An Assessment of Environmental Risk of Bt-Maize on Rove Beetle Communities

• Published in: Ecological chemistry and engineering. S Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 257 - 266
• Main Authors: Twardowski, Jacek Piotr, Gruss, Iwona, Bereś, Paweł, Hurej, Michał, Klukowski, Zdzisław
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Opole Sciendo 01.06.2022; De Gruyter Poland
• Subjects: Abundance; Agricultural production; Arthropods; Beetles; Comparative analysis; Corn; Cyhalothrin; Environmental assessment; Environmental risk; Experiments; field experiment; Genetic engineering; Genetic modification; Genetically engineered microorganisms; GM plants; Insecticides; Insects; Nontarget organisms; Proteins; Risk assessment; Species diversity; Staphylinidae; toxin protein; transgenic
• ISSN: 2084-4549; 1898-6196; 2084-4549
• DOI: 10.2478/eces-2022-0019

An environmental risk assessment related to the genetically modified crops still needs to be studied. In the non-target organisms, rove beetles seem to be well-chosen arthropods for this purpose. Rove beetle abundance and species diversity were studied in the first large-scale Bt-maize experiment in the south part of Poland for over two years to determine the impact of Bt-maize in comparison to conventional varieties. A genetically engineered Bt-maize variety (DKC 3421 Yield Gard , event MON 810) and its near-isogenic DKC 3420 were cultivated at two locations. Additionally, two non-Bt varieties sprayed with a lambda-cyhalothrin insecticide were also included for comparative analysis. The results show no significant effects on rove beetle abundance and diversity patterns of the Bt-maize and the nearby isolines. In one locality the mean number of individuals and Simpson dominance was even higher in Bt-maize compared to one reference variety. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed rather variety-dependent effects of the rove beetle community. To conclude, considering the abundance and diversity of studied insects, there is no environmental risk arising from Bt-maize cultivation.