title: Short-term effects of different genetically modified maize varieties on arthropod food web properties: an experimental field assessment.
abstract: There is concern that genetically modified (GM) plants may have adverse affects on the arthropod biodiversity comprising agricultural landscapes. The present study report on a two year field experimental test of whether four different genotypic lines, some are novel with no previous field tests, of GM maize hybrids alter the structure of arthropod food webs that they harbour, relative to non-GM maize (control) that is widely used in agriculture. The different GM genotypes produced either Bt toxins, conferred glyphosate tolerance or a combination of the two traits. Quantitative food web analysis, based on short-term assessment assigning a total of 243,896 arthropod individuals collected from the treatments to their positions in food webs, revealed that complex and stable food webs persisted in each maize treatment. Moreover, food web structure remained relatively unchanged by the GM-genotype. The results suggest that at least in short-term period these particular GM maize genotypes will not have adverse effects on arthropod biota of agricultural landscapes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Szent István University, Gödöllo˝, Páter Károly str. 1. Hungary.
authors.forename: Ágnes
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Szénási
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Szent István University, Gödöllo˝, Páter Károly str. 1. Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pálinkás
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Szent István University, Gödöllo˝, Páter Károly str. 1. Hungary.
authors.forename: Mihály
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zalai
authors.affiliation: School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: Oswald J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: 1] School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 370 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut, USA [2] Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Technical Science, Sapientia University. 1/C Sighisoara Street, Tg. Mures, Romania.
authors.forename: Adalbert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balog
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017753:Ecosystem; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020387:Food Chain; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053209:Herbicide Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D003313:Zea mays / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis