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| Publication Type:
| Report |
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| Author(s): | Arnold, T. B.;
Potter, D. A. |
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| Title: | Impact of high maintenance lawn care program on non-target invertebrates in Kentucky bluegrass turf |
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| Source: | Kentucky Turfgrass Research. 1985, p. 51. |
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| Publishing Information: | Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service |
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| Keywords: | TIC Keywords: Poa pratensis; Lawn turf; High maintenance; Low maintenance; Comparisons; Non-target effects; Earthworms; Mites; Insect predators; Thatch decomposition; Chrysomelidae
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| Abstract/Contents: | Replicated 12.2 meter X 9.2 meter plots of Kentucky bluegrass were maintained for 4 years on a schedule of fertilizer, herbicide, and insecticide treatments, or were left unmanaged except for mowing. The impact of the high maintenance program on predators, decomposers, and non-target plant-feeding insects was determined. Predatory arthropods, such as spiders, rove beetles, and ground beetles, which may be important in helping to regulate pest populatins, were significantly reduced by insecticides, particularly late summer soil treatment with diazinon. However, predators repopulated treated plots by the following spring. Chrysomelidae (flea beetles), a group of plant-feeders that are not generally regarded as turf pests became significantly more abundant on high maintenance plots. This was apparently a response to higher nitrogen levels in the treated turf, and suggest that other herbivorous insects, such as greenbugs, might respond similarly. Soil and thatch pH declined significantly (ca. 6.2 to 5.9) and thatch accumulation more than tripled (3.3 vs 10.7 mm) under high maintenance. However, earthworms were relatively unaffected, and oribatid mites were more abundant in the high maintenance plots. Both of these groups probably play an important role in thatch decomposition. It therefore appears that thatch accumulation under high maintenance was probably more a consequence of increased vegetative production than of decreased decomposition due to the depletion of soil invertebrates. A table provides relative abundance of earthworms (Lumbricidae) and oribatid mites (Cryptostigmata) in high maintenance and low maintenance Kentucky bluegrass after 1 to 4 years of treatments. |
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| Language: | English |
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| References: | 0 |
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| Note: | Reprint: Environmental Entomology, Vol. 16, No. 1, Feb. 1987, p. 100-105.
Table |
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| ASA/CSSA/SSSA Citation (Crop Science-Like - may be incomplete):
Arnold, T. B., and D. A. Potter. 1985. Impact of high maintenance lawn care program on non-target invertebrates in Kentucky bluegrass turf. KY. Turfgrass Res. p. 51. |
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