Ecological Consequences of Elevated CO2 and Bt Cotton on Soil Collembola

Transgenic cotton was modified to express a gene derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis （Bt） to combat agriculturally important Lepidopteran pests. Elevated CO2 is expected to further alter the chemical composition of the plant, and this change may affect the role soil fauna plays in decomposition of Bt plants. A 3 months litterbag field study, consisting of four treatments using leaves from Bt cotton and near-isolines of non-Bt cotton grown under ambient and elevated CO2 levels, was conducted to investigate the abundance and community structure of soil Collembola that developed on the decaying leaf material. A total of 4,884 collembolans, including 13 genera of five families, were extracted in the present study. These results suggest that collembolan distribution was relatively uniform among the Bt cotton, elevated concentration of CO2 and control treatments, except for a significant difference in the densities of Onychiurus and Folsomides. No significant effects were detected in the decomposition