Influence of Cover Crops on Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Population Abundance and Diversity in Texas Cotton
2021
Hakeem, Abdul | Parajulee, Megha | Ismail, Muhammad | Hussain, Tahammal | Lewis, Katie
A 3-year field study evaluated the influence of three cover crop–tillage systems [rye cover–no tillage (R-NT), mixed cover–no-tillage (M-NT), and no cover–conventional tillage (CT)] on abundance and diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) at Agricultural Complex for Advanced Research and Extension Systems (AGCARES) farm at Lamesa, TX. The mixed cover was a seed mixture of rye (Secale cereale L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and winter pea (Pisum sativum L.). Plastic pitfall traps (710 ml) were used in the furrows of the middle two randomly selected rows in each plot and monitored fortnightly from May to October. In total, 2,026 beetles of six families (Carabidae, Histeridae, Scarabaeidae, Silphidae, Tenebrionidae, and Trogidae) and 18 species were collected in pitfall traps. Six of the 18 species, Calosoma affine Chandoir, Cicindela punctulata Olivier, Pasimachus sp., Scarites sp., Calosoma marginale Casey, and Cicindela sexguttata F., were predaceous ground beetles. Calosoma affine and C. punctulata were the most abundant predatory ground beetles, comprising 83% of the total carabid guild in the system. Species abundance and diversity of predatory beetles varied significantly by year, tillage system, and year x tillage interaction. Average predatory beetle abundances were 9.7, 16.2, and 28.2 per trap per sample date in CT, R-NT, and M-NT plots, respectively. Diversity of predatory beetles was significantly greater in M-NT (1.15) compared to that in R-NT (0.75) or CT (0.64) systems. Data on abundance and diversity of non-predatory beetles was much more variable.
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