Impact of Glyphosate (Round-up) on the diversity of invertebrate in terrestrial habitats and the Phosphate level of adjacent waters

Abstract

Glyphosate is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world. Effect of Glyphosate on abundance of selected arthropods under five orders which belong to class Insecta (Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Diptera) and class Arachnida were studied for a period of three months in a selected non-agricultural site using two different concentrations of Roundup (Glyphosate). After application of Glyphosate, the abundance of all tested arthropods reduced (ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05) in treated plots compared to that in untreated plots. With time, the weeds started to reappear and the abundance of beetles, weevils and bugs increased gradually. Meanwhile the abundance of butterflies, moths, dipterans, grasshoppers and ants inhabited in treated area reduced significantly (p ≤0.05) even after the reappearance of weeds in the experimental plots. The fresh water samples collected from the vicinity of the study site indicated a continuous increase of the concentration of inorganic phosphate. This reveals a possible Glyphosate contamination of water.