Assessment of the effects of transgenic Bt cotton B ollgard II on the abundance of nontarget arthropods in B urkina F aso

The effect of transgenic cotton Bollgard II on the abundance of nontarget arthropods was assessed under field conditions in three areas in B urkina F aso for four successive years (2010–2013). The experiment was carried out on two 0.5‐ha plots of which one was seeded with the B ollgard II and one with the non‐ B acillus thuringiensis Berliner ( Bt ) isogenic cultivar. Over four collection methods [plastic bagging (28 collections), water trap (28 collections), b eat cloth (six collections) and p itfall t raps (six collections)] and 4 years, no statistically significant differences were detected between B ollgard II and the conventional control for 45 out of 48 comparisons. Differences detected were rather random and not consistently detected across collection methods, sites and/or years. Thus, these differences were not indicative of a consistent response associated with the trait and are not considered biologically meaningful in terms of an adverse environmental impact (nontarget arthropod abundance) of B ollgard II compared to conventional cotton receiving six insecticide sprays.