THE BENTHIC COMMUNITIES COMPARISON BETWEEN ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL RICE FIELDS.

Rice fields are temporary wetlands prone to contamination from agricultural chemicals which affect their ecotoxicology and benthic community composition. The diversity of benthic fauna in both organic and conventional rice fields in Kalasin Province, Thailand was investigated. Benthos samples were collected by grab sampling from 20 stations in organic and conventional rice fields during one successive crop in August 2014. The number of benthic organisms found at each sampling station ranged from 16-518 and 24-137 individuals for organic and conventional rice fields, respectively. The benthic fauna in organic rice fields were dominated by crustaceans 41%, insects 31%, annelids 26%, and gastropods 2%. The conventional rice fields benthic fauna was composed of insects 51%, annelids 41%, and gastropods 8%. The abundance and composition of the benthic fauna demonstrated that organic rice farming practices are beneficial to sustaining the biodiversity in rice field ecosystems.

LETHAL EFFECTS OF PESTICIDES ON THE NAUPLII FAIRY SHRIMP, BRANCHINELLA THAILANDENSIS.

During agricultural activities, large amounts of insecticides and herbicides are used for controlling pests. The overspraying of pesticides may contaminate freshwater bodies, as well as having a significant effect on aquatic animals. To determine the potential risk of pesticides, the acute toxicity of insecticides and herbicides on the nauplii fairy shrimp, Branchinella thailandensis were evaluated. The organisms were exposed to different concentrations of insecticides (chlorpyrifos and carbaryl), and herbicides (paraquat and 2,4-D) for 24 h, after which the LC50 values were compared. The acute toxicity tests determined that the LC50 values of chlorpyrifos and carbaryl after 24 h were 0.00186 mg/L and 0.21 mg/L, respectively. For herbicides, paraquat and 2,4-D, the LC50 values were 0.11 mg/L and 27.91 mg/L. Therefore, chlorpyrifos insecticides were found to be more toxic than herbicides (2,4-D and paraquat) with regard to the nauplii fairy shrimp. The high toxicity of pesticides has a long-term, and potentially damaging effect on aquatic organisms in the application areas.