PERIODICUM BIOLOGORUM UDC 57:61 VOL. 118, No 3, 213–222, 2016 CODEN PDBIAD DOI: 10.18054/pb.2016.118.3.3911 ISSN 0031-5362 original research article Effect of plant protection on assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in pea (Pisum L.) and lupine (Lupinus L.) crops Abstract aGNIESZKA KOSEWSKA1 MARIUSZ NIETUPSKI1 Background and Purpose: Various crop cultivation systems may affect KATARZYNa NIJAK2 field-dwelling organisms, representatives of both harmful and beneficial ToMASZ SKALSKI3 entomofauna. In this paper, attention was drawn to one of the factors which 1 Department of Entomology, Phytopathology distinguishes organic and integrated farming, that is the application of and Molecular Diagnostic, University of Warmia chemical plant protection preparations. and Mazury, Prawocheńskiego 17, 10-719 Olsztyn Poland; e-mail: [email protected] Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted in Poland, at the Experimental Station IOR-PIB in Winna Góra near Środa Wielkopol- 2 Plant Protection Institute, Węgorka 20 ska, on crop fields of lupine and pea. The experiment was composed of a 60-318 Poznań, Poland; block of organic fields (no chemical plant protection preparations) and an- 3 Department of Entomology, Institute of Zoology other block, where a plant protection programme was carried out in line Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9 with the integrated agricultural production guidelines. Carabidae were 30-387 Kraków, Poland. caught into modified Barber traps, from May to the end of July in 2006, 2010 and 2014. Correspondence: Results and conclusions: As a result of our study, 8 848 specimens be- Agnieszka Kosewska longing to 67 species of Carabidae were collected. The most numerous species e-mail: [email protected] collected in the pea and lupine were: Poecilus cupreus, Pterostichus mela- narius, Harpalus rufipes, Bembidion femoratum, Bembidion quadri- Key words: carabid beetles, crop protection, bean maculatum and Bembidion tetracolum. Overall, our results demonstrate plants 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. INTRODUCTION he use of pesticides causes endless controversies. Every synthetic Tpreparation which enters the natural environment has a direct or indirect influence on many biotic elements and processes on a scale that may encompass whole ecosystems (1). Even the chemical products that do not seem toxic to humans, animals or plants can affect agricultural ecosystems adversely. The use of pesticides can have a variety of negative agricultural, environmental and health effects(2, 3, 4). Progressive spe- cialization in agriculture and environmental pollution due to the exces- sive use of chemical plant protection products has stimulated a search Received January 12, 2016. for pro-ecological solutions (5). Contemporary plant protection systems, Revised June 16, 2016. Accepted June 23, 2016. on principle, should be economically efficient and eco-friendly(6) . They should take advantage of all available pest-control methods while sus- A. Kosewska et al. Effect of plant protection on assemblages of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) in pea Pisum( L.) ... taining natural self-regulation processes which occur in All the above factors connected with the influence of agricultural ecosystems. pesticides on Carabidae may manifest themselves differ- ently depending on the type of a crop cultivation technol- Although much progress is visible in the field of plant ogy, i.e. frequency of treatments, type of pesticides ap- protection products, expressed, among others in the in- plied or the prohibited use of chemicals. The lack of creasing selectivity, more rapid degradation as well as the chemical protection forces farmers to turn to other pest use of integrated crop protection programs, we still need control methods, for example agrotechnical measures, to monitor the environment, particularly in terms of which also affect ground beetles(9, 20, 27). protecting the beneficial entomofauna occurring there. The purpose of this study has been to determine the Practical application of integrated plant protection solu- effect of using chemical protection on assemblages of ca- tions involves the use – to the highest extent possible – of rabid beetles occurring in pea and lupine fields grown in all alternative, non-chemical methods for elimination of a four-year rotation system. The following hypotheses agricultural pests (7). Among the most useful ways of were made: 1) in fields with chemical protection the num- combating plant pests, worth mentioning is crop rota- ber and species diversity of carabids is lower than in the tion, which is essential for maintaining a healthy soil. control fields; 2) application of chemical plant protection Mass propagation of crop-specific pests can be prevent- preparations leads to changes in some life history traits ed by rotating crops. Some crop species are less appealing (trophic preferences and body size) of carabid beetles than others as food for phytophages, and consequently, found in pea and lupine fields. they are less attractive to their natural enemies. A pos- sible reason could be the chemical compounds secreted MATErial AND METHODS by plants in response to the stress caused by foraging insects, or the compounds which are normally present The study was conducted in experimental production in these plants (e.g. alkaloids in lupine) that deter phy- fields at the Experimental Station IOR-PIB in Winna tophages (8). Conversely, the microclimate created by a Góra near środa Wielkopolska, Poland. An experiment given crop, if favourable to the development, survival consisting of four-year rotations has been conducted at and spread of entomofauna, may be responsible for the the station since the 1960s. This is a longitudinal field occurrence of insects (9, 10, 11). experiment, and the pattern of plots remains unchanged. It comprises two variants: I – potato, spring barley, yellow Crop plantations create good conditions for the devel- lupine and winter wheat; II – sugar beet, maize, seed pea opment of both harmful and beneficial entomofauna. and winter oilseed rape. The experiment is composed of Regarding beneficial fauna, there are many parasitic and a block of organic control plots, where no chemical plant predatory insect species inhabiting agricultural ecosys- protection preparations are applied (and have never been tems which play an important role in reducing the num- applied) and another block, where a plant protection pro- ber of crop pests (12; 13; 14). A higher number of such gramme is carried out in line with the integrated agricul- beneficial insects is correlated with a decrease in the num- tural production guidelines prepared by the Polish Min- ber of insects potentially harmful to plants. The diversity istry of Rural Development and Agriculture (www. of natural plant pest enemies is particularly valued by minrol.gov.pl). The surface of each field is 0.46 ha. The farmers who do not apply pesticides (15; 16; 17). Epigeic soils under the plantations are similar and belong to IIIa carabid beetles (Col. Carabidae) are potential enemies of and IIIb class according to the Polish arable soil classifica- many plant pests (9, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22). The application tion system (www. isap.sejm.gov.pl). of pesticides in crop fields and their influence on popula- Ground beetles were caught in pea and lupine fields tions of Carabidae is a complex process, which should be from May to the end of July during three years: 2006, reviewed as a product of the effects produced by many 2010 and 2014. Two fields of each crop in every year of factors (9), of which an essential one is the direct impact study were selected: organic (O) and integrated (C – with of pesticide as a toxic substance on carabid beetles. Re- chemical protection). During the three years chosen for garding insecticides, this interaction is more often unam- our investigation, the fields under chemical protection biguous, i.e. the impact on these ground invertebrates is were treated with insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, negative (23, 24), although the actual effect depends on as specified in table 1. Modified Barber traps (plastic cups factors such as: body size, ability to fly or climb plants, as 10 cm diameter, 15 cm deep with ethylene glycol) were well as the foraging behaviour. The influence of herbicides used to capture insects. Ten traps were placed in each and fungicides is much more intricate. The actual effect field, at a distance of 10 meters from one another. The they produce on Carabidae should most probably be ana- traps were emptied every two weeks. Thus, there were two lysed in the context of the quality and availability of plant fields in each treatment with ten traps per field as repli- food for herbivorous carabids and, additionally, in chang- cates. We decided to treat each trap as an independent es in the behaviour and habitats of ground beetles (9, 25). sample because the analysis of similarity of variance be- Insecticide sprays result in local abundance (12) or short- tween the two fields in each treatment had no significant age (26) of food. The influence of food (insects killed by