Environmental Entomology (2003) 32, 270-275

Xingyuan Men, Feng Ge, Xianghui Liu and Erdal N. Yardim (2003)
Diversity of arthropod communities in transgenic Bt cotton and nontransgenic cotton agroecosystems
Environmental Entomology 32 (2), 270-275
Abstract: In a 3-yr field experiment, possible effects of Bt transgenic cotton plants expressing cry1A(c) gene from Bacillus thrungiensis Berliner variety kurstaki on diversities of arthropod communities and pest and natural enemy sub-communities were assessed in insecticide treated and untreated cotton fields, as measured by the Shannon-Weaver diversity index. The treatments included: 1) nontransgenic cotton with no insecticide treatment (nontransgenic), 2) nontransgenic cotton with insecticide treatments (nontransgenic+insecticide), 3) transgenic Bt-cotton with no insecticide treatment (Bt-cotton), and 4) transgenic Bt-cotton with insecticide treatments (Bt-cotton+insecticide). The results indicated that Bt-cotton increased the diversity of arthropod communities and pest sub-communities; however, it decreased the diversities of natural enemy sub-communities. Insecticide treatments increased diversities of communities and sub-communities of arthropods in both transgenic Bt-cotton and nontransgenic cotton agroecosystems, but the increase may be an artifact of increased evenness through mortality of insecticide-targeted species.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Feng Ge

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
non-target effects/fate in environm.

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Bacillus thuringiensis genes in crops (entomopathogen)
Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A-toxin (entomopathogen)