Effect of Galex on the Collembola fauna of cowpea plots in Nigeria.

摘要

In field trials conducted at the Obafemi Awolowo campus in Nigeria, the collembolan fauna of cowpea plots where the herbicide Galex (metobromuron + metolachlor) was used to control weeds was compared with the fauna of weedy plots and plots where weeds were hand-pulled and hoed. The treatments were replicated three times and randomized within each of three blocks. Rainfall and humidity conditions were recorded during the experiment. The recovery of species from the genera Cryptopygus, Dicranocentrusand Rhodanella from the deleterious effects of precultivation clearing, ploughing and harrowing of soil did not occur in the Galex plots during the vegetative growth of cowpeas. The activities of litter Collembola that survived the pre-cultivation activities were further reduced in the Galex and hoe-weeded plots in the pod-ripening phase of cowpea development. Hand-pulling of weeds and the cover provided by weeds in the weedy control were more conducive to Collembola activity than hoe-weeding and the pre-emergence application of Galex.