{"id":37032,"date":"2024-11-20T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T05:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=37032"},"modified":"2024-11-27T10:06:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T15:06:13","slug":"study-reinforces-the-importance-of-soil-management-practices-on-ecological-effects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/11\/study-reinforces-the-importance-of-soil-management-practices-on-ecological-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Reinforces the Importance of Soil Management Practices on Ecological Effects"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, November 20, 2024) The perpetual use of pesticide coated seeds and tillage changed the composition of various beetle, spider, and other epigeal arthropod communities on New Hampshire farmland, according to a recent study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment<\/em><\/a>. Researchers fell short of finding conclusive results about the multi-variable impacts of both practices on biodiversity but raise notable issues on the impact of treated seeds. This research builds on the existing peer-reviewed scientific literature that highlights the threats of toxic pesticides and pesticide-coated seeds. Environmental and public health advocates are in agreement with organic and agroecological farmers who reject chemical-intensive land management practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the root of the cascading crises of public health collapse, biodiversity loss, and the climate crisis is a reliance on petrochemical-based toxic products, rather than public policy and investments that strengthen consumer and institutional trust of nature-based, organic systems,\u201d says Max Sano, organic program associate at Beyond Pesticides. \u201cThis is consistent with various interactions I have had with advocates across New England who are demanding action to stymie the impending biodiversity collapse enabled by government inaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Background and Methodology<\/u><\/p>\n

This study was coauthored and led by environmental researchers at the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of New Hampshire. The report authors are specialized in plant biology, conservation, and entomology with numerous studies in peer-reviewed publications.<\/p>\n

The goal of this three-year field study was to \u201cquantify the effects of pesticide seed treatment (crops grown from seeds coated with pesticides versus uncoated seeds) and tillage system (full-tillage with a moldboard plow, strip-tillage, and no-tillage) on epigeal arthropod communities in a long-term conventionally managed annual feed grain rotation experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study itself was conducted between 2017 and 2019 growing seasons at the University of New Hampshire Kingman Research Farm. On this site, tillage system experiments began in 2013 and pesticide seed treatment experiments began in 2016 as part of a separate long-term study. Corn and soybeans were the crop of choice for previous experiments, as well as the focus of this study. Tillage treatments were applied for three years before adding treated seeds as an additional variable, and by the end of the study (2019) the treated seed versus no treated seeds component had been in place for four growing seasons.<\/p>\n

All plots were sprayed with the weed killer glyphosate<\/a> pre- and post-planting. The research plots included the following: full-tillage treated with glyphosate and then tilled with two different devices (moldboard plow and industrial-scale plow); strip-tillage treated with glyphosate and then tilled with one industrial-scale plow; and no-tillage sprayed but no plowing occurred.<\/p>\n

The epigeal arthropod (including insects that decompose organic matter and other ecosystem services) communities sampled for this study include approximately \u201c1669 individual arthropods, representing 47 species.\u201d The researchers go on to list the various species from the collection periods in both 2018 and 2019. \u201cIn 2018, carabid beetles, including P. melanarius, H. erraticus, H. fuscipalpis, H. pensylvanicus, Stenolophus ochropezus<\/em> Say, S. lecontei<\/em> (Chaudoir),<\/em> and Anisodactylus sanctaecrucis<\/em> (Fabricius) accounted for 34.8\u00a0% of the total captures, while other arthropods, including individuals from Gryllidae, Formicidae, Lygaeidae, Scolytidae, Curculionidae, Meloidae, Cydnidae, and Araneae accounted for the remainder (65.2\u00a0%). In 2019, carabid beetles (P. melanarius, H. pensylvanicus, B. quadrimaculatum, Chlaenius tricolor, S. lecontei, C. tricolor, Zuphium sp<\/em>.) represented 12.2\u00a0% of total captures, while the remainder (87.8\u00a0%) included individuals from Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Formicidae, Coccinellidae, Scolytidae, Curculionidae, Meloidae, Cydnidae, and Araneae.”<\/p>\n

Results and Discussion<\/u><\/p>\n

Researchers find the four following discoveries from this experiment:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cTillage and pesticide seed treatments affected epigeal arthropod community composition.<\/li>\n
  2. Activity-density was lower in full-till compared to strip-till and no-till.<\/li>\n
  3. Spider abundance in strip-till was reduced by pesticide seed treatment.<\/li>\n
  4. Weed seed predation was higher in strip-till compared to full-till.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Weed seed predation refers to the ecosystem service that wildlife provides in consuming seeds of weeds that would otherwise be treated with pesticides in chemical-intensive agriculture. The main variable in 2018 was pesticide seed treatment, whereas the main variable in 2019 was the degree of tillage. The \u201cactivity densities of Pterostichus melanarius<\/em> (Illiger) [rainbeetles] were higher in the strip-till compared to full-till treatment in 2018.\u201d The authors conclude, \u201cThese data provide evidence that both pesticide seed treatments and tillage systems can influence the communities of epigeal arthropods that inhabit annual row crop agroecosystems relatively late in the growing season, when the majority of pesticide residues have likely dissipated, and that the weed seed predation services provided by members of this community can be strongly negatively impacted by intensive tillage.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The researchers also find that arthropod diversity was higher in full-till versus no-till plots in 2019, however they do acknowledge that \u201cit is possible that had sampling of the epigeal arthropod community occurred earlier in the growing season a stronger pesticide treatment effect would have been detected.\u201d The researchers remain unclear on why treated seeds did not impact spider abundance in the no-till and full-till plots. The variability can be attributed to other factors as well, including the corn-soybean crop rotation model used for this study.<\/p>\n

    The results of this experiment highlight the compounding impacts of chemical-intensive agricultural practices on biodiversity. Farmers who acknowledge the interconnected systems of agriculture and ecosystems understand the long-term impacts of soil disturbance through tilling disrupts microbial life and biodiversity, not to mention the impacts of glyphosate applications and pesticide-treated seeds can have on soil and human health.<\/p>\n

    Rise of Organic No-Till Farming<\/span><\/p>\n

    Beyond Pesticides has reported on organic no-till<\/a> as a potential solution to the issue of toxic inputs and practices. Rodale Institute\u2019s 40-year comparative field study on organic versus non-organic farming finds that, \u201cNo-till and organic no-till are not created equal. Conventional no-till utilizes herbicides to terminate a cover crop, whereas organic systems use tools like the roller crimper. We have found that organic no-till practices year after year do not yield optimal results, so our organic systems utilize reduced tillage, and the ground is plowed only in alternating years.\u201d The Rodale Institute\u2019s website<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0adds that, in order to model standard agricultural approaches, GM (genetically modified)\u00a0crops and\u00a0no-till\u00a0were introduced to the conventional plots in 2008 when those techniques became common in the U.S. (See Daily News<\/em> here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

    The Institute\u2019s Farming Systems Trial<\/em> (FST) on its 12-acre Pennsylvania parcel uses 72 experimental plots, with three broad approaches:<\/p>\n