Mixed effects of ecological intensification on natural pest control providers: a short-term study for biotic homogenization in winter wheat fields

PeerJ

article

Zoltán Elek¹  Jana Růžičková¹  Réka Ádám²  Krisztina Bereczki²  Gergely Boros³  Ferenc Kádár⁴  Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki²  László Somay²  Ottó Szalkovszki⁵  András Báldi² 

[1] Biological Institute, MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter Sétány, Eötvös Loránd University;Institute of Ecology and Botany, Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research;GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group, MTA Centre for Ecological Research;Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences;Department of Botany, National Biodiversity and Gene Conservation Center

关键词: Aphids;    Ecosystem services;    Inorganic fertilizer;    Pathogens;    Set-aside field;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.8746

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Agricultural intensification is one of the major drivers of biotic homogenization and has multiple levels ranging from within-field management intensity to landscape-scale simplification. The enhancement of invertebrate assemblages by establishing new, semi-natural habitats, such as set-aside fields can improve biological pest control in adjacent crops, and mitigate the adverse effect of biotic homogenization. In this study we aimed to examine the effects of ecological intensification in winter wheat fields in Hungary. We tested how pests and their natural enemies were affected at different spatial scales by landscape composition (proportion of semi-natural habitats in the surrounding matrix), configuration (presence of adjacent set-aside fields), and local field management practices, such as fertilizer (NPK) applications without applying insecticides. We demonstrated that at the local scale, decreased fertilizer usage had no direct effect either on pests or their natural enemies. Higher landscape complexity and adjacent semi-natural habitats seem to be the major drivers of decreasing aphid abundance, suggesting that these enhanced the predatory insect assemblages. Additionally, the high yield in plots with no adjacent set-aside fields suggests that intensive management can compensate for the lower yields on the extensive plots. Our results demonstrated that although complexity at the landscape scale was crucial for maintaining invertebrate assemblages, divergence in their response to pests and pathogens could also be explained by different dispersal abilities. Although the landscape attributes acted as dispersal filters in the organization of pest and pathogen assemblages in croplands, the presence of set-aside fields negatively influenced aphid abundance due to their between-field isolation effect.

【 授权许可】

CC BY