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A Method for Measuring Impacts on Soil Biodiversity in Agroecosystems
Please note: Use the following publication information when citing this article:
Colby Biology Dept. 2007 A Method for Measuring Impacts on Soil Biodiversity in Agroecosystems. Colby Custom Publishing
Materials and Methods
In late September, 2007, soil samples from the top 10cm of the soil profile were obtained from three different
agroecosystems and a natural ecosystem located in Unity, Maine (Colby Biology Dept., 2007A). A total of twelve
replicate samples were obtained from each ecosystem. Four of the silage corn soil samples came from a field that
had been planted to a conventional silage corn cultivar and treated with an atrazine-based pre-emergence
herbicide. The rest of the silage corn soil samples came from a field that had been planted to a so-called
Roundup-Ready recombinant-DNA silage corn cultivar and treated with Roundup herbicide approximately four
weeks after planting.
Soil invertebrates were isolated from soil samples using the Berlese-Tullgren method (Kuhnelt, 1963), following
which soil samples were transferred to greenhouse trays and given twice-daily misting for two weeks to promote
germination of a portion of the soil seed bank.
Species isolated from soil samples were identified to major taxonomic group using a ‘morphotype’ method of
identification, and photographic voucher specimens were compiled for each morphotype (Colby Biology Dept.,
2007B).
Thoroughness of sampling was determined by plotting the cumulative number of species found as a function of
the number of samples examined.
Literature Cited
Colby Biology Dept. 2007A Measuring Impacts on Soil Biodiversity in Agroecosystems. Colby Custom Publishing
Colby Biology Dept. 2007B Measuring Impacts on Soil Biodiversity in Agroecosystems, Part 2: The Soil
Invertebrate and Soil Seed Bank Communities. Colby Custom Publishing
Kuhnelt, W 1963 Soil-Inhabiting Arthropoda. Annual Review of Entomology, 8:115-136