Arthropod Diversity Within The Three Sisters Cropping System
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Date
2024-07-04
Authors
Ferch, Tessa
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Abstract
The Three Sisters is an indigenous cropping method that dates back hundreds of years. It is comprised of the simultaneous planting of corn, bean, squash, and sometimes sunflower. However, there has been no published research into arthropod communities and interactions with this cropping system. My study examined arthropod abundance and taxa to the family level at three areas: uncultivated, fields planted with The Three Sisters, and field edges. This was done at three sites in Manitoba: Ian N. Morrison Research Farm near Carman, Glenlea Research Station near Glenlea, and Brokenhead Ojibway First Nations Reserve. I placed 8 sticky cards within each area at each site starting in July 2023, and had 4 bi-weekly sampling rounds. The number of samples collected and processed was 288. I conducted a perMANOVA test, and ran multiple negative binomial generalized linear mixed models, testing the abundance and number of taxa present in relation to the site, area type, date, colour, and using trap number as a random effect. All sites were significantly different from each other. Glenlea had the highest diversity, and Carman had the least diversity. The uncultivated areas differed from both the field and edge areas, and the fields and edges also differed from each other at all sites. The field and edges had higher diversity than the uncultivated areas. The most important finding of my study was that The Three Sisters is an agricultural method that can allow for higher diversity of arthropods than uncultivated areas.
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Keywords
Thre sisters cropping system, Indigenous cropping methods, arthropod diversity, agricultural methods, biodiversity