Landscape composition and configuration influence cereal aphid–parasitoid–hyperparasitoid interactions and biological control differentially across years

By M. Plećaš, V. Gagic, M. Janković, O. Petrović-Obradović, N. Kavallieratos, Ž. Tomanović, Carsten Thies, T. Tscharntke, A. Ćetković. 2014

107 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The loss of landscape heterogeneity through agricultural intensification is known to affect aphid–parasitoid–hyperparasitoid interactions, with consequences for biological control. Various aspects of landscape heterogeneity (e.g. landscape composition and configuration) are expected to affect these interactions differentially, but there were few attempts to empirically compare the influence of separate landscape features on pest-parasitoid dynamics. To address these questions, we conducted three simultaneous studies in wheat fields in northern Serbia, to compare the effects of contrasting landscape contexts: (1) simple vs. more complex landscapes; (2) large- vs. small-field landscapes; (3) large-field areas with contrasting character of their marginal vegetation. We (1) found that aphid densities, parasitism rates and species richness of parasitoids and hyperparasitoids were higher in landscapes with more extensive and diversified non-crop habitats, positively affecting the biological control. We (2) did not find significant differences in aphid abundance and parasitism between large- and small-field landscapes, but we detected some contradictory patterns in aphid growth and parasitism increase; we relate both findings to certain region-specific landscape features of wider relevance. The character of marginal vegetation (3) had mixed effects on aphid–parasitoid interactions and dynamics, with respect to source of colonization. Parasitism rates above 22–24% were associated with population decline in the aphids, consistently across analyzed landscape contrasts. Other relationships were subject to significant interannual variability (over 2–4 years period), suggesting that effectiveness of landscape management for conservation biological control would also fluctuate year by year. Our findings show that a well-founded landscape-scale management for biological pest control in agriculture must be adjusted for differential aspects of landscape heterogeneity effects on pest–parasitoid interactions.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Insect Science, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0b8c13e3665319a14802f97ec87df4eefa59d4a6

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

  1. S. Wratten
  2. G. Gurr
  3. M. Gillespie
  4. Felix L. Wäckers
  5. D. Landis
  6. R. Isaacs
  7. E. Brennan
  8. W. E. Snyder

In Insect Science

  1. G. Gurr
  2. S. Wratten
  3. M. Gillespie
  4. Felix L. Wäckers
  5. D. Landis
  6. R. Isaacs
  7. W. E. Snyder
  8. E. Brennan

In Plant Science

  1. G. Gurr
  2. S. Wratten
  3. M. Gillespie
  4. W. E. Snyder

Citations in the corpus