur cause differences in size, shape, texture, and amount. Arthropods are animals with segmented legs, and segments on the body belong to the animals that live both above and below the ground. This research aims to know the diversity and types of ground surface arthropods in the forest surrounding the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Manado State University. This research is located in the forest area of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Manado, Tonsaru village, South Tondano District, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi. Taking data using the pitfall trap method and analyzing using Shannon Wiener diversity index, species richness index, species evenness index, and species dominance. The data collection and collection results obtained as many as 12 genera with a total of 166 individuals. Namely, Myrmica, Carebara, Paraponera, Papederinae, Anisolabis, Hogna, Spirostreptus, Cafius, Phalangium, Opilio, Oxidus, and Pholidoptera. The diversity index value yields 1,11043. The species richness index shows a value of 2,1518. Index the evenness of the species showed a value of 0,44687. The dominance of type indicates a value of 0,457. The level of diversity is moderate, species richness is low, evenness is moderate, and species dominance is low.

Timber plantations do not homogenize soil arthropod diversity but do alter species composition

Landscape transformation for agriculture threatens global biodiversity through simplification of ecosystems. We determine whether large-scale timber plantations contribute to biotic homogenization of soil biodiversity relative to remnant natural vegetation. We examined ant and springtail alpha- and beta-diversity, and assemblage composition, among biotopes in two different climatic and soil regions in a subtropical area of South Africa. Surprisingly, we observed equally high levels of alpha- and beta-diversity in plantations (Eucalyptus and Pinus) as in natural biotopes (indigenous forest and grassland) for both taxa in both regions, except in the inland sites where ant species richness was highest in grassland. Furthermore, beta-diversity in all biotopes was mainly due to species replacement rather than nestedness. The high diversity in plantations is likely due to high environmental variation among plantation sites, likely providing diverse niche opportunities across plantations. A possible mechanism for the large proportion of shared species between natural areas and plantations is colonization of arthropods from natural areas into plantations and/or source populations surviving harvesting and tree planting and then their populations growing during long periods of tree maturation. Plantations and natural areas supported complementary assemblages, which builds on the idea that remnant natural vegetation in production landscapes is essential for conserving not only unique aboveground biodiversity, but also unique belowground biodiversity. Furthermore, timber plantations do not homogenize soil arthropod taxonomic diversity as expected. This contrasts with global trends on biodiversity response to land-use change and emphasizes that conservation principles for soil biodiversity may differ from those aimed at aboveground biodiversity.

Field spray abdominal gland secretions of rove beetles: Effects on the pest abundance and arthropod community

AbstractAlternative environmentally friendly methods for pest control are in high demand because of the environmental impacts of pesticides. Notably, predator‐released kairomone is a natural compound released by natural enemies, which mediates non‐consumptive effects between natural enemies and prey. However, this novel pest control agent is underutilized relative to pesticides and natural enemies. Additionally, the effects of spraying predator kairomone on the number and diversity of arthropods in fields and whether this method is environmental‐friendly are poorly understood. In the present study, a predator kairomone, rove beetle (Paederus fuscipes Curtis) abdominal gland secretion (AGS), was sprayed in rice fields to investigate whether AGS can suppress pest populations or will affect the fields’ arthropod communities. After AGS spraying, the abundance of arthropods decreased throughout the first 12‐d period, including arthropod pests such as hemipterans (small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén), brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), white‐backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Horváth), and leafhoppers), and lepidopterans (rice leaf folder, Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenée). The abundance of arthropod predators was not affected, except for predatory spiders, which decreased, and rove beetles (P. fuscipes), which increased. In the terms of arthropod diversity, neither pests nor their natural enemies were changed by AGS application. This work highlights that predator kairomone can temporarily suppress pest populations in fields but has no adverse effects on arthropod diversity; thus, this approach is environmentally friendly and can be used in real‐world applications. Broadly, present studies suggest that the application of predator kairomone may have synergistic or cumulative effects on pest suppression.

More than Moths: Flower Visitors of a Night-Blooming Plant in South Florida Pine Rocklands, USA.

Plants whose flowers open at night but remain open during the day also attract diurnal flower visitors, potentially boosting their pollination rates and providing resources that can support diverse arthropod communities. The rough-leaf velvetseed, Guettarda scabra (Rubiaceae), is an evergreen shrub that thrives only in the imperiled pine rockland habitat in south Florida. Its white, tubular, and fragrant flowers open during late afternoon, exhibiting traits strongly associated with the attraction of nocturnal hawkmoths (Sphingidae). Flowers of G. scabra remain open until the following morning, becoming available to a wider array of visitors, bringing into question the expectation that sphingophilous flowers are visited mainly by hawkmoths. To evaluate whether the flowers of G. scabra are mainly visited by nocturnal hawkmoths and understand the role of this plant in the pine rockland habitat, we characterized the arthropod fauna associated with its flowers during the morning, evening, and at night. We found that most flower visitors were diurnal insects of the orders Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera, although we observed other arthropod groups too. Visitation at night was dominated by two species of hawkmoths. Nectar was the main resource used by the arthropod community during this study. Legitimate visitation and nectar-robbing were the behaviors most frequently observed among the flower visitors. Our results suggest that flowers of the night-blooming G. scabra constitute an important food source for both diurnal and nocturnal arthropod fauna in the fire-dependent pine rocklands of southern Florida. Our study provides novel data to support efforts to conserve and protect pine rocklands and the plants and animals that inhabit them.

Arthropod diversity indices in floricultural ecosystem: Which fares better?

Biodiversity being a multidimensional property is always considered as tough to measure or quantify mostly because of the assortment of indices recommended for this purpose. However, there is no agreement about which indices are more appropriate and informative. Arthropods are one of the groups that have evaded the knowledge of human beings of their role in ecosystem function. We used data collected from floricultural ecosystems of rose, jasmine and cock’s comb fields during 2016 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and calculated common arthropod diversity indices of species richness and species dominance in ordinal, familial and species level. The aim was to find out whether surrogacy is possible as far as arthropod diversity analyses are concerned and to determine whether some were better suited than others. In the present study, it was found that in most of the cases, irrespective of the index used, estimating species richness based on family level presented a closer picture to that of species level analysis, but could not totally replicate the sensitivity reflected by species level classification. Of the three dominance indices, only the Simpson's index discriminated the variation at all the three levels, viz. ordinal, familial and species with the discrimination being more pronounced at the species level. Hence, it could be inferred that the Simpson index could successfully be used in the floricultural ecosystems for estimating arthropod diversity based on dominance measures.

Landscape-scale connectivity and fragment size determine species composition of grassland fragments

As a consequence of agricultural intensification and habitat fragmentation since the mid-20th century, biological diversity has declined considerably throughout the world, particularly in Europe. We assessed how habitat and landscape-scale heterogeneity, such as variation in fragment size (small vs. large) and landscape configuration (measured as connectivity index), affect plant and arthropod diversity. We focused on arthropods with different feeding behaviour and mobility, spiders (predators, moderate dispersal), true bugs (mainly herbivores and omnivores with moderate dispersal), wild bees (pollinators with good dispersal abilities), and wasps (pollinators, omnivores with good dispersal abilities). We studied 60 dry grassland fragments in the same region (Hungarian Great Plain); 30 fragments were represented by the grassland component of forest-steppe stands, and 30 were situated on burial mounds (kurgans). Forest-steppes are mosaics of dry grasslands with small forests in a matrix of plantation forests. Kurgans are ancient burial mounds with moderately disturbed grasslands surrounded by agricultural fields. The size of fragments ranged between 0.16–6.88 ha (small: 0.16–0.48 ha, large: 0.93–6.88 ha) for forest-steppes and 0.01–0.44 ha (small: 0.01–0.10 ha and large: 0.20–0.44 ha) for kurgans. Fragments also represented an isolation gradient from almost cleared and homogenous landscapes, to landscapes with relatively high compositional heterogeneity. Fragment size, connectivity, and their interaction affected specialist and generalist species abundances of forest-steppes and kurgans. Large fragments had higher species richness of ground-dwelling spiders, and the effect of connectivity was more strongly positive for specialist arthropods and more strongly negative for generalists in large than in small fragments. However, we also found a strong positive impact of connectivity for generalist plants in small kurgans in contrast to larger ones. We conclude that besides the well-known effect of enhancing habitat quality, increasing connectivity between fragments by restoring natural and semi-natural habitat patches would help to maintain grassland biodiversity.

Differences in arthropod communities between grazed areas and grazing exclosures depend on arthropod groups and vegetation types

Livestock grazing is one of the most common management practices for grasslands and can greatly affect their biodiversity. However, arthropod diversity response patterns to grazing regimes are difficult to predict. We conducted a short-term grazing exclusion experiment in traditionally managed alkali grasslands in Hungary to investigate differences between grazed and ungrazed vegetation for different arthropod groups. The experiment was laid out in a full factorial design, with twelve 50 × 100 m short-term grazing exclosures in vegetation types with high (alkali wet meadow) and low productivity (alkali steppe). We sampled ground beetles and spiders with pitfall traps and true hoppers by sweep netting. We used vegetation type (wet meadow vs dry steppe), management (grazed vs ungrazed) and their interaction as fixed effects in mixed models. We found higher species richness and activity density of spiders and ground beetles in the more productive wet meadow vegetation, where the community structure of each arthropod group also shifted toward hygrophilous species. Significant interactions between vegetation type and management indicated a dependence of management effects on vegetation types: arthropod community structure shifted towards hygrophilous species in ungrazed meadows, but not in ungrazed steppe sites. True hopper abundance was higher in grazed meadow sites, but lower in grazed steppe sites, compared to ungrazed sites. True hopper community structure shifted toward generalist herbivores in ungrazed sites, regardless of vegetation type. We concluded that vegetation types determine arthropod communities and modulate the effects of grazing on arthropods. Our results suggest that moderate disturbance from low-intensity grazing has a positive or neutral effect in wetter, more productive vegetation, but a negative or neutral effect in drier, less productive vegetation, depending on the arthropod group. Herbivorous insects that dwell on plants are particularly affected by management because they are more susceptible to direct impacts, such as unintentional predation by grazing cattle, and because of asymmetrical competition between mammalian and insect herbivores.

Potensi Asap Cair Arang Sekam terhadap Spodoptera litura dan Pengaruhnya terhadap Keanekaragaman Artropoda pada Tanaman Kedelai Edamame

This study aimed to examine the potential of husk charcoal liquid smoke as a bioinsecticide in controlling S. litura and its effect on the diversity of arthropods in Edamame soybeans. The research was conducted from February 2021 to June 2021, at The Plant Protection Laboratory, Bioscience Laboratory Jember State Polytechnic and farmers' land in Balung Lor Village, Jember Regency. Laboratory research examines the bioactive components of 3rd grade husk charcoal liquid smoke, toxicity. The treatment of liquid smoke of husk charcoal, compared with Fipronil as a positive control, used the Mann Whitney test. Observations were: S. litura population, damage intensity, pod weight per plant and arthropod diversity. The results of the the research were: GCMS analysis showed that the liquid smoke of husk charcoal 3rd grade contains 35 components that were detected by a mass spectrometer. The bioactive compound as an antifeedant with the highest concentration was Acetic Acid, ws 37.03%. LC50 and LC95 were 9% and 28% respectively; The liquid smoke of husk charcoal was more effective in reducing the population of S. litura and the damage intensity; pods weight 48.92 grams per plant, Fipronil 23.92 grams per plant. Shannon Wiener Diversity Index of husk charcoal liquid smoke was 2.57 Fipronil was 1.85, Sorensen similarity index was 77% (different). The dominance index of Simpson bioinsecticide liquid smoke husk charcoal was 0.10 lower than Fipronil, which was 0.54.