THE BENTHIC COMMUNITIES COMPARISON BETWEEN ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL RICE FIELDS

Rice fields are temporary wetlands prone to contamination from agricultural chemicals which affect their ecotoxicology and benthic community composition. The diversity of benthic fauna in both organic and conventional rice fields in Kalasin Province, Thailand was investigated. Benthos samples were collected by grab sampling from 20 stations in organic and conventional rice fields during one successive crop in August 2014. The number of benthic organisms found at each sampling station ranged from 16-518 and 24-137 individuals for organic and conventional rice fields, respectively. The benthic fauna in organic rice fields were dominated by crustaceans 41%, insects 31%, annelids 26%, and gastropods 2%. The conventional rice fields benthic fauna was composed of insects 51%, annelids 41%, and gastropods 8%. The abundance and composition of the benthic fauna demonstrated that organic rice farming practices are beneficial to sustaining the biodiversity in rice field ecosystems.