Dynamics of predatory and herbivorous insects at the farm scale: the role of cropped and noncropped habitats

Togni, Pedro Henrique Brum; Venzon, Madelaine; Souza, Lucas; Sousa, A. A. T. C. de; Harterreiten-Souza, Érica Sevilha; Pires, Carmen S. S.; Sujii, Edison Ryoiti

doi:10.1111/afe.12337

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…At the landscape scale, the provision of a diverse mix of habitat types beyond the farm limits (e.g., polyculture, agroforest systems, spontaneous vegetation, grass margin, fragments of native vegetation and noncropped areas) is expected to increase species turnover and the possibility of colonization of different crops throughout the year (Tscharntke et al, 2012;Begg et al, 2017). However, the retention and the movement of natural enemies into a local crop rely on resource availability and microclimatic conditions favourable to sustain their populations (Inclán et al, 2016;Begg et al, 2017;Togni et al, 2019a). Different farmland habitats across time (i.e., seasonality) and space (i.e., cropped and noncropped habitats) can serve as refuges between crop seasons, providing shelter, reproduction sites and sources of alternative and supplementary food (Gontijo, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal dynamics of active flying Diptera predators among different farmland habitats

Harterreiten-Souza

Togni

Capellari

et al. 2021

Agri and Forest Entomology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1 Farmland habitats comprise an arrangement of cropped, uncropped and natural vegetation among the farms. Despite the differences in these habitats' features, generalist highly mobile predators are more likely to explore them in time and space. 2 We investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of the species of Dolichopodidae (Diptera) in organic vegetable farms because they are one of the most abundant generalist highly mobile predators in Brazilian agroecosystems. 3 We simultaneously sampled the abundance of Condylostylus Bigot and Chrysotus Loew adults (both Dolichopodidae) in the crop, fallow areas, agroforests and forest fragments within five organic farms for 2 years. 4 Predators preferred open-field habitats to agroforests and forest fragments. Probably, open-field habitats present more opportunities to prey foraging, resulting in higher population densities. 5 To the extent that abiotic conditions become more restrictive during the dry season, agroforests and forests act as breeding sites and shelter, thereby maintaining the predators' populations in the overall farmland habitat. 6 Both predatory genera occupy habitats with distinct features across time, forming a dynamic and contiguous population unit within the farm. Therefore, conservation biological control strategies in organic crops should consider the role of agroforests and forest fragments in species conservation beyond the plot level.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal dynamics of active flying Diptera predators among different farmland habitats

Harterreiten-Souza

Togni

Capellari

et al. 2021

Agri and Forest Entomology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interest in biological control research has increased in recent decades, along with a growing understanding of its vital importance to agriculture. The significance of non-crop habitat for controlling insect pests has become increasingly realised, meaning that taking a landscape-level approach to pest control has become paramount to suppressing pests in agriculture (Schellhorn et al, 2015;Downes et al, 2017;Bartual et al, 2019;Togni et al, 2019). Non-crop habitats provide diverse, stable environments for arthropods seeking refuge and resources in a constantly changing environment (Landis et al, 2000;Bartual et al, 2019;Gontijo, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent research has focussed on non-crop habitats within agricultural landscapes, their ability to sustain natural enemy populations and their potential to support landscape-wide biological control services. The long-term aim of this research is to develop methods for managing and manipulating non-crop habitats to enhance the efficiency of natural biological control services, while discouraging the build-up of pest species (Bianchi & van der Werf, 2004;Parry et al, 2015;Gontijo, 2019;Togni et al, 2019). Non-crop habitats may host unique species not present in cultivated fields, provide alternate prey or other food sources such as nectar and pollen, and provide suitable nesting and overwintering refuge sites for insects (Bianchi & van der Werf, 2004;Fiedler et al, 2008;Knapp & Rezac, 2015;Bartual et al, 2019;Gontijo, 2019).…”

Section: What Can We Deduce?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of PSL research in the past decade has focussed on native remnant vegetation patches (Knapp & Rezac, 2015;Parry et al, 2015;Togni et al, 2019). In Australia, these are typically comprised of woody trees or scrub (e.g.…”

Section: The Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Natural enemies largely show a positive association with non-crop habitats, as these areas offer stable permanent and semi-permanent refuges that provide alternative and/or complementary food sources (e.g. prey, pollen, nectar), hibernation and oviposition sites, a suitable microclimate and protection from agricultural chemicals and other disturbances (Bianchi & van der Werf, 2003;Bianchi et al, 2006;Geiger et al, 2009;Rusch et al, 2010;Janković et al, 2017;Togni et al, 2019). The area, configuration and plant composition of non-crop patches can significantly influence their natural enemy communities (Parry et al, 2015; Chapter 2; Chapter 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The value of grasslands for pest suppression: an assessment of grassland refuge quality and their integration into agricultural landscapes

Nagy¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grasslands provide valuable resources and refuges that support arthropod biodiversity in everchanging agricultural landscapes. Potential exists to manipulate and manage grasslands to enhance the efficiency of natural biocontrol services provided to surrounding croplands, whilst discouraging the build-up of agricultural pests. In order to successfully achieve this, a deeper understanding of the ecological function of grassland habitats is needed. Grasslands are diverse habitats that differ significantly in their composition, function and management, despite consistently being bundled together in research. Exploring these differences and how they influence arthropod communities, and thus landscape pest suppression, remains a significant gap in biocontrol research. Current knowledge of the arthropod pests and natural enemies that utilise different grassland habitats is scarce, and even less is understood about the potential for different grasslands to be biological control service providers, making progress in this area challenging. Three distinct grassland types were distinguished in the mixed farming regions of southeast Queensland, Australia. Native grasslands comprised a mix of predominantly native grass species, Mixed Improved grasslands were a sown mix of both introduced and native grass species, and Pure grasslands comprised a single dominant grass species. To compare the above-ground arthropod communities that inhabit these grasslands, field sampling was carried out over a two-year period. Arthropods were collected from grassy fields by sweep netting, while vegetation assessments monitored grassland composition, floristic diversity, quality and management practices. Only 6% of all arthropods collected were agriculturally important pests, while 25% were beneficial predators and parasitoids. Arthropods were almost 50% more abundant in Native grasslands than in the other types, although Pure grasslands supported the largest communities of natural enemies. Pest and other herbivorous insects favoured grasslands with higher proportions of weeds and other undesirable vegetation (i.e. Native and Mixed), and were less abundant in grasslands with high proportions of desirable introduced grass species (i.e. Pure). Natural enemies used all grasslands as a refuge habitat when adjacent crops were absent, while pest and other herbivorous arthropods did not. This study highlights the importance of grasslands as valuable arthropod refuges, particularly for beneficial natural enemies, and draws attention to the differences between different grassland types that can influence these communities. The observation that grasslands harbour significant communities of predatory and parasitic arthropods raises the question of whether these natural enemies are providing biological control benefits to the greater landscape. An experiment using sentinel prey was conducted to test the hypothesis that grasslands do provide pest suppressive services to surrounding crops, although iii services provided by different grassland types will differ...

show abstract

Natural habitat connectivity and organic management modulate pest dispersal, gene flow, and natural enemy communities

Novaes,

Sujii,

Rodrigues

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The simplification and fragmentation of agricultural landscapes generate effects on insects at multiple spatial scales. As each functional group perceives and uses the habitat differently, the response of pest insects and their associated natural enemies to environmental changes varies. Therefore, landscape structure may have consequences on gene flow among pest populations in space. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of local and landscape factors, at multiple scales, on the local infestation, gene flow and broad dispersion dynamics of the pest insect Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) Middle East‐Asia Minor 1 (MEAM‐1, former biotype B) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and its associated natural enemies in a tropical agroecosystem. We evaluated the abundance of B. tabaci populations and their natural enemy community in 20 tomato farms in Brazil and the gene flow between farms from 2019 to 2021. Landscapes dominated by agriculture resulted in larger B. tabaci populations and higher gene flow, especially in conventional farms. A higher density of native vegetation patches disfavored pest populations, regardless of the management system. The results revealed that whitefly responds to intermediate spatial scales and that landscape factors interact with management systems to modulate whitefly populations on focal farms. Conversely, whitefly natural enemies benefited from higher amounts of natural vegetation at small spatial scales, while the connectivity between natural habitat patches was beneficial for natural enemies regardless of the distance from the focal farm. The resulting dispersion model predicts that the movement of whiteflies between farms increases as the amount of natural vegetation decreases. Our findings demonstrate that landscape features, notably landscape configuration, can mediate infestation episodes, as they affect pest insects and natural enemies in opposite ways. We also showed that landscape features interact with farm traits, which highlights the need for management strategies at multiple spatial scales. In conclusion, we demonstrated the importance of the conservation of natural areas as a key strategy for area‐wide ecological pest management and the relevance of organic farming to benefit natural enemy communities in tropical agroecosystems.

show abstract

Dynamics of predatory and herbivorous insects at the farm scale: the role of cropped and noncropped habitats

Cited by 19 publications

References 56 publications

Spatiotemporal dynamics of active flying Diptera predators among different farmland habitats

Spatiotemporal dynamics of active flying Diptera predators among different farmland habitats

The value of grasslands for pest suppression: an assessment of grassland refuge quality and their integration into agricultural landscapes

Natural habitat connectivity and organic management modulate pest dispersal, gene flow, and natural enemy communities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About