Relationship between the abundance of aphids and their natural enemies in cereal fields and landscape composition

Hassan, Diab Al; Parisey, Nicolas; Burel, Françoise; Plantegenest, Manuel; Kindlmann, Pavel; Butet, Alain

doi:10.14712/23361964.2015.29

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The crop diversity was strongly negatively correlated to the proportion of winter cereal and positively to the grassland cover in the landscape (Spearman's rho = À0Á71 and 0Á52, respectively), which were the aphid host habitats available at the time we monitored aphids. The presence of grasslands in crop-diverse landscapes may have been a source of aphids colonising cereal fields (Al Hassan et al 2012). Thus, aphid densities were enhanced with decreasing cereal and increasing grassland cover, supporting the dilution effect.…”

Section: N T E R a C T I N G C O M P O S I T I O N A N D T E M P O mentioning

confidence: 83%

Landscape‐scale interactions of spatial and temporal cropland heterogeneity drive biological control of cereal aphids

Baillod

Tscharntke

Clough

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Agricultural landscapes are characterised by dynamic crop mosaics changing in composition and configuration over space and time. Although semi-natural habitat has been often shown to contribute to pest biological control, the effects of increasing landscape heterogeneity with cropland have been disregarded. Here, we examine how cereal aphids, their enemies and biological control are affected by the composition and configuration of the crop mosaic and its inter-annual change due to crop rotation. 2. We studied the abundance of cereal aphids, natural enemies and aphid parasitism over 2 years on 51 winter wheat fields. Arthropods were monitored at three distances (0, 10, 30 m) from field borders. Fields were embedded in landscapes of 1-km diameter selected along orthogonal gradients of compositional crop heterogeneity (crop diversity), configurational heterogeneity (field border and grassy field boundary length) and inter-annual change in cover of aphid host habitats (cereal, maize and grassland). We aimed to disentangle spatial and temporal heterogeneity effects through these independent landscape gradients. 3. Aphid densities were lower in landscapes with smaller field size (more field borders) coupled with high amounts of grassy field boundaries. Aphid densities decreased also in landscapes with higher crop diversity when the cover of aphid host habitat had decreased from the year before. Aphid natural enemy densities decreased with smaller field size and high amounts of grassy field boundaries. Aphid parasitism decreased with the inter-annual expansion in aphid host habitat, but only in landscapes with small field sizes. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study shows for the first time that cereal aphid numbers can be reduced by optimising the composition, configuration and temporal heterogeneity of the crop mosaic. We highlight the value of maintaining small field sizes in agricultural landscapes and high densities of grassy boundaries for reducing aphid abundance. Landscape-wide crop diversification can reduce aphid densities as well.

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Section: N T E R a C T I N G C O M P O S I T I O N A N D T E M P O mentioning

confidence: 83%

Landscape‐scale interactions of spatial and temporal cropland heterogeneity drive biological control of cereal aphids

Baillod

Tscharntke

Clough

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…, Al Hassan et al. ). Furthermore, meadows may provide food resources that play a crucial role in favoring the survival and subsequent development of pest populations when cabbage is not grown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, this seems to be the most likely explanation for the positive association between the increasing area of meadows and the abundance of flea beetles and aphids. There is substantial evidence that meadows may serve as overwintering habitat and shelter for flea beetles and aphids (Andersen et al 2005, Chaplin-Kramer et al 2011a, Al Hassan et al 2012). Furthermore, meadows may provide food resources that play a crucial role in favoring the survival and subsequent development of pest populations when cabbage is not grown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting effects of landscape composition on crop yield mediated by specialist herbivores

Pérez-Álvarez

Nault

Poveda

2018

Ecological Applications

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Landscape composition not only affects a variety of arthropod-mediated ecosystem services, but also disservices, such as herbivory by insect pests that may have negative effects on crop yield. Yet, little is known about how different habitats influence the dynamics of multiple herbivore species, and ultimately their collective impact on crop production. Using cabbage as a model system, we examined how landscape composition influenced the incidence of three specialist cruciferous pests (aphids, flea beetles, and leaf-feeding Lepidoptera), lepidopteran parasitoids, and crop yield across a gradient of landscape composition in New York, USA. We expected that landscapes with a higher proportion of cropland and lower habitat diversity would lead to an increase in pest pressure of the specialist herbivores and a reduction in crop yield. However, results indicated that neither greater cropland area nor lower landscape diversity influenced pest pressure or yield. Rather, pest pressure and yield were best explained by the presence of non-crop habitats (i.e., meadows) in the landscape. Specifically, cabbage was infested with fewer Lepidoptera in landscapes with a higher proportion of meadows likely resulting from increased parasitism. Conversely, cabbage was infested with more flea beetles and aphids as the proportion of meadows in the landscape increased, suggesting that these pests benefit from non-crop habitats. Furthermore, path analysis confirmed that these landscape-mediated effects on pest populations can have either positive or negative cascading effects on crop yield. Our findings illustrate how different pest species within the same cropping system show contrasting responses to landscape composition with respect to both the direction and spatial scale of the relationship. Such tradeoffs resulting from the complex interaction between multiple-pests, natural enemies, and landscape composition must be considered, if we are to manage landscapes for pest suppression benefits.

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“…The carabid abundance in maize has been positively correlated with the proportion of herbaceous grassy strips surrounding maize fields (Hassan et al , ). Field margins have been reported to provide refuge from adverse agricultural activities (Holland & Luff, ; Holland et al , ; Yu & Liu, ; Benjamin et al , ) and the increase of marked C. fuscipes , P. cupreus and B. lampros originating from alfalfa collected in the margin after alfalfa cutting clearly supports this.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rubidium marking reveals different patterns of movement in four ground beetle species (Col., Carabidae) between adjacent alfalfa and maize

Madeira

Pons

2015

Agri and Forest Entomology

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1 In the north-east Iberian Peninsula, in summer, arable crop landscapes are characterized by a mosaic of alfalfa and maize. Although carabids are among the main predators in both crops, crop management can affect their movement. 2 The main aim of the present study was to measure the movement of the four most abundant carabid species (Calathus fuscipes, Poecilus cupreus, Bembidion lampros and Pseudoophonus rufipes) between adjacent alfalfa and maize before and after alfalfa cutting, using rubidium as a marker. Movement of predators into the herbaceous margin between alfalfa and maize was also assessed. 3 The four carabid species showed bidirectional movements between crops, although the pattern of movement differed between species and was affected by alfalfa cutting. After cutting, the movement of C. fuscipes, P. cupreus and P. rufipes from alfalfa towards maize was higher than in the opposite direction. Bembidion lampros showed a greater degree of movement towards alfalfa than in the opposite direction before cutting and only moved to the margin after cutting. 4 Maize and herbaceous field margins can therefore act as both refuge and donor habitat for carabids, and can help to recolonize alfalfa after cuttings. Growing maize near alfalfa and providing an intercrop refuge habitat may conserve and enhance carabid populations.

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Relationship between the abundance of aphids and their natural enemies in cereal fields and landscape composition

Cited by 12 publications

References 21 publications

Landscape‐scale interactions of spatial and temporal cropland heterogeneity drive biological control of cereal aphids

Landscape‐scale interactions of spatial and temporal cropland heterogeneity drive biological control of cereal aphids

Contrasting effects of landscape composition on crop yield mediated by specialist herbivores

Rubidium marking reveals different patterns of movement in four ground beetle species (Col., Carabidae) between adjacent alfalfa and maize

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