Lipid content drives weed seed consumption by ground beetles (<i>Coleopterea, Carabidae</i>) within the smallest seeds

Gaba, Sabrina; Deroulers, Paul; Bretagnolle, François; Bretagnolle, Vincent

doi:10.1111/wre.12354

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The seed dimensions explaining over 13% of the preferences was the main factor affecting seed selection [6,33,34], even when other properties are considered. The interaction between seed size and the mass of carabids should not, however, be overlooked [6,7,53]. The size of the seeds also affects their chemical properties, such as the oil content or stored energy [55], which may affect seed predation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After successfully opening, a predator further evaluates the nutritional composition of a seed (amount of starches, proteins, oils, secondary metabolites, fatty acids, etc.) [22,42,[51][52][53][54][55], which stimulates or deters the predator from additionally feeding on conspecific seeds. Some of the chemical compounds can be distasteful or poisonous for their predator (e.g., opium and L-dopa) [56], but insects have evolved systems to detoxify these compounds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?

Foffová

Zeljković

Honěk

et al. 2020

Insects

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Ground beetles are important invertebrate seed predators in temperate agro-ecosystems. However, there is a lack of information regarding which seed properties are important to carabids when they select seeds for consumption. Therefore, seed properties, such as size, shape, morphological defence, and chemical composition, were measured, and in addition to seed taxonomy and ecology, these data were used to explain carabid preferences. Carabid preferences were assessed using a multi-choice experiment with 28 species of weed seeds presented to 37 species of Carabidae. Multiple regression on distance matrices (MRM) was used to determine the importance of particular sets of seed properties for carabids. The analysis was conducted for the full set of carabids (37 species) as well as for subsets of species belonging to the tribes of Harpalini or Zabrini. For the complete set of species, seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties significantly explained carabid preferences (proportion of explained variance, R2 = 0.465). The model for Harpalini fit the data comparably well (R2 = 0.477), and seed dimensions, seed mass and seed coat properties were significant. In comparison to that for Harpalini, the model for Zabrini had much lower explanatory power (R2 = 0.248), and the properties that significantly affected the preferences were seed dimensions, seed mass, taxonomy, plant strategy, and seed coat properties. This result suggests that the seed traits that carabids respond to may be specific to taxonomic and likely relate to the degree of specialisation for seeds. This study contributes to understanding the mechanisms that determine the preferences of carabid beetles for seeds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?

Foffová

Zeljković

Honěk

et al. 2020

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This null model approach may show how our mechanistic models need to be refined, e.g. including the effect of traits such as seed shape, integument thickness or lipid content (Gaba, Deroulers, Bretagnolle, & Bretagnolle, 2019; Honek et al, 2007; Sebastián-González et al, 2017), or other local drivers, e.g. total seed abundance, vegetative cover or the presence of alternate invertebrate prey.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: a mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed-feeding by carabid beetles

Pocock

Schmucki

Bohan

2020

Preprint

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Ecological networks are valuable for ecosystem analysis but their use is often limited by a lack of data because many types of ecological interaction, e.g. predation, are short-lived and difficult to observe or detect. There are different methods for inferring the presence of interactions, which we lack methods to predict interaction strengths and so use weighted network analysis.Here, we develop a trait-based approach suitable for creating quantitative networks, i.e. with varying interaction strengths. We developed the method for seed-feeding carabid ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) although the principles can be applied to other interactions.We used existing literature data from experimental seed-feeding trials to predict a per-individual interaction cost index based on carabid and seed size with frequency-dependent prey selection and assuming bottom up control. This was scaled up to the population level to create predicted inferred weighted networks using the abundance of carabids and seeds in samples from arable fields and energetic intake rates of carabids from the literature. From these weighted networks, we also calculated a novel measure of predation pressure.We applied it to existing ecological survey data from 255 arable fields with carabid data from pitfall traps and plant seeds from seed rain traps. Analysis of these inferred networks led to testable hypotheses about how networks and predation pressure varied amongst fields.Inferred networks are valuable because (i) they provide null models for the structuring of food webs to test against empirical species interaction data, e.g. DNA analysis of carabid gut regurgitates, and (ii) they allow weighted inferred networks to be constructed whenever we can estimate interactions between species and have ecological census data available. This would permit network analysis even at times and in places when interactions were not directly assessed.

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“…Fourthly, the effect of carabid beetles on the seedbank at t 1 by including the predation pressure index derived from the inferred carabid-seed food web in each field (see details in Pocock et al, 2020). With this last relationship, we accounts for the effectiveness of carabids in regulating arable weeds, based on their dietary preference and calorific requirement which are expected to have important implication in carabid seed consumption and contribution to weed management (Gaba et al, 2019; Honek et al, 2013; Petit et al, 2014).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Weed seed predation by ground beetles (Coletptera:Carabidea) can reduce seed accumulation in the seedbank and contribute to weeds regulation and cropping systems (Bohan et al, 2011a; Carbonne et al, 2020; Frei et al, 2019; Kulkarni et al, 2015; Petit et al, 2018). Post-dispersal seed predation by carabid beetles is well documented, with studies having focussed on their diet and foraging behaviour (Deroulers and Bretagnolle, 2019; Gaba et al, 2019; Honek et al, 2013; Petit et al, 2014), their distribution in arable fields (Lami et al, 2020), and their response to the surrounding landscape (Petit et al, 2017; Trichard et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined effect of crop rotation and carabid beetles on weed dynamics in arable fields

Schmucki

Bohan

Pocock

2020

Preprint

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Weed management is a resource-intensive practice in arable agriculture, with direct and long-term impacts on both productivity and biodiversity (e.g. plant, pollinators and farmland wildlife). In conventional systems, weed control relies on crop management and herbicide inputs, but for more sustainable production systems, use of herbicides needs to be reduced. This requires a good understanding of the processes that regulate arable weed dynamics in arable fields.We adopted a systems framework to understand and model interacting components that drive the weed dynamics in 168 arable fields. Within this framework, we built a structural equation model (SEM) to quantify the direct and indirect effects of crop rotation (i.e. crops in the previous three years and the current year) and carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on weed density, seed abundance and accumulation in the seedbank. We included results from a mechanistic approach to infer interactions between seed-feeding carabid beetles and seeds to estimate predation pressure in each field.Our results show that weeds in arable fields are regulated by crop type, sowing season, and activity density of carabid beetles. We found a direct effect of crop rotation, including both past and current field management practice, on weed abundance in the field and its seedbank. There was also an indirect effect of crops on weed seed accumulation in the seedbank via the effect of seed-eating carabid beetles. The efficiency of weed control by carabid beetles depended on the cumulative predation pressure, which indicates the importance of functional diversity as well as abundance.Farmers and agronomists can capitalise on the ecosystem services provided by carabid beetles by adapting agronomic practices and crop rotation to maintain a rich fauna of seed-eating carabids in fields and potentially across the agricultural landscapes. When integrated with rotational management practices, this ecosystem services can improve the efficiency of weed management and contribute to the sustainability of cropping systems.

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Lipid content drives weed seed consumption by ground beetles (Coleopterea, Carabidae) within the smallest seeds

Cited by 22 publications

References 35 publications

Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?

Which Seed Properties Determine the Preferences of Carabid Beetle Seed Predators?

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: a mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed-feeding by carabid beetles

Combined effect of crop rotation and carabid beetles on weed dynamics in arable fields

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