The use of herbicides is a common and intensive practice in no tillage systems. The herbicides can influence, directly or indirectly, the population of edaphic arthropods. Collembola is a group that functions as a bio-indicator of soil conditions. The degree of abundance and diversity of Collembola provides the level of soil disturbance provoked by agricultural practices. This experiment was designed to compare the influence of herbicides on the population fluctuation of Collembola in a no-till soil preparation system. The work was conducted in a non irrigated no-till area at the Núcleo Experimental de Ciências Agrárias of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Campus de Dourados, in soil planted with corn as a surface covering, during the period of December, 2002 to December, 2003. The data were analyzed according to a completely randomized model, in a split plot design. The plots received four types of herbicides: glyphosate, atrazine, 2,4-D and nicosulfuron. A fifth plot did not receive any herbicide (control), for a total of five treatment types. The sub plots were represented by their collection times (10, 20, 30 and 40 days after the herbicide applications). Both the type of herbicide and the time of data sampling influenced the Collembola population fluctuaction. The treatments with atrazine and 2,4-D caused the most reduction of the population of Collembola, depending on the time of application.
Edaphic fauna; pesticide effect; population fluctuation; soil impact
