Influence of cover cropping and no-tillage practices on community composition of soil arthropods in a North Carolina agroecosystem
1989
House, G.J. | Rosario Alzugaray, M. del
Winter legume and grain cover crops preceding corn, Zea mays L., grown using conventional and no-tillage methods were investigated for their effect on population dynamics and community structure of soil arthropods. Hairy vetch, Vicia villosa Roth, supported higher below-ground arthropod population densities and a more taxonomically diverse fauna than crimson clover, Trifolium incarnatum L., or wheat, Triticum aestivum L. Pest and beneficial soil arthropods were most abundant in no-tillage corn preceded by hairy vetch. Diversity of soil arthropod species was higher under no-tillage than conventional tillage. Divergences in community structure of soil arthropods among cover crop species, evident early in the season, dissipated by midseason. Arthropod predators were more numerous in no-tillage than conventional tillage systems regardless of previous cover crops. Although no-tillage practices promoted a more trophically balanced soil arthropod community than conventional tillage during early and mid season, in 1987 seedling corn plants in no-tillage vetch treatments sustained significantly higher (P less than 0.05) damage from the southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber, than in other treatments. Tillage system preference was shown by herbivores: Seedcorn maggot, Delia platura (Meigen), occurred in large numbers in conventional tillage, and southern corn rootworm populations were high in no-tillage, especially following legume cover crops.
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