Landscape and Local Drivers Affecting Flying Insects along Fennel Crops (Foeniculum vulgare, Apiaceae) and Implications for Its Yield

Insects

Benoît Geslin¹  Sarah Bourdon¹  Lucie Schurr¹  Véronique Masotti¹  Magdalena Brugger¹  Sophie Gachet¹  Laurence Affre¹  Marion Delobeau¹ 

[1] Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Avignon, CNRS, IRD, IMBE, Campus Étoile, Faculté des Sciences St-Jérôme, Case 421 Av Escadrille Normandie Niémen, CEDEX 20, 13397 Marseille, France;

关键词: fennel;    semi-natural habitat;    interspersion and juxtaposition index (IJI);    insecticides–insect abundance and richness–essential oil yield;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects12050404

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Agricultural landscapes are increasingly characterized by intensification and habitat losses. Landscape composition and configuration are known to mediate insect abundance and richness. In the context of global insect decline, and despite 75% of crops being dependent on insects, there is still a gap of knowledge about the link between pollinators and aromatic crops. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is an aromatic plant cultivated in the South of France for its essential oil, which is of great economic interest. Using pan-traps, we investigated the influence of the surrounding habitats at landscape scale (semi-natural habitat proportion and vicinity, landscape configuration) and local scale agricultural practices (insecticides and patch size) on fennel-flower-visitor abundance and richness, and their subsequent impact on fennel essential oil yield. We found that fennel may to be a generalist plant species. We did not find any effect of intense local management practices on insect abundance and richness. Landscape configuration and proximity to semi-natural habitat were the main drivers of flying insect family richness. This richness positively influenced fennel essential oil yield. Maintaining a complex configuration of patches at the landscape scale is important to sustain insect diversity and crop yield.

【 授权许可】

Unknown