engleski

Pesticide residues and ground beetle communities in intensive maize production

Maize cultivation requires the use of intensive agrotechnical measures, especially tillage and crop protection. Carabids are predators that feed on insects, small invertebrates, and weed seeds while serving as a food source for animals at a higher trophic level. Intensive production and pest control lead to a decline in biodiversity. The greatest negative impacts of pesticides are on survival and reproduction. The most harmful groups include neonicotinoids, carbamates, organophosphates, strobilurins, triazoles, and sulfonylureas. The study was conducted in Lukac, where conservation tillage is common, and in Tovarnik with conventional tillage. The aim was to study the composition of carabid species present in maize fields and the pesticide residues in their body tissues. Samples were collected during vegetation using pitfall traps. Pesticide residue analysis was performed using the QuEChERS method based on LC-MS / MS. A total of 5, 656 carabids were collected in Lukač and 342 in Tovarnik. According to the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index, a large difference in species populations was found between the sites, with only slightly more than one-third of the same species found at both sites. Lukac has greater overall diversity, while a single species is abundant at both sites. Of the pesticides detected in carabid samples, the insecticide fipronil had the highest concentration in Tovarnik at 0.040 mg/kg, while imidacloprid was detected in Lukač at 0.027 mg/kg. The fungicide epoxiconazole was detected at both sites at concentrations ranging from 0.016 mg/kg in Tovarnik to 0.052 mg/kg in Lukač. The herbicide ethofumesate was also present at both sites, with a much higher concentration of 0.281 mg/kg in Tovarnik. It should be considered that some pesticides can bind to the fatty tissues of the body. Various indices of dominance, persistence and ecological importance show that the conditions at Lukac are more favorable for the composition of carabid species.

carabids ; communities ; residues

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