Industrial activity has significant effects on terrestrial biota and insect community which are
considered a significant biological indicator of alterations in the environment. This research examined
insect diversity, dominance, and abundance over two years on eight factory types (both non-food and
food-processing) in 6th of October City, Egypt. To describe insect community structures and determine
the ecological drivers of observed patterns, the study used a variety of biodiversity indices, such as
Taxa_S, Shannon_H, Simpson_1-D, Menhinick, Margalef, Fisher’s Alpha, Evenness, Equitability_J,
Dominance_D, Brillouin, Berger-Parker, and ACE. Due to the abundance of organic waste, the results
consistently demonstrated that food-processing factories, especially the ice cream and cheese
factories, supported the highest taxonomic richness and diversity. Conversely, the car’s factory
exhibited the lowest diversity, though it demonstrated unexpected improvements in evenness in 2022,
possibly indicating microhabitat development or reduced stressors. Despite maintaining low variety,
the chips & corn factory consistently recorded the highest insect abundance, indicating substantial
dominance by a small number of highly adapted species. The cycle of seasons and thus the massed
population in the onion factory was unconventional due to the unpleasant nature of onion byproducts.
The ice cream factory carried a more balanced community as compared to the chocolate and Meat
Factories that had high Berger-Parker indices. In most places, spring was a season of seasonal highs
in diversity and abundance. The influence of personal products of industry turns out with the rich and
unreasonable preponderance of Coleoptera (Ptinidae, Nitidulidae) and over-abundance of Diptera,
in particular, Muscidae and Drosophilidae. Such findings evidence the role of industry in greatly
influencing insect ecology and show how a tailored seasonally adjustable whole integrated pest
management protocol dependent upon the resource availability, ecological considerations specific to a
particular factory are needed. |
