JOURNAL of Soil Biology and Ecology

Interaction effect of various agrochemicals and abiotic factors on the abundance of litter cryptostigmatids in undisturbed grassland ecosystems

Author

ABDUL QAHAR QARLUQ

Abstract:

The study investigated the impact of agrochemicals on the abundance of litter cryptostigmata in an undisturbed grassland habitat with a thick grass mat. The agrochemicals examined included insecticides (phorate, carbofuran, and chlorpyrifos), an acaricide (dicofol), a fungicide (carbendazim), as well as neem cake and water-soluble fertilizers applied at 50:40:25 kg NPK per hectare. Carbofuran showed significantly greater toxicity to Cryptostigmata in litter samples than the control. The toxicity order was: carbofuran > fertilizer > carbendazim > neem cake > dicofol > chlorpyriphos > phorate < control. The greatest reduction in Cryptostigmata occurred in chlorpyrifos-treated plots 10 days after treatment. The litter Cryptostigmata showed positive correlations with maximum temperature, minimum temperature, soil temperature, maximum relative humidity, minimum relative humidity, total rainfall, and soil moisture, but a negative correlation with bright sunshine hours. The regression analysis revealed that abiotic factors explained up to 63 per cent of the variation in litter Cryptostigmata density.

Key Words: Acaricide, Cryptostigmata, fertilizers, fungicide, insecticide, neem cake

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