Effect of plant protection on assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in pea (Pisum L.) and lupine (Lupinus L.) crops

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Various crop cultivation systems may affect field-dwelling organisms, representatives of both harmful and beneficial entomofauna. In this paper, attention was drawn to one of the factors which distinguishes organic and integrated farming, that is the application of chemical plant protection preparations.

Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted in Poland, at the Experimental Station IOR-PIB in Winna Góra near Środa Wielkopolska, on crop fields of lupine and pea. The experiment was composed of a block of organic fields (no chemical plant protection preparations) and another block, where a plant protection programme was carried out in line with the integrated agricultural production guidelines. Carabidae were caught into modified Barber traps, from May to the end of July in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

Results and conclusions: As a result of our study, 8 848 specimens belonging to 67 species of Carabidae were collected. The most numerous species collected in the pea and lupine were: Poecilus cupreus, Pterostichus melanarius, Harpalus rufipes, Bembidion femoratum, Bembidion quadrimaculatum and Bembidion tetracolum. Overall, our results demonstrate that an application of chemical plant protection preparations decreases the abundance and species diversity of carabid beetles assemblages in studied crops and induces changes in particular life traits of carabids fauna. After the treatment, the abundance of large carabid beetles diminishes and their place is occupied by small zoophages. Furthermore, the forecrop could be one of the factors that influence assemblages of carabids on crop fields.