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The Effect of Pesticides on Thatch Accumulation and Earthworm Populations in ‘Kentucky’ Bluegrass Turf
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Abstract
Use of certain pesticides over a 3-year period caused a marked build-up of plant debris (thatch) of ‘Kentucky’ bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) turf above the soil surface. Applications of the chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides, dieldrin and chlordane, resulted in a thatch layer of 20 mm or more. The use of the carbamate insecticide, carbaryl, caused an average match thickness of 1.3 mm. The plots that received no insecticides or the mercuric fungicide, phenyl mercuric acetate (PMA), had no measurable thatch. The match depths were closely associated with plant debris wt.
As the no. of earthworm burrows increased, the amount of thatch decreased. Where earthworms were present to any extent, thatch was virtually non-existent.
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