Life Sciences Commons^™

Soil Arthropod Abundance And Diversity Following Land Application Of Swine Slurry, Nichole R. Schuster, Julie A. Peterson, John E. Gilley, Linda R. Schott, Amy M. Schmidt

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Soil arthropods play an important role in nutrient cycling and maintenance of soil structure, and their abundance and diversity provide an indication of the biological quality of soil. Land application of livestock manure provides crop nutrients and may also impact the soil arthropod community. This study was conducted to quantify soil arthropod abundance and diversity for a pe-riod of one year following swine manure application via broadcast or injec-tion. Arthropods were extracted from plot soil samples using Berlese funnels, identified and counted, and the QBS index (Qualità Biologica del Suolo) was calculated for each soil sample. Collembola (Hypogastruridae and Isotomi-dae) …