Effects of direct drilling on the soil fauna

Numbers of most species of invertebrates were greater in the soil in which direct-drilled crops were grown. Attacks by slugs and wireworms were much less serious after ploughing. Attack by stem-boring fly larvae tended to be greater in crops in ploughed soil than those direct drilled where cereals were grown continuously. Numbers of Lumbricus terrestris were 2 to 5 times greater with direct drilling than with ploughing but numbers of other species differed much less.