Impact of Abiotic Factors on Arthropod Communities and Natural Enemies in Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) - Based Agro and Agroforest Ecosystems

Abstract

Weather variables can influence the abundance and distribution of arthropods in rice ecosystems, including both pest taxa and their natural enemies. This study evaluated arthropod abundance and its association with selected abiotic factors in a paddy agroecosystem and paddy agroforest ecosystem at Kanchanpally village, Kowdipally Mandal, central Telangana, during the 2024 Kharif season (July–November). One-acre plots representing the two ecosystem types were sampled using pitfall, sticky and pheromone traps, visual counts and sweep netting. Maximum and minimum temperature, maximum and minimum relative humidity, and rainfall were related to arthropod populations by correlation analysis. A total of 3,618 arthropod individuals were recorded, comprising 1,712 individuals in the agroecosystem and 1,906 in the agroforest ecosystem. Weather relationships varied among arthropod orders and between ecosystems. For Lepidoptera, rainfall was significantly negatively correlated with abundance in the agroecosystem (r = −0.539) but significantly positively correlated in the agroforest ecosystem (r = 0.581). Natural enemies were more numerous in the agroforest ecosystem (765 individuals) than in the agroecosystem (623 individuals). Rice yield was 6,918.8 kg ha⁻¹ in the agroforest ecosystem and 6,424.6 kg ha⁻¹ in the agroecosystem, corresponding to a 7.69% increase. The findings indicate ecosystem-specific relationships between weather variables, arthropod communities and natural-enemy abundance, while supporting further investigation of agroforest-based paddy systems.