Approaches to Identify the Value of Seminatural Habitats for Conservation Biological Control

Abstract

Invertebrates perform many vital functions in agricultural production, but many taxa are in decline, including pest natural enemies. Action is needed to increase their abundance if more sustainable agricultural systems are to be achieved. Conservation biological control (CBC) is a key component of integrated pest management yet has failed to be widely adopted in mainstream agriculture. Approaches to improving conservation biological control have been largely ad hoc. Two approaches are described to improve this process, one based upon pest natural enemy ecology and resource provision while the other focusses on the ecosystem service delivery using the QuESSA (Quantification of Ecological Services for Sustainable Agriculture) project as an example. In this project, a predictive scoring system was developed to show the potential of five seminatural habitat categories to provide biological control, from which predictive maps were generated for Europe. Actual biological control was measured in a series of case studies using sentinel systems (insect or seed prey), trade-offs between ecosystem services were explored, and heatmaps of biological control were generated. The overall conclusion from the QuESSA project was that results were context specific, indicating that more targeted approaches to CBC are needed. This may include designing new habitats or modifying existing habitats to support the types of natural enemies required for specific crops or pests.

Inconsistent responses of conservation biocontrol to landscape structure: new insights from a network‐based review

“…Importance of trophic chains in the CBC issue is emerging in the very recent literature (e.g., Holland et al. 2020, McHugh et al. 2020).…”

“…Importance of trophic chains in the CBC issue is emerging in the very recent literature (e.g., Holland et al 2020, McHugh et al 2020. Effects of landscape structure may be different between trophic chains because, in addition to general selection pressures (such as ecological interactions, climatic, and biogeographic conditions), involved organisms are facing specific selection pressures over different interacting scales: from crop plant (with its typical biological traits) and cropping system (with specific crop sequence and agricultural practices within and over years) to landscape scale (including landscape composition and configuration, landscape practices and their dynamics; Begg et al 2017, Muneret et al 2018, Ricci et al 2019.…”

“…Variability of CBC responses appeared then to depend on the nature of the SNH, underlining the need to consider SNH through their functional benefits for natural enemies (Holland et al. 2016, 2020, Bartual et al. 2019).…”

Spiders (Araneae) of olive groves and adjacent semi-natural habitats from central Italy

“…The case studies of 2013 and 2014 were part of the QuES-SA pan-European project (Holland et al 2014). In addition, the adjacent semi-natural woods or shrublands were studied in their interior (in 2013) and at their edges with the olive groves (2013 and 2014).…”

Impacts of Wildflower Interventions on Beneficial Insects in Fruit Crops: A Review

“…Before embarking on designing new habitats or modifying existing habitats to support the natural enemies and pollinators required, there is a need to understand the biology, ecology, and interactions at a habitat scale [ 7 , 12 , 13 ]. Furthermore, to make these approaches economical, it is possible to apply more targeted tactics [ 14 ], but evidence of the success needs long-term (years) implementation and close monitoring in fully replicated experiments, which requires investment [ 7 ].…”