scholarly journals Crop Diversity at the Landscape Level Affects the Composition and Structure of the Vegetation-Dwelling Arthropod Communities in Naked Oat (Avena Chinensis) Fields

Author(s):  
Huan Zhao ◽  
Jiahuan Li ◽  
Lizhu Guo ◽  
Kun Wang

The expansion of agriculture and intensive mechanized production have resulted in the loss of habitats and biodiversity, which has led to the loss of ecological services such as the biological control of pests and diseases, and insect-borne pollination. Current studies mainly focus on the impact of small-scale crop diversity (such as intercropping) on ecological service but lack research on the effects of crop diversity at the landscape scale. In this study, vegetation-dwelling arthropods in naked oat (Avena chinensis) fields under different planting patterns were collected at different growth stages by standardized sweep netting sampling, and the differences in arthropod communities and temporal dynamics were analyzed. Taking this information as an example, the effects of crop diversity at the landscape scale caused by different planting patterns on arthropod communities were studied. It was found that herbivores were the most abundant functional group in the arthropod community in naked oat fields, accounting for 70.13% of the total abundance, followed by natural enemies, accounting for 23.45%, and, finally, other insects. The abundance and species richness of natural enemies in naked oat fields under diversified planting pattern were significantly higher than those under intensive planting pattern, while the abundance and species richness of herbivorous pests showed no significant difference between the two planting patterns. Planting patterns significantly affected the composition and structure of arthropod communities in naked oat fields. Significantly higher ratio of natural enemy to pest and more diverse natural enemies under the diversified planting pattern have shown better biological control potential and the significance of biodiversity protection.

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafiz Sohaib Ahmed Saqib ◽  
Minsheng You ◽  
Geoff M. Gurr

Conservation biological control emphasizes natural and other non-crop vegetation as a source of natural enemies to focal crops. There is an unmet need for better methods to identify the types of vegetation that are optimal to support specific natural enemies that may colonize the crops. Here we explore the commonality of the spider assemblage—considering abundance and diversity (H)—in brassica crops with that of adjacent non-crop and non-brassica crop vegetation. We employ spatial-based multivariate ordination approaches, hierarchical clustering and spatial eigenvector analysis. The small-scale mixed cropping and high disturbance frequency of southern Chinese vegetation farming offered a setting to test the role of alternate vegetation for spider conservation. Our findings indicate that spider families differ markedly in occurrence with respect to vegetation type. Grassy field margins, non-crop vegetation, taro and sweetpotato harbour spider morphospecies and functional groups that are also present in brassica crops. In contrast, pumpkin and litchi contain spiders not found in brassicas, and so may have little benefit for conservation biological control services for brassicas. Our findings also illustrate the utility of advanced statistical approaches for identifying spatial relationships between natural enemies and the land uses most likely to offer alternative habitats for conservation biological control efforts that generates testable hypotheses for future studies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yaherwandi Yaherwandi

Understanding how the landscape structure affect the interaction between crops, pests and their natural enemies is a complex problem that can significantly impact on the success or failure of insect biological control. Hymenoptera parasitoids are particularly important natural enemies because of their great diversity and effectiveness as agents of biological control. The objective of this research is to study the diversity of Hymenoptera parasitoid on some vegetables and rice ecosystem in West Sumatera. Hymenoptera parasitoids were sampled using three trapping techniques (farmcop, insect net and yellow pan trap). Species accumulative curves, Jackknife-1 estimator, and indices of diversity were applied to analyze the data. Results indicated that there were 1522 specimen consist of 22 families and 148 species of Hymenoptera parasitoid on agricultural ecosystem in west Sumatera. Braconidae and Ichneumonidae were dominant Hymenoptera parasitoid family in vegetables ecosystem. Contrast, Mymaridae, Diapriidae, and Eulophidae were dominance of Hymenoptera parasitoid famili in rice ecosystem. Diversity of Hymenoptera parasitoid was influenced by the landscape structure. Species richness and diversity were higher in polyculture ecosystem than monoculture.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gezilene Fernandes de Souza ◽  
Germano Leão Demolin Leite ◽  
Farley William Souza Silva ◽  
Regynaldo Arruda Sampaio ◽  
Júlia Letícia Silva ◽  
...  

Sewage sludge is a nitrogen-rich organic compound, which can be used to aid development in plants such as Platycyamus regnellii (Fabaceae), in the recovery of degraded areas. This study aimed to assess the bottom-up effects on leaf mass and percentage ofground cover (leaf litter, herbaceous plants, and grasses) in P. regnellii trees fertilized (or not) with dehydrated sewage sludge and arthropod communities over 24 months. Platycyamus regnellii trees fertilized with dehydrated sewage sludge presented significantly more leavesper branch, branches per tree, and a higher percentage of ground cover compared to unfertilized trees. Phenacoccus sp. (Pseudococcidae) was the most abundant phytophagous insect associated with P. regnellii trees. Fertilization did not affect the abundance, diversity, and species richness of Hemiptera phytophagous on P. regnellii trees. However, fertilizedtrees presented higher abundance and species richness of trophobiont-tending ants compared to unfertilized trees, with Camponotus sp. being the most abundant regardless of the treatment. Fertilized P. regnellii trees also presented higher species richness of natural enemies compared to unfertilized ones, with Aranae and Dolichopodidae being the most abundant. We concluded that fertilization with dehydrated sewage sludge improved P. regnellii trees leafmass and ground cover and increased the diversity of trophobiont-tending ants and natural enemies. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the arthropods community associated withthis tree species. This suggests that upon fertilization, P. renellii trees are useful for ecological restoration in severely disturbed areas.


Author(s):  
Hafiz Sohaib Saqib ◽  
Minsheng You ◽  
Geoff M Gurr

Conservation biological control emphasizes the importance of vegetation other than the focal crop for providing natural enemies with refuge and shelter against disturbance. There is an unmet need for better methods to identify types of vegetation that are optimal to support specific natural enemies that may colonize into crops. Here we explore the commonality of the spider fauna of brassica crops with that of adjacent crops of other species and non-crop vegetation, employing spatial-based multivariate ordination approaches, hierarchical clustering and spatial eigenvector analysis. The small-scale mixed cropping and high disturbance frequency of southern Chinese vegetation farming offered a setting to test the role of alternate vegetation for spider conservation. Our findings indicate that spider families differ markedly in occurrence with respect to vegetation type. Grassy field margins, non-crop vegetation, taro and sweetpotato offer the best opportunity for promoting spider taxa that are also brassica-active species. In contrast, pumpkin and litchi contain species not found in brassicas, and so may have little benefit for conservation biological control services for brassicas. Our findings also illustrate the potential utility of advanced statistical approaches for identifying spatial relationships of species and identify the land uses most likely to offer alternative habitats for spider conservation biological control efforts and generates testable hypotheses for future studies.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
Yaherwandi Yaherwandi ◽  
S. Manuwoto ◽  
D. Buchori ◽  
P. Hidayat ◽  
L.B. Prasetyo

Diversity of Hymenoptera Parasitoid in Different Agricultural Landscape at Cianjur Watershed, West Java. Understanding how the landscape structure affect the interaction between crops, pests and their natural enemies is a complex problem that can significantly impact on the success or failur of insect biological control. Hymenoptera parasitoid are particularly important natural enemies because of their great diversity and effectiveness as agents of biological control. The objective of this research is to study the diversity of Hymenoptera parasitoid in rice field at Cianjur Watershed. Insects were sampled using three trapping techniques (farmcop, insect net and yellow pan trap). Species accumulative curves, Jackknife-1 estimator, indices of diversity, indices of community similarities and cluster analysis were applied to analyze the data. Results indicated that there were 2750 speciment consist of 26 family and 325 species of Hymenoptera parasitoid in rice fields at Cianjur Watershed. Diversity of Hymenoptera parasitoid were found to be influenced by the landscape structure and seasone of  ricefield. Species richness and diversity were higher in Nyalindung landscape than Gasol and Selajambe landscape.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafiz Sohaib Saqib ◽  
Minsheng You ◽  
Geoff M Gurr

Conservation biological control emphasizes the importance of vegetation other than the focal crop for providing natural enemies with refuge and shelter against disturbance. There is an unmet need for better methods to identify types of vegetation that are optimal to support specific natural enemies that may colonize into crops. Here we explore the commonality of the spider fauna of brassica crops with that of adjacent crops of other species and non-crop vegetation, employing spatial-based multivariate ordination approaches, hierarchical clustering and spatial eigenvector analysis. The small-scale mixed cropping and high disturbance frequency of southern Chinese vegetation farming offered a setting to test the role of alternate vegetation for spider conservation. Our findings indicate that spider families differ markedly in occurrence with respect to vegetation type. Grassy field margins, non-crop vegetation, taro and sweetpotato offer the best opportunity for promoting spider taxa that are also brassica-active species. In contrast, pumpkin and litchi contain species not found in brassicas, and so may have little benefit for conservation biological control services for brassicas. Our findings also illustrate the potential utility of advanced statistical approaches for identifying spatial relationships of species and identify the land uses most likely to offer alternative habitats for spider conservation biological control efforts and generates testable hypotheses for future studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafiz Sohaib Ahmed Saqib ◽  
Junhui Chen ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Gabor Pozsgai ◽  
Komivi Senyo Akutse ◽  
...  

Abstract Both field- and landscape-scale factors can influence the predator communities of agricultural pests, but the relative importance and interactions between these scales are poorly understood. Focusing on spiders, an important taxon for providing biological control, we tested the influence of field- and landscape-scale factors on structuring the spider communities in a highly dynamic brassica agroecosystem. We found that local factors (pesticide-use and crop type) and forested landscape significantly influenced the abundance and species richness of spiders, whilst grassland patches significantly affected the spider species richness. Correlation results demonstrated that assemblage patterns of most spider families positively responded to the interplay between local factors and forest patches in the landscape. The spiders abundance was greatest in cauliflower crops surrounded with forest and grassland patches in landscape. Similarly, ordination analyses revealed that organic fields of cauliflower in forested landscapes had a strong positive association with the abundance and species richness of spiders. In contrast, insecticide and synthetic fertilizer-treated fields of Chinese cabbage in landscapes with little non-crop habitat reduced the abundance and species richness of spiders. Our results highlight the extent of interaction between local- and landscape-scale factors, help explain recently reported inconsistent effects of landscape factors on conservation biological control.


EDIS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Cuda ◽  
Patricia Prade ◽  
Carey R. Minteer-Killian

In the late 1970s, Brazilian peppertree, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae), was targeted for classical biological control in Florida because its invasive properties (see Host Plants) are consistent with escape from natural enemies (Williams 1954), and there are no native Schinus spp. in North America. The lack of native close relatives should minimize the risk of damage to non-target plants from introduced biological control agents (Pemberton 2000). [...]


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