title: Seasonal Variability in Spider Assemblages in Traditional and Transgenic Rice Fields.
abstract: The use of Bt transgenic rice (or Bt rice) remains controversial in several countries, including China. Risk assessments are a prerequisite to confirm the safety of Bt rice for ecosystems before a commercial release. This study was conducted to compare the responses of spider assemblages to Bt rice and nontransgenic rice. Two experiments with different locations and times were conducted, and the data were analyzed using standard diversity indices and multivariate community analysis. With both analytical approaches, spider diversity and assemblage composition were not significantly different between Bt and non transgenic rice fields. However, based on principal component analyses, temporal (seasonal) variations occurred in the composition of the spider assemblage. In this study, Bt rice had no detrimental effects on the spider assemblages, although assemblage composition and species abundance varied during the growing season. This study demonstrated an advantage in using community assemblages and repeated sampling to compare fields over a growing season because changes in the assemblages, and more specifically for some species, not always the most dominant, may vary over time. To more accurately assess the changes in composition and structure of spider assemblages through time, particularly for those species that may require a longer period to detect a response, an increase in sampling effort and longer-term experiments might be required.
authors: Institute of Applied Ecology and Research Centre for Biodiversity and Eco-Safety, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Fujian-Taiwan Joint Centre for Ecological Control of Crop Pests, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management for Fujian-Taiwan Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, China, Fuzhou 350002, China, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
authors: Sheng
authors: S
authors: Lin
authors: Institute of Applied Ecology and Research Centre for Biodiversity and Eco-Safety, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management for Fujian-Taiwan Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, China, Fuzhou 350002, China, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1, Canada.
authors: Liette
authors: L
authors: Vasseur
authors: Institute of Applied Ecology and Research Centre for Biodiversity and Eco-Safety, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Fujian-Taiwan Joint Centre for Ecological Control of Crop Pests, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management for Fujian-Taiwan Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, China, Fuzhou 350002, China, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Insect Ecology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, msyou@iae.fjau.edu.cn.
authors: Min-Sheng
authors: MS
authors: You
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D012621:Seasons; D013112:Spiders / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: community analysis; multivariate analysis; risk assessment; transgenic crop