Improving insect conservation values of agri-environment schemes through diversified seed mixtures

Brandl, Manuela; Hussain, Raja Imran; Maas, Bea; Rabl, Dominik; Pachinger, Bärbel; Holzinger, W.; Krautzer, B.; Moser, Dietmar; Frank, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109530

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…We were able to confirm positive effects of new grasslands in nearby agricultural fields for pollination but not for biological pest control. Pollinators were shown to be clearly attracted by new grasslands (Hussain et al 2021 ; Brandl et al 2022 ), which resulted in increased pollination success on site and in adjacent arable fields. Conservation and restoration of existing semi-natural habitats needs to be of high priority, as they have already proven to be key for the biodiversity in agriculturally dominated areas (Plath et al 2021 ; Shi et al 2021 ; Šálek et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New grasslands promote pollination but not biological pest control in nearby arable fields in the short term

Bürgler,

Hussain,

Maas

et al. 2024

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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Agricultural intensification is a major threat to farmland biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Semi-natural habitats are integral to the preservation of farmland biodiversity and ecosystem services, however, the extent in which they contribute to specific services is largely unclear. We studied predation rates of ground-dwelling predatory arthropods, and pollination success within old permanent grasslands, newly established grasslands and arable fields near and far from new grasslands. We evaluated whether grassland restoration can enhance pollination and biological control in crop fields. For this purpose, we established new grassland strips within cereal fields, which directly bordered existing permanent grasslands. We evaluated if the distance to these old and new grasslands affects the delivery of the two ecosystem services within crop fields. We found significantly higher seed numbers and seed weight in sentinel plants placed in old grasslands, new grasslands and nearby arable fields compared to distant arable fields. We also found significantly decreasing seed numbers and seed weight in sentinel plants placed in distant arable fields with increasing distance from old grasslands, while pollination success was not affected by distance in nearby arable fields. Contrary, we did not find any significant effects of new grasslands on biological control. Our study showed that 3 years after establishing grasslands arable fields benefited from the proximity of flower-rich new grasslands through increased pollination success though not regarding biological control. This indicates that, on a short term, establishing new grasslands can support beneficial arthropods in providing ecosystem services such as pollination. Predators, in contrast, might take longer to establish effective populations that denote higher predation rates. Our study provides a baseline for future long-term studies to better evaluate pollination and pest control patterns within arable fields.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New grasslands promote pollination but not biological pest control in nearby arable fields in the short term

Bürgler,

Hussain,

Maas

et al. 2024

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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“…In fact, approximately 40% of the EU land consists of agricultural production land [ 47 ], thus agriculture can contribute significantly to pollinator conservation in the EU. Monitoring of pollinator taxa [ 48 ] and conservation measures are being implemented to preserve pollinators in agroecosystems and enhance pollination services [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Patches of Flowering Plants Enhance Insect Pollinators in Apple Orchards?

Barda

Karamaouna

Kati

et al. 2023

Insects

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Apples depend on insect pollination but intensification of agriculture jeopardizes pollination services in agroecosystems. Concerns about the dependency of crop pollination exclusively on honey bees increase the interest in agricultural practices that safeguard wild pollinators in agroecosystems. The purpose of the study was to assess the potential of floral resource provision in apple orchards to enhance the conservation of hymenopterous pollinating insects and potentially the pollination service to the crop. For this reason, flowering plant mixtures sown in patches inside apple orchards were tested against wild plant patches. Pollinator taxa recorded on the sown and wild plant patches were honey bees, wild bees (Andrena, Anthophora, Eucera, Halictus, Lasioglossum, Megachilidae on both; Systropha only on wild plants; Bombus, Hylaeus, Sphecodes, Nomada, Xylocopa only on sown mixture), syrphids, bee flies. The most abundant pollinator of apple was A. mellifera but wild bees were also recorded (Andrena, Anthophora, Bombus, Xylocopa, Lasioglossum, Megachilidae). The sown mixture attracted a more diverse taxa of pollinators and in greater numbers compared to the weed flora, but it did not have an effect on pollinators visiting apple flowers. Groundcover management with patches of suitable flowering mixtures can enhance pollinator conservation in apple orchards.

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“…As important primary and secondary consumers they represent an important part of the arthropod communities in grassland ecosystems (Detzel, 1998;Ingrisch & Köhler, 1998). Grasshoppers are often used to monitor the effects of human-induced land-use changes (Marini et al, 2008(Marini et al, , 2009Buri et al, 2013;Hussain et al, 2019;Brandl et al, 2022). Further, they represent excellent bioindicators as they react very sensitively to environmental changes (Fartmann et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing grasshopper communities in mountainous meadows – a comparison of a visual‐acoustic and a novel, purely acoustic soundscape method

Walcher

Hussain

Sachslehner

et al. 2022

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Grasshoppers (Orthoptera, suborders Ensifera and Caelifera) are often used as bioindicators to assess the effects of human-induced land-use changes. However, such assessment is largely depending on the methods that provide an accurate estimation.In the present study, we compared grasshopper species richness and assemblages on mountainous meadows in the Austrian Alps by applying a commonly used visualacoustic method and a novel soundscape method. For the visual-acoustic method, we walked through the meadows for 1 h at a slow pace and recorded any visually and acoustically noticeable species. For the soundscape method, sound recorders combined with bat detectors were installed at fixed positions. Comparing both methods, there was no significant difference in species richness; however, we found significantly higher numbers of Caelifera species with the visual-acoustic method and marginally higher numbers of Ensifera species with the soundscape method. Grasshopper assemblages differed marginally significantly between the two methods. With the soundscape method significantly more species were found between 12:00 and 17:00 hours compared to the samples taken between 10:00 and 12:00 hours. The soundscape method represents a reliable and by the observer unbiased technique to investigate grasshoppers within their environment. The visual-acoustic method is especially preferable for the detection of non-stridulating species which cannot be assessed with the soundscape method. Thus, researchers might consider using a sampling plan that mixes different sampling methods in order to offset potential limitations in sampling grasshopper species.

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Improving insect conservation values of agri-environment schemes through diversified seed mixtures

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

New grasslands promote pollination but not biological pest control in nearby arable fields in the short term

New grasslands promote pollination but not biological pest control in nearby arable fields in the short term

Do Patches of Flowering Plants Enhance Insect Pollinators in Apple Orchards?

Assessing grasshopper communities in mountainous meadows – a comparison of a visual‐acoustic and a novel, purely acoustic soundscape method

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