自2007年以来,在肯尼亚的两个试验地点进行了一项长期实验,以评估有机和常规耕作系统对生产力的影响,盈利能力和可持续性。在这些试验期间,观察到大量白蚁(等翅目)的存在。白蚁是主要的大型土壤动物,在文献中,它们要么被描述为“害虫”,要么被描述为环境可持续性的重要指标。白蚁可以被管理以避免作物损害的程度,但是提高农业系统的可持续性是值得理解的。因此,在肯尼亚的长期实验中增加了一项关于白蚁的研究。研究的目的是量化有机(Org)和常规(Conv)农业系统在两个输入水平(低和高)对丰度的影响,发病率,白蚁的多样性和觅食活动。
结果显示白蚁丰度较高,发病率,与Conv-High相比,组织中的活动和多样性高,Conv-Low和Org-Low。然而,每个系统中白蚁的存在也取决于土壤深度,试验地点和种植季节。在实验过程中,确定了九个不同的白蚁属,属于三个亚科:(i)巨蚁科(属:Allodontotermes,Ancistrotermes,Macrotermes,Microtermes,Odontotermes和Pseudocotermes),(ii)Termitinae(Amitermes和Cubitermes)和(iii)Nasuttiermitinae(Trinervitermes)。
我们假设白蚁在不同的耕作系统中的存在可能会受到所应用的投入类型的影响,土壤水分含量和天敌的发生。我们的发现进一步表明,有机高输入系统吸引白蚁,这是一个重要的,而且往往是有益的,土壤动物的组成部分。这进一步增加了这种系统在提高肯尼亚可持续农业生产方面的潜力。
A long-term experiment at two
trial sites in Kenya has been on-going since 2007 to assess the effect of organic and conventional farming systems on productivity, profitability and sustainability. During these trials the presence of significant numbers of termites (
Isoptera) was observed. Termites are major soil macrofauna and within literature they are either depict as \'pests\' or as important indicator for environmental sustainability. The extent by which termites may be managed to avoid crop damage, but improve sustainability of farming systems is worthwhile to understand. Therefore, a
study on termites was added to the long-term experiments in Kenya. The objectives of the
study were to quantify the effect of organic (Org) and conventional (Conv) farming systems at two input levels (low and high) on the abundance, incidence, diversity and foraging activities of termites.
The results showed higher termite abundance, incidence, activity and diversity in Org-High compared to Conv-High, Conv-Low and Org-Low. However, the termite presence in each system was also dependent on soil depth,
trial site and cropping season. During the experiment, nine different termite genera were identified, that belong to three subfamilies: (i) Macrotermitinae (genera: Allodontotermes, Ancistrotermes, Macrotermes, Microtermes, Odontotermes and Pseudocanthotermes), (ii) Termitinae (Amitermes and Cubitermes) and (iii) Nasutitiermitinae (Trinervitermes).
We hypothesize that the presence of termites within the different farming systems might be influenced by the types of input applied, the soil moisture content and the occurrence of natural enemies. Our findings further demonstrate that the organic high input system attracts termites, which are an important, and often beneficial, component of soil fauna. This further increases the potential of such systems in enhancing sustainable agricultural production in Kenya.