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Influences of introducing frogs in the paddy fields on soil properties and rice growth

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the influences of introducing frogs in the paddy fields on soil ecology and rice growth.

Materials and methods

The 2-year field experiments were conducted in the suburb of Shanghai in 2013 and 2014. No pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers were applied within the rice growing season to prevent the possible poisonous effects of agrochemicals on frogs.

Results and discussion

The results indicated that immigrant frogs in the fields could reduce the populations of rice leaf rollers, stem borers, and planthoppers effectively due to frog predation, and could control rice sheath blight indirectly through reducing insects that transmit disease pathogens. The frog treatment could raise soil nutrient status, improve rice growth, and increase the contents of soluble protein, chlorophyll, and soluble sugar in rice leaves to some extent, thus increasing grain yield significantly. Moreover, it also raised soil microbial biomass and enhanced the activities of soil enzymes such as dehydrogenase, catalase, urease, and acid phosphatase.

Conclusions

To raise the survival rate of immigrant frogs in the fields, it should be protected from human hunting and chemical poison, and its habitats in the nearby fields should be properly reserved. Introducing frogs in the paddy fields not only showed a potential of pest and disease control but also improved soil fertility and rice growth. Such eco-modified method is beneficial to establish a low-input integrated farming system in the suburb of Shanghai in the future.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41130526 and 41471174).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Qing Teng, Xue-Feng Hu, Fan Luo, Chang Cheng & Xinyi Ge

  2. Agricultural Service Center of Jinze Town, Qingpu District, Shanghai, 201718, China

    Minyong Yang

  3. Department of Land Resources Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Liming Liu

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  1. Qing Teng
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  2. Xue-Feng Hu
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  4. Chang Cheng
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  7. Liming Liu
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Correspondence to Xue-Feng Hu.

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Teng, Q., Hu, XF., Luo, F. et al. Influences of introducing frogs in the paddy fields on soil properties and rice growth. J Soils Sediments 16, 51–61 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1183-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1183-6

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