Establishment and survival of a Trichoderma mycoparasitic strain in some compost products.

The effects of some compost products, enriched or not enriched with a strain of the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma atroviride, on the survival of the collembolan Protaphorura armata and the viability of fungal conidia after the transit trough the springtail gut were investigated. The compatibility of Collembola with compost enriched with Ca-Lignosulphonate, a low cost by-product of the acid sulphite pulping process with lignin-like structure, was also evaluated.All compost products enriched or not with the mycoparasitic fungus or Ca-Lignosulphonate did not affect P. armata survival, and in no case did they block animal reproduction or development. No statistical differences were found among animal survival in different type of product or in enriched and un-enriched products. In addition to adults introduced into the jars at the beginning of the experiments, live juveniles were also observed in enriched and un-enriched products.The gut content of all animals collected at the end of the survival test from compost enriched with T. atroviride, were examined under light microscope and in a few cases observations revealed the presence of some T. atroviride conidia. Subsequently test carried out to study the viability of conidia after the transit trough the springtail gut showed that colonies of the fungus developed from all faecal pellets produced by adult and juveniles specimens of P. armata previously fed on conidia of T. atroviride.These results seem indicate compatibility between Collembola and composts fortified or not into the soil.