Impact of Transgenic Cry1Ab/2Aj Maize on Abundance of Non-Target Arthropods in the Field

Abstract

Transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize has broad prospects for application in China. Before commercialization, it is necessary to assess possible ecological impacts, including impacts on non-target arthropods (NTAs) in the field. In the present study, transgenic Bt maize expressing cry1Ab/2Aj and its corresponding non-transformed near isoline were planted under the same environmental and agricultural conditions, and arthropods in the field were collected during the three main growth stages of maize. In a one year trial, the results showed the composition of NTA communities in the transgenic and control maize fields were similar. There were no significant differences for community-level parameters of species richness (S), Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′), evenness index (J) and Simpson’s dominant concentration (C) between the two types of maize fields. Likewise, a Bray–Curtis dissimilarity and distance analysis showed that Cry1Ab/2Aj toxin exposure did not increase community dissimilarities between Bt and non-Bt maize plots and that the structure of the NTAs community was similar on the two maize varieties. Furthermore, planting of the transgenic cry1Ab/2Aj maize did not affect the density or composition of non-target decomposers, herbivores, predators, parasitoids and pollinator guilds. In summary, our results showed that planting of Bt maize producing Cry1Ab/Cry2Aj proteins do not adversely affect population dynamics and diversity of NTAs.