In this work, the reliability of ground-beetles as bioindicators was evaluated in two fields under different agronomic management systems (organic vs conventional). The crops chosen were sunflower and corn, organically and conventionally managed. The work was carried out inside a trial named MASCOT (Mediterranean Arable Systems COmparison Trial), which is the major long term experiment comparing organic and conventional systems of the whole Mediterranean area. MASCOT started in 2001 at the Interdepartmental Centre for Agri-environmental Research "E. Avanzi" (CIRAA) of the University of Pisa. Carabids were trapped with Pitfall traps from spring to fall 2008. During this period, about 10.000 adults belonging to 52 species were captured. Four ecological indices (Shannon’s index, Margalef’s index, Sörensen’s qualitative and quantitative index) were calculated. Capture data were also analyzed by Cluster analysis and NMDS to evaluate a similarity between the capture sites. The indices showed a diversity in the number of ground-beetles trapped in the fields under different management systems. More Carabids were captured in fields conventionally managed, although more species were observed in organic fields. This could be explained by the fact that some indices are influenced by the relative quantities of species and by the presence of few species very abundant. By the non-parametric analysis carried out on the data, emerged a clear-cut difference between capture sites in organic and conventional management. The work confirmed the ground-beetles as a good tool for the evaluation of the disturbance caused by different types of management in the soil of agro-ecosystems.
I Coleotteri Carabidi come bioindicatori nell'agroecosistema: un caso di studio all'interno del Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerche Agro-ambientali "Enrico Avanzi"
ROSSI, ELISABETTA
2013-01-01
Abstract
In this work, the reliability of ground-beetles as bioindicators was evaluated in two fields under different agronomic management systems (organic vs conventional). The crops chosen were sunflower and corn, organically and conventionally managed. The work was carried out inside a trial named MASCOT (Mediterranean Arable Systems COmparison Trial), which is the major long term experiment comparing organic and conventional systems of the whole Mediterranean area. MASCOT started in 2001 at the Interdepartmental Centre for Agri-environmental Research "E. Avanzi" (CIRAA) of the University of Pisa. Carabids were trapped with Pitfall traps from spring to fall 2008. During this period, about 10.000 adults belonging to 52 species were captured. Four ecological indices (Shannon’s index, Margalef’s index, Sörensen’s qualitative and quantitative index) were calculated. Capture data were also analyzed by Cluster analysis and NMDS to evaluate a similarity between the capture sites. The indices showed a diversity in the number of ground-beetles trapped in the fields under different management systems. More Carabids were captured in fields conventionally managed, although more species were observed in organic fields. This could be explained by the fact that some indices are influenced by the relative quantities of species and by the presence of few species very abundant. By the non-parametric analysis carried out on the data, emerged a clear-cut difference between capture sites in organic and conventional management. The work confirmed the ground-beetles as a good tool for the evaluation of the disturbance caused by different types of management in the soil of agro-ecosystems.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
