Impact of chemically contaminated sewage sludge on the collard arthropod community
Stress effects on a terrestrial arthropod community were evident in a study of collards grown in soil amended with chemically contaminated sewage sludge. Plant growth in the contaminated sludge was significantly reduced compared with growth in plots treated with relatively uncontaminated sludge from two small towns or with mature alone. Population densities of major arthropod taxa tended to be lower in plots of contaminated sludge than they were in uncontaminated sludge and manure plots. Species richness and diversity were also reduced in contaminated-sludge plots compared with those of uncontaminated sludge and manure treatments. In general, few differences were observed in plant growth and arthropod numbers between the uncontaminated-sludge treatment, or uncontaminated sludge treated with cadmium or with the insecticide dieldrin. Because cadmium and dieldrin were applied at dosages of cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) found in the contaminated sludge, results suggested that these two toxins were not responsible for the effects on plants and arthropods observed in the contaminated-sludge treatment. Results of this study indicated the potential for sludge-borne contaminants to suppress growth in crop plants and reduce abundance of their associated arthropods.
- Research Organization:
- Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
- OSTI ID:
- 5089505
- Journal Information:
- Environ. Entomol.; (United States), Vol. 15:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ARTHROPODS
INJURIES
BRASSICA
CHEMICAL WASTES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
SEWAGE SLUDGE
CADMIUM
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
ANIMALS
AROMATICS
ELEMENTS
FOOD
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
INVERTEBRATES
METALS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
SEWAGE
SLUDGES
VEGETABLES
WASTES
560304* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Invertebrates- (-1987)