{"title":"Effects of Crop Rotation Diversification and Livestock Integration on Above-Ground Arthropod Dynamics Under Conservation Agriculture","authors":"Amandrie Louw, Johann Strauss, Pia Addison","doi":"10.1002/ece3.71788","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Diversification through integrating diverse crop species and livestock is key to enhancing above-ground arthropod diversity and promoting the sustainability of cropping systems within conservation agriculture (CA) in South Africa. This study compared two crop rotation treatments, A (Wheat-Wheat-Wheat-Wheat) and G (Canola-Medics-Wheat-Medics), as part of a long-term CA trial conducted in a wheat-producing region of South Africa. For crop rotation system G, each phase of the rotation sequence was represented in separate plots annually. Surface-dwelling arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps, while plant-dwelling arthropods were captured through sweep-net sampling. These methods comprehensively assessed above-ground arthropod diversity 90 days after crop emergence. The results showed that crop rotation diversification positively influenced arthropod diversity, though the effects varied depending on the arthropod group and sampling position. Ground-dwelling arthropods exhibited less pronounced differences between crop rotation systems, whereas plant-dwelling arthropods displayed more crop-specific variations. Analysis of individual arthropod orders revealed that the effects of crop rotation diversification varied across different arthropod groups. Our findings emphasize the importance of examining multiple arthropod groups to understand diversification's impacts fully within CA farming systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":11467,"journal":{"name":"Ecology and Evolution","volume":"15 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ece3.71788","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecology and Evolution","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.71788","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Diversification through integrating diverse crop species and livestock is key to enhancing above-ground arthropod diversity and promoting the sustainability of cropping systems within conservation agriculture (CA) in South Africa. This study compared two crop rotation treatments, A (Wheat-Wheat-Wheat-Wheat) and G (Canola-Medics-Wheat-Medics), as part of a long-term CA trial conducted in a wheat-producing region of South Africa. For crop rotation system G, each phase of the rotation sequence was represented in separate plots annually. Surface-dwelling arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps, while plant-dwelling arthropods were captured through sweep-net sampling. These methods comprehensively assessed above-ground arthropod diversity 90 days after crop emergence. The results showed that crop rotation diversification positively influenced arthropod diversity, though the effects varied depending on the arthropod group and sampling position. Ground-dwelling arthropods exhibited less pronounced differences between crop rotation systems, whereas plant-dwelling arthropods displayed more crop-specific variations. Analysis of individual arthropod orders revealed that the effects of crop rotation diversification varied across different arthropod groups. Our findings emphasize the importance of examining multiple arthropod groups to understand diversification's impacts fully within CA farming systems.
期刊介绍:
Ecology and Evolution is the peer reviewed journal for rapid dissemination of research in all areas of ecology, evolution and conservation science. The journal gives priority to quality research reports, theoretical or empirical, that develop our understanding of organisms and their diversity, interactions between them, and the natural environment.
Ecology and Evolution gives prompt and equal consideration to papers reporting theoretical, experimental, applied and descriptive work in terrestrial and aquatic environments. The journal will consider submissions across taxa in areas including but not limited to micro and macro ecological and evolutionary processes, characteristics of and interactions between individuals, populations, communities and the environment, physiological responses to environmental change, population genetics and phylogenetics, relatedness and kin selection, life histories, systematics and taxonomy, conservation genetics, extinction, speciation, adaption, behaviour, biodiversity, species abundance, macroecology, population and ecosystem dynamics, and conservation policy.