abstract objective: scorpion is one of the world’s most venomous arthropods and every year many people are bitten by it. in iran, scorpion sting is a common health issue. the aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical status of patients with scorpion sting in the emergency department of sina hospital in 2014. methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study, all patien...

A major challenge in producing and distributing diseaseand insectfree foods is the need to maintain their sensory and nutritional attributes while minimizing the adverse impacts of treatment. This challenge emerged because of consumer attitudes and market expectations concerning the safety, quality and condition of foods; the adverse environmental impacts of agricultural practices; and expandin...

Sustainable agriculture is certainly one of the most important challenges at present, considering both human population demography and evidence showing that crop productivity based on chemical control is plateauing. While the environmental and health threats of conventional agriculture are increasing, ecological research is offering promising solutions for crop protection against herbivore pest...

Biomass crops grown on marginal soils are expected to fuel an emerging bioenergy industry in the United States. Bioenergy crop choice and position in the landscape could have important impacts on a range of ecosystem services, including natural pest-suppression (biocontrol services) provided by predatory arthropods. In this study we use predation rates of three sentinel crop pests to develop a ...

Progress in understanding changes in soil biology in response to latitude, elevation and disturbance gradients has generally lagged behind studies of above-ground plants and animals owing to methodological constraints and high diversity and complexity of interactions in below-ground food webs. New methods have opened research opportunities in below-ground systems, leading to a rapid increase in...

There is considerable evidence that both plant diversity and plant identity can influence the level of predation and predator abundance aboveground. However, how the level of predation in the soil and the abundance of predatory soil fauna are related to plant diversity and identity remains largely unknown. In a biodiversity field experiment, we examined the effects of plant diversity and identi...

The use of herbicides is a common and intensive practice in no tillage systems. The herbicides can influence, directly or indirectly, the population of edaphic arthropods. Collembola is a group that functions as a bio-indicator of soil conditions. The degree of abundance and diversity of Collembola provides the level of soil disturbance provoked by agricultural practices. This experiment was de...