Insect Community Structure and Diversity Patterns in Zhanjiang's Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Ecosystems

Against the backdrop of global warming and expanding saline-alkali land, cultivating salt-tolerant rice is critical for safeguarding China’s food security. As a major coastal agricultural region, Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province provides an important study site to explore insect diversity in salt-tolerant rice ecosystems, which is key to understanding local species diversity. This study aims to conduct research on the insect diversity of the salt-tolerant rice meadow in Zhanjiang, to understand the species composition and transmission of insects in this ecosystem. This study uses hemp nets to simultaneously collect insects from the Haihong Aromatic Rice, wild sea rice, and the growth areas of conventional rice in the Zhanjiang area. After collecting the insects and conducting classification and discovery, The social structures of these insects and the diversity existing among them were studied. Based on classification results, a total of 270 insect species were identified across nine orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Odonata, and Alata). Diversity analysis showed rich insect diversity in salt-tolerant rice fields, where Diptera and Hemiptera dominated the overall population.