Assessment of the effects of transgenic Bt cotton Bollgard II on the abundance of nontarget arthropods in Burkina Faso

The effect of transgenic cotton Bollgard II on the abundance of nontarget arthropods was assessed under field conditions in three areas in Burkina Faso for four successive years (2010–2013). The experiment was carried out on two 0.5‐ha plots of which one was seeded with the Bollgard II and one with the non‐Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) isogenic cultivar. Over four collection methods [plastic bagging (28 collections), water trap (28 collections), beat cloth (six collections) and pitfall traps (six collections)] and 4 years, no statistically significant differences were detected between Bollgard II and the conventional control for 45 out of 48 comparisons. Differences detected were rather random and not consistently detected across collection methods, sites and/or years. Thus, these differences were not indicative of a consistent response associated with the trait and are not considered biologically meaningful in terms of an adverse environmental impact (nontarget arthropod abundance) of Bollgard II compared to conventional cotton receiving six insecticide sprays.