Four-year arable crop rotation impact on beneficial soil surface arthropod fauna restoration

Abstract

Sugar beet production in Croatia is demanding and involves a range of activities that affect the successful production. Pests can significantly reduce yield, sugar content and root quality. Sugar beet protection is usually carried out by chemical measures. Chemical measures have long-term negative impact on soil surface Arthropod fauna. The composition and number of fauna species in surface soil layer indicates characteristics and fertility of the soil and is often referred as indicators of soil contamination.The aim of this research was to determine the richness and diversity of the soil surface Arthropod fauna in the sugar beet field and fields on which sugar beet was grown before one, two and three years ago. The research was conducted during 2015, in Lukač, Virovitica – Podravina County. Fauna was collected by pitfall traps (epigeic fauna) and perforated probes (endogeic fauna). The total number of collected specimens was 1.493. Eudominant were species from class Insecta, family Carabidae, order Collembola and specimens from class Arachnida and class Arachnida, order Aranaea. Species from order Hymenoptera were recedent. The highest total catch of beneficial soil surface Arthropod fauna was recorded in the oilseed rape field where the sugar beet was grown three years ago. Thin stand crops have more favorable impact on soil surface fauna due to the less intensive chemical protection measures and ability of faster warming of the soil. Agro-technical measures such as protection and crop rotation have significant impact on the number of beneficial soil surface Arthropod fauna which recovered after intensive cultivation of sugar beet, in four-year crop rotation.