Men, X.Ge, F.Liu, X.Yardim, E.N.2025-05-102025-05-1020030046-225X10.1603/0046-225X-32.2.2702-s2.0-0037396910https://doi.org/10.1603/0046-225X-32.2.270https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14720/6378In a 3-yr field experiment, possible effects of Bt transgenic cotton plants expressing cry1A (c) gene from Bacillus thrungiensis Berliner variety kurstaki on diversities of arthropod communities and pest and natural enemy sub-communities were assessed in insecticide treated and untreated cotton fields, as measured by the Shannon-Weaver diversity index. The treatments included: 1) nontransgenic cotton with no insecticide treatment (nontransgenic), 2) nontransgenic cotton with insecticide treatments (nontransgenic+insecticide), 3) transgenic Bt-cotton with no insecticide treatment (Bt-cotton), and 4) transgenic Bt-cotton with insecticide treatments (Bt-cotton+insecticide). The results indicated that Bt-cotton increased the diversity of arthropod communities and pest sub-communities; however, it decreased the diversities of natural enemy sub-communities. Insecticide treatments increased diversities of communities and sub-communities of arthropods in both transgenic Bt-cotton and nontransgenic cotton agroecosystems, but the increase may be an artifact of increased evenness through mortality of insecticide-targeted species.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessBiodiversityBt-CottonShannon-Weaver Diversity IndexSpecies RichnessTransgenicArticle322Q2Q2270275