Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions
Aphids are a major concern in agricultural crops worldwide, and control by natural enemies is an essential component of the ecological intensification of agriculture. Although the complexity of agricultural landscapes is known to influence natural enemies of pests, few studies have measured the degr...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PeerJ Inc.
2015-07-01
|
| Series: | PeerJ |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1095.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797418512772235264 |
|---|---|
| author | Emily A. Martin Björn Reineking Bumsuk Seo Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter |
| author_facet | Emily A. Martin Björn Reineking Bumsuk Seo Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter |
| author_sort | Emily A. Martin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aphids are a major concern in agricultural crops worldwide, and control by natural enemies is an essential component of the ecological intensification of agriculture. Although the complexity of agricultural landscapes is known to influence natural enemies of pests, few studies have measured the degree of pest control by different enemy guilds across gradients in landscape complexity. Here, we use multiple natural-enemy exclosures replicated in 18 fields across a gradient in landscape complexity to investigate (1) the strength of natural pest control across landscapes, measured as the difference between pest pressure in the presence and in the absence of natural enemies; (2) the differential contributions of natural enemy guilds to pest control, and the nature of their interactions across landscapes. We show that natural pest control of aphids increased up to six-fold from simple to complex landscapes. In the absence of pest control, aphid population growth was higher in complex than simple landscapes, but was reduced by natural enemies to similar growth rates across all landscapes. The effects of enemy guilds were landscape-dependent. Particularly in complex landscapes, total pest control was supplied by the combined contribution of flying insects and ground-dwellers. Birds had little overall impact on aphid control. Despite evidence for intraguild predation of flying insects by ground-dwellers and birds, the overall effect of enemy guilds on aphid control was complementary. Understanding pest control services at large spatial scales is critical to increase the success of ecological intensification schemes. Our results suggest that, where aphids are the main pest of concern, interactions between natural enemies are largely complementary and lead to a strongly positive effect of landscape complexity on pest control. Increasing the availability of seminatural habitats in agricultural landscapes may thus benefit not only natural enemies, but also the effectiveness of aphid natural pest control. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:33:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d886658811945ae8b953d07077d01c3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T06:33:49Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d886658811945ae8b953d07077d01c32023-12-03T11:01:16ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592015-07-013e109510.7717/peerj.1095Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactionsEmily A. Martin0Björn Reineking1Bumsuk Seo2Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter3Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, Würzburg, GermanyIrstea, UR EMGR, St-Martin-d’Hères, FranceBiogeographical Modelling, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, Würzburg, GermanyAphids are a major concern in agricultural crops worldwide, and control by natural enemies is an essential component of the ecological intensification of agriculture. Although the complexity of agricultural landscapes is known to influence natural enemies of pests, few studies have measured the degree of pest control by different enemy guilds across gradients in landscape complexity. Here, we use multiple natural-enemy exclosures replicated in 18 fields across a gradient in landscape complexity to investigate (1) the strength of natural pest control across landscapes, measured as the difference between pest pressure in the presence and in the absence of natural enemies; (2) the differential contributions of natural enemy guilds to pest control, and the nature of their interactions across landscapes. We show that natural pest control of aphids increased up to six-fold from simple to complex landscapes. In the absence of pest control, aphid population growth was higher in complex than simple landscapes, but was reduced by natural enemies to similar growth rates across all landscapes. The effects of enemy guilds were landscape-dependent. Particularly in complex landscapes, total pest control was supplied by the combined contribution of flying insects and ground-dwellers. Birds had little overall impact on aphid control. Despite evidence for intraguild predation of flying insects by ground-dwellers and birds, the overall effect of enemy guilds on aphid control was complementary. Understanding pest control services at large spatial scales is critical to increase the success of ecological intensification schemes. Our results suggest that, where aphids are the main pest of concern, interactions between natural enemies are largely complementary and lead to a strongly positive effect of landscape complexity on pest control. Increasing the availability of seminatural habitats in agricultural landscapes may thus benefit not only natural enemies, but also the effectiveness of aphid natural pest control.https://peerj.com/articles/1095.pdfAgroecosystemsBiodiversity-ecosystem functioningTrophic interactionsLand use intensificationCabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitataSouth Korea |
| spellingShingle | Emily A. Martin Björn Reineking Bumsuk Seo Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions PeerJ Agroecosystems Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning Trophic interactions Land use intensification Cabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitata South Korea |
| title | Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| title_full | Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| title_fullStr | Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| title_short | Pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| title_sort | pest control of aphids depends on landscape complexity and natural enemy interactions |
| topic | Agroecosystems Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning Trophic interactions Land use intensification Cabbage Brassica oleracea var. capitata South Korea |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1095.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emilyamartin pestcontrolofaphidsdependsonlandscapecomplexityandnaturalenemyinteractions AT bjornreineking pestcontrolofaphidsdependsonlandscapecomplexityandnaturalenemyinteractions AT bumsukseo pestcontrolofaphidsdependsonlandscapecomplexityandnaturalenemyinteractions AT ingolfsteffandewenter pestcontrolofaphidsdependsonlandscapecomplexityandnaturalenemyinteractions |