Responses of grassland arthropods to various biodiversity-friendly management practices: Is there a compromise?

Mazalová, Monika; Šipoš, Ján; Rada, Stanislav; Kašák, Josef; Šarapatka, B.; Kuras, Tomáš

doi:10.14411/eje.2015.076

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…These varying responses may be due to the different ways in which natural enemies utilize the habitat and how harvesting impacts those habitat features (Warren, Scifres & Teel 1987;Debinski et al 2011). For example, ground-dwelling predators were generally negatively affected by harvest; similar results were found in other haying studies (Cizek et al 2011;Mazalova et al 2015). Reduced abundances may be due to reduced litter biomass which provides cover, associated prey resources, pupation and nesting habitat for these ground-dwelling arthropods.…”

Section: H a R V E S T E F F E C T S V A R I E D W I T H T A X O N O mentioning

confidence: 61%

Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services

Kim

Fox

Wills

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Perennial bioenergy systems, such as switchgrass and restored prairies, are alternatives to commonly used annual monocultures such as maize. Perennial systems require lower chemical input, provide greater ecosystem services such as carbon storage, greenhouse gas mitigation and support greater biodiversity of beneficial insects. However, biomass harvest will be necessary in managing these perennial systems for bioenergy production, and it is unclear how repeated harvesting might affect ecosystem services. 2. In this study, we examined how repeated production-scale harvesting of diverse perennial grasslands influences vegetation structure, natural enemy communities (arthropod predators and parasitoids), and natural biocontrol services in two states (Wisconsin and Michigan, USA) over multiple years. 3. We found that repeated biomass harvest reduced litter biomass and increased bare ground cover. Some natural enemy groups, such as ground-dwelling arthropods, decreased in abundance with harvest, whereas others such as foliar-dwelling arthropods increased in abundance. The disparity in responses is likely due to how different taxonomic groups utilize vegetation and differences in dispersal abilities. 4. At the community level, biomass harvest altered community composition, increased total arthropod abundance and decreased evenness but did not influence species richness, diversity or biocontrol services. Harvest effects varied with time, diminishing in strength both within the season (for total abundance and evenness), across seasons (for evenness) or were consistent throughout the duration of the study (for community composition). Greater functional redundancy and compensatory responses of the different taxonomic groups may have buffered against the potentially negative effects of harvest on biocontrol services. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results show that in the short-term, repeated harvesting of perennial grasslands (when insect activity is low) consistently altered vegetation structure but had mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no discernible effects on biocontrol services. However, the long-term effects of repeated harvesting on vegetation structure, natural enemies and other arthropod-derived ecosystem services such as pollination and decomposition remain largely unknown.

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Section: H a R V E S T E F F E C T S V A R I E D W I T H T A X O N O mentioning

confidence: 61%

Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services

Kim

Fox

Wills

et al. 2017

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…However, the highest carabid diversity was observed for medium management intensity in grasslands managed with different intensities (41). Accordingly, Mazalová et al (42) reported the highest species richness of butterflies and beetles, at a larger time scale, in grasslands mown once a year, especially when applying a combined regime of mowing and grazing. According to Morris (13), Coleoptera in general are more robust to cutting measures than other arthropods (i.e.…”

Section: Nmds (mentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of mowing measures on carabid beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a post-agricultural area

Schwerk¹,

Kitka²

2016

Period Biol

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Background and purpose: Some agricultural practices are considered to be useful tools in biodiversity conservation. Therefore, carabid beetles were collected on post-agricultural fallow land in Western Poland in order to study the impact of mowing treatment. Materials and Methods: Following a "before-after-control-impact" (BACI) study design over the period of two years (2013 -2014), standard arrays of pitfall traps were installed on six study sites, of which three were treated by mowing at the beginning of July in the second year of study. The influence of this treatment was analysed statistically with respect to the most frequently collected species, selected ecological traits, as well as the mean individual biomass of the carabid assemblages (MIB). Additionally, Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) was carried out. Results: A total of 1995 individuals belonging to 40 species were collected, with species numbers ranging from 11 to 21 and numbers of individuals ranging from 76 to 278 in the samples. Although some species reacted significantly to the mowing treatment and numbers of individuals of forest species significantly decreased on the treatment sites, in general rather weak effects were observed as a result of the mowing measures. The weak effects of the mowing measures may be explained by the low cutting intensity (only once a year) and differences in environmental conditions between the years of study. Conclusions:The results of the study are assumed to be useful in the context of planning mowing measures in order to conserve biological diversity. Yet, the results also underline the importance of long-term studies. IntRoductIon Intensification of agriculture is assessed to be a main driver of loss in biological diversity (1, 2, 3, 4). To counteract this tendency, different stategies have been proposed. Positive effects have been proven for the establishement of botanically diverse field margin strips (5, 6). Setting aside agricultural fields has been considered as a measure to enhance biological diversity, too. However, while several studies provide evidence for positive influence of fallow ground (e.g. 7, 8, 9, 10), some studies also report on its negative impact on biodiversity (e.g. 11). According to Burel and Baudry (12), predictions of the effects of land abandonment are difficult and opportunities offered by land abandonment differ with regard to the species. In contrast, various traditional agricultural practices are considered to be useful tools in biodiversity conservation (e.g. 13) and have been integrated into agri-environmental schemes and nature-reserve management (e.g. 14). Amongst such practices are grazing and mowing, the latter as a surrogate for grazing (13, 14 sures influence the structure of grassland vegetation, which is a product of the interplay between successional processes and management. The structure of grassland vegetation, however, is crucial for maintaining arthropod diversity (13).Among arthropods, carabid beetles have an important position in agricultural s...

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“…The negative effect of mowing on arthropod biodiversity can be reduced, however, by varying management in space and/or in time (Cizek et al 2012). This can be carried out, for example, by delaying or omitting the first mowing or by leaving uncut refuges (Humbert et al 2012a,b;Buri et al 2013;Mazalová et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaving uncut refuges during meadow harvesting increases the functional diversity of Orthoptera

Kaláb

Šipoš

Kočárek

2020

Entomological Science

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In the past, insect species richness was high in Central European seminatural grasslands, which were characterized by low‐intensity land use. Currently, however, the hay in most of these grasslands is mechanically harvested, which negatively impacts insect biodiversity. One way to reduce this negative effect is to leave unmown patches as refuges. In the current research we evaluated the short‐term effects of leaving an unmown patch on the taxonomic and functional diversity of the Orthoptera assemblage in a meadow. We found that orthopteran species richness and abundance were significantly reduced by mowing, whether or not a patch was left uncut. In contrast, functional evenness, indicating distribution of species abundances in a niche space, was reduced by mowing only if the plot lacked an uncut refuge. Functional richness, indicating the amount of niche space occupied by species, was elevated if the plot had an uncut refuge. Larger species were negatively affected by mowing, while habitat specialists, mobile species and soil‐ovipositing species benefitted from it. We infer that the presence of an uncut patch increased the diversity of habitats available to orthopterans and maintained even distribution of species among niche space. In summary, leaving an unmown refuge in grasslands could increase the functional diversity of orthopterans, even if it does not preserve taxonomic diversity.

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Responses of grassland arthropods to various biodiversity-friendly management practices: Is there a compromise?

Cited by 26 publications

References 62 publications

Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services

Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services

Influence of mowing measures on carabid beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in a post-agricultural area

Leaving uncut refuges during meadow harvesting increases the functional diversity of Orthoptera

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