Valutazione del ruolo dell’artropodofauna in risaia per il mantenimento dell’equilibrio dell’ecosistema

The project aims to evaluate the effects of different agricultural stategies and of chemical treatments in rice areas in the Po plain. This habitat is an important source of biodiversity as it surrogate in part wetlands. Actual strategies are in contrast with this function. The study will be focused on predators population in water in rice fields and in the surrounding areas. Their presence will be correlated with prey’s. The environmental quality will be studied using bioindicators whose importance is recognized in different areas, but not yet in rice agroecosystem. The structure in species and its relation with environmental parameters will allow to create multivariate statistical models, and will let to detect bioindicators of different pressures (water availability, oxygen and nutrient).