Not All Field Margins Are Equally Useful: Effects of the Vegetation Structure of Margins on Cereal Aphids and Their Natural Enemies

Salat-Moltó, Agnès; Caballero‐López, Berta; Pérez-Hidalgo, Nicolás; Suay, Mar Ferrer; Guerrieri, Emilio; Blanco‐Moreno, José M.

doi:10.3390/insects14020156

Cited by 2 publications

References 55 publications

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Aggregation of organically managed fields promotes aphid parasitism in cereal crops under Mediterranean conditions

Salat-Moltó,

Blanco-Moreno,

Pérez Hidalgo

et al. 2023

Landsc Ecol

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Context Maintaining a balance between semi-natural habitats and arable land is not always feasible for farmers. The promotion of biological control agents can be addressed through management at farm or field level, and/or by deploying lower intensity, biodiversity-friendly practices which can act either directly or indirectly through their effect of the plant community. Objectives We studied the effects on cereal aphids and their parasitoids of agricultural management at field and landscape levels. We tested the effect of organic and conventional farming, and of the within field characteristics, on the cereal aphid-parasitoid community, across a gradient of organic farming aggregation and of percentage of arable land. Methods In spring 2015, we sampled aphid populations in 30 cereal fields in five agricultural areas in Catalonia (Spain) with contrasting levels of organic farming aggregation. In each field, we also assessed weed and crop cover. As landscape variables, we calculated the Percentage of Agricultural Land (PAL) and the Percentage of Organically Managed Land (POML) in a 500-m buffer around each field. We sampled cereal tillers 3 m from the field edges and collected all aphids detected. In addition, we reared mummies (parasitized aphids) until they hatched. Results Our results show that management at landscape level has significant effects on parasitism rates: a higher proportion of surrounding fields under organic management increased the amount of parasitism, as did less agricultural land cover. On the other hand, aphid populations were mainly affected by two in-field factors, namely, crop density and crop variety. Differences in weed communities did not seem to have any effects on either aphids or parasitoids. Conclusions Rather than concentrating on the individual management of fields, a coordinated implementation of organic farming at landscape level would seem to be a much better strategy for improving the biological control of aphids.

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Aggregation of organically managed fields promotes aphid parasitism in cereal crops under Mediterranean conditions

Salat-Moltó,

Blanco-Moreno,

Pérez Hidalgo

et al. 2023

Landsc Ecol

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Agricultural intensification affects communities of plants and arthropods in field borders and their potential to engender biological control

Saldanha,

Carvalho,

Machado

et al. 2024

Preprint

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In agriculture, spontaneous field border vegetation can engender several benefits, including mitigating soil erosion, increasing carbon retention, conserving pollinators, and promoting biological control. The extension of these benefits can, however, often depend on the context of location and time. As for biological control, field borders can promote natural enemy conservation if the plants therein can provide adequate resources (e.g. shelter, alternative food, microclimate). In the context of location, field borders can be adjacent to areas with varying degrees of agricultural intensification, including fields with annual crops, perennial crops, or forest areas. While many studies have investigated how field borders can influence arthropod communities in adjacent crops, the opposite direction of effect (i.e. how crop areas can influence adjacent field borders) remains an underexplored topic. Therefore, in this three-season study we selected vegetated field borders next to annual crops, perennial crops, and forest areas, to study their communities of spontaneous plants (weeds) and arthropods as well as their potential to engender biological control. In general, our results show that the community composition of plants and arthropods was affected by land use type and season. Furthermore, field border vegetation next to areas with higher level of agricultural intensification (i.e. annual or perennial crops) harbored more herbivores, flowers and natural enemies; although some of these results were season dependent. Lastly, field borders next to annual or perennial crop areas engendered stronger biological control of aphids; possibly due to the alternative food (herbivores/aphids and flowers) provided by the plants therein. Taken altogether, our results reinforce the importance of preserving spontaneous field border vegetation, especially in areas under intensive agriculture management.

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Not All Field Margins Are Equally Useful: Effects of the Vegetation Structure of Margins on Cereal Aphids and Their Natural Enemies

Cited by 2 publications

References 55 publications

Aggregation of organically managed fields promotes aphid parasitism in cereal crops under Mediterranean conditions

Aggregation of organically managed fields promotes aphid parasitism in cereal crops under Mediterranean conditions

Agricultural intensification affects communities of plants and arthropods in field borders and their potential to engender biological control

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