Study of Arthropoda associated with the windrow composting of municipal solid waste

Abstract

Many Arthropoda are active in degradation of decomposable components of municipal solid waste and can develop their complete life cycle or a part of it in compost pile. The aim of the study was to identify Arthropoda living in the compost pile during the composting process. This descriptive study was carried out by sampling a compost pile in the research center of Kashan University of Medical Sciences that lasted 63 days. 11 samples were taken in order to evaluate individuals of Arthropoda present at different stages of compost and also 11 separate samples were taken for the determination of physical and chemical characteristics of compost and transferred to laboratory. During composting process of solid wastes four classes including Insecta (73.44%), Arachnida (24.47%), Chilopoda (1.19%) and Diplopoda (0.9%) with respect to immature and adult were identified. Class Insecta, order Diptera (39.11%) was among the most abundant and diverse groups reported. The results of the present work showed that composting, due to the presence of high quantity of organic matters and food naturally attracts many Arthropoda that convert the materials into biomass. Therefore, the proper site selection has a great importance in the location of compost sites. o