Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"An arthropod-based assessment of biological soil quality in winter wheat fields across Hungary","authors":"Zsolt Tóth ,&nbsp;Vasileios P. Vasileiadis ,&nbsp;Miklós Dombos","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109325","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109325","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive agriculture can induce soil degradation through various mechanisms, resulting in a decline in soil health and functionality. Soil arthropods, as an essential component of soil biodiversity, play a pivotal role in numerous ecosystem services for sustainable and productive crop cultivation. This research presents the inaugural nationwide evaluation of agricultural soils in Hungary, using microarthropods as soil quality indicators. Through the examination of 133 soil samples from 78 farms, we explored the direct and indirect effects of soil, plant, climatic variables and farming practices on the biological soil quality of winter wheat fields. Collembola and Acari were the two most common and abundant soil microarthropods. All arthropod-based soil quality and community metrics (QBS-ar, Collembola/Acari, richness, density) exhibited a negative correlation with bulk density, indicating the adverse effects of soil compaction. Notably, soil moisture was found to be a crucial factor that positively influenced the integrated faunal indices, QBS-ar and Collembola/Acari abundance ratio. Collembola proved to be the most responsive taxon, being highly sensitive to variations in both soil moisture and bulk density. In addition, bulk density had a negative effect on the abundance of Pauropoda, Diplura and Formicidae. The frequency of rainy days during the growing season had both direct and indirect positive effects on soil microarthropods, particularly in terms of density. Soil management, specifically ploughing and the number of tillage operations, emerged as primary drivers, indirectly affecting biological soil quality by altering soil structure and moisture conditions. Low-input farming under Hungarian agri-environmental schemes had comparable arthropod-based soil quality indices to conventional wheat fields. In conclusion, our study confirmed that soil microarthropods are suitable for nationwide assessments of agricultural soils and we found that the measures of the Hungarian Agri-Environmental Programme 2004–2009 were insufficient to improve soil biological quality. It is therefore imperative to implement more efficient farming practices that take better account of soil biodiversity and health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109325"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"General patterns of soil nutrient stoichiometry, microbial metabolic limitation and carbon use efficiency in paddy and vegetable fields along a climatic transect of eastern China","authors":"Bingxue Wang ,&nbsp;Ruiyu Bi ,&nbsp;Xintong Xu ,&nbsp;Haojie Shen ,&nbsp;Qianqian Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhengqin Xiong","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109322","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109322","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil nutrient stoichiometry and microbial metabolic limitation are crucial factors that regulate the biogeochemical cycling process of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) in diversified agroecosystems. Distinct management patterns between paddy fields and vegetable gardens would possess different soil nutrient stoichiometry and microbial metabolic limitation, thus affecting C sequestration, crop production, and environmental consequences. We explored nutrient stoichiometry, microbial metabolic limitation, and carbon use efficiency in paddy and vegetable soils in temperate, warm temperate, and subtropical climatic zones across eastern China. Our results demonstrated that the soil C:N:P ratios were 36.22:3.12:1.00 for paddy and 21.26:1.72:1.00 for vegetable soils. The contents of soil organic C and total N were similar to the global average for agricultural soils; however, the total P content was low. The microbial C/N was higher in paddy soils than in vegetable soils. The ecoenzymatic C:N:P logarithmic ratios were deviating from the global average ratio of 1.00:1.00:1.00 in both paddy and vegetable soils across three climatic zones. Microbial metabolic limitation varied across climatic zones: In the temperate zone, soil microbes were limited by C and N in paddy soils, while by P in vegetable soils. In contrast, in the warm temperate and subtropical zones, microbial metabolic P limitation was observed in both paddy and vegetable soils, but not C and N. Microbial carbon use efficiency increased along climatic transect for paddy while reversed for vegetable field in eastern China. Thus, microbial C:N:P and metabolic limitation served as better indicators for nutrient cycling and carbon use efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109322"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142417612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biomass inputs drive agronomic management impacts on soil health","authors":"Valentina Rubio ,&nbsp;Agustín Núñez ,&nbsp;Andrés Berger ,&nbsp;Harold van Es","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109316","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109316","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Numerous conservation and regeneration practices are recognized as effective strategies in the management of soil health (SH), a critical factor for ensuring the sustainability of food production systems. Despite their acknowledged importance, the multifaceted impacts of these practices often lead to confounding effects, and reliance on generic categorization of agronomic practices often falls short in portraying the drivers of SH. We advocate for a paradigm shift from a label-centric approach to one rooted in processes. Our study underscores the pivotal role of aboveground biomass cycling as an indicator for assessing the potential of agronomic management practices to instigate shifts in carbon balances, and, consequently SH. Drawing on soil physical, biological, and chemical SH data from three Uruguayan long-term experiments on Pampas region Mollisols we (i) present quantitative evidence of the importance of evaluating SH through biomass inputs, and (ii) illustrate the applicability of the proposed framework for evaluating different scenarios of land management for the region. Management-induced variations in aboveground biomass inputs accounted for 50 % of the observed changes in a composite soil's physical and biological SH index and helped explain the inconsistent effect of management practices. Raising the SH Index by ten points required an increase in biomass inputs of over 50 Mg ha⁻¹. Based on this concept, substantial enhancements in SH can be made by narrowing yield gaps and intensifying cropping sequences over many years. The benefits of practices such as increased crop diversification, integration of perennial and cover crops, or reduced tillage in promoting SH depend in part on their ability to augment biomass production. This nuanced understanding underscores the importance of aligning agronomic strategies with the fundamental processes driving SH dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109316"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shifts in water use in grapevine due to an invasive sap-feeding planthopper persist following insect removal","authors":"Andrew D. Harner ,&nbsp;Heather Leach ,&nbsp;Lauren Briggs ,&nbsp;Donald E. Smith ,&nbsp;Roman Zweifel ,&nbsp;Michela Centinari","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109321","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109321","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing outbreaks of invasive insect pests pose a substantial threat to the functioning and viability of cultivated and wild woody perennial species worldwide. In the eastern U.S., the spotted lanternfly (<em>Lycorma delicatula</em> White; SLF), an invasive phloem-feeding planthopper, was reported to be able to negatively impact late-season plant carbon dynamics in various woody perennial species following repeated or prolonged infestation and feeding events. However, it remains unclear if SLF infestations also impact plant water relations and if SLF-mediated effects persist when populations are controlled and feeding stops. This study investigated how late-season exposure to SLF impacts whole-plant water relations by assessing diurnal sap flow and trunk radius changes in grapevines subjected to varying infestation densities of adult SLF. In two seasons, vines exposed to high infestation densities (an average of 180 SLFs per vine) for up to 31–32 days of cumulative SLF exposure had significantly lower sap flow rate than those with no SLF, resulting in up to 38 % less daily total water use. Trunk diurnal amplitudes increased under SLF infestation, but impacts were less dependent on infestation density, suggesting that grapevines may be utilizing trunk water storage during infestation to meet both grapevine water use and SLF sap ingestion. In both cases, SLF-mediated effects persisted following removal of SLFs, suggesting that exposure to high populations of SLF can alter patterns of late-season grapevine water use, at least when populations are not effectively controlled. These results indicate that SLF can modify both whole-plant water relations and carbon dynamics concurrently, further defining the implications that intensive infestations by high populations of SLF have for woody perennial whole-plant physiology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109321"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plot and border effects on herbicide-resistant weed seed consumption by rodents in corn and soybean crops of central Argentina","authors":"Cecilia Rocío Antonelli,&nbsp;Emilio Cabral,&nbsp;Diego Ezequiel Berejnoi,&nbsp;José Priotto,&nbsp;María Daniela Gomez","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109320","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109320","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biological control of weeds is a key ecological function of agriculture production. Our aim was to determine how border quality, distance to border, crop type and phenology, affect the consumption of herbicide-resistant weed seeds by rodents in the agroecosystems of central Argentina. We used seeds of four commonly problematic weeds and two crops in a consumption experiment with three exclusion treatments. We studied seed consumption at three distances of the border in 20 crop plots (10 soybean and 10 maize) associated with borders of different quality in spring and summer. We measured nine environmental variables and determined the abundance of rodents for each site. Seed consumption varied greatly among seed species, <em>Amaranthus hybridus</em> and <em>Zea mays</em> had the highest mean consumption rate, followed by <em>Sorghum halepense</em> and <em>Digitaria</em> sp<em>.</em>, <em>Ipomoea purpurea</em> and <em>Glycine max</em> were rarely consumed. Our model predictions show seed consumption rates above 20 % for <em>Digitaria</em> sp, and 40 % for <em>A. hybridus</em> with the increase of border vegetation volume. On the other hand, <em>Z. mays</em> consumption reaches more than 30 % in summer. This high weed seed consumption would modify the population and community dynamic of the weeds by impeding seed entrance to the seed bank. Our results highlight that rodents could perform biological control of herbicide-resistant weeds. The positive effect that habitats with high vegetation cover have on rodent species suggests that appropriate management strategies like maintaining high-quality field borders and establishing natural and semi-natural patches can enhance weed biological control in industrialised agroecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109320"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of agricultural land management in modulating water-carbon interplay within dryland ecological systems","authors":"Wajid Ali Khattak ,&nbsp;Jianfan Sun ,&nbsp;Fawad Zaman ,&nbsp;Abdul Jalal ,&nbsp;Muhammad Shafiq ,&nbsp;Sehrish Manan ,&nbsp;Rashida Hameed ,&nbsp;Ihtisham Khan ,&nbsp;Irfan Ullah Khan ,&nbsp;Khalid Ali Khan ,&nbsp;Daolin Du","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109315","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109315","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Balancing limited water resources with agricultural demands is a major challenge for global sustainability, particularly in dryland regions. To address this issue, it is crucial to understand how human activities, particularly agricultural practices, affect the balance between water availability and carbon cycling. This review examines the impact of land-use intensity on hydrological and carbon cycles in dryland ecosystems, emphasizing the need for sustainable agricultural practices to prevent soil degradation, erosion, and biodiversity loss. It also explores the water-energy nexus in dryland agriculture, highlighting the importance of integrating sustainable water management with renewable energy technologies to reduce carbon emissions and conserve water. Evidence from field studies, remote sensing, and modeling approaches is reviewed to show how different management strategies can either mitigate or exacerbate stresses on water-carbon dynamics. The effects of these interactions on soil health, plant productivity, and atmospheric carbon concentrations are critically evaluated, focusing on adaptive management strategies to enhance resilience and sustainability. Strategies such as implementing drought-resistant crops, conservation agriculture, and agroforestry are highlighted as essential methods to increase water efficiency and carbon storage. Furthermore, this review discusses the importance of incorporating socioeconomic and policy perspectives to promote practices that align with ecological conservation goals. It identifies knowledge gaps and proposes a multidisciplinary research agenda aimed at optimizing land management in drylands to achieve both agricultural viability and ecological balance in the face of climate change. Understanding the complex relationship between agricultural practices and ecosystem functions is crucial for developing sustainable land management strategies that mitigate environmental degradation and ensure food security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109315"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agronomic and environmental effects of forage-cutting schedule and nitrogen fertilization for bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon, L.)","authors":"Clement D.D. Sohoulande ,&nbsp;Liwang Ma ,&nbsp;Zhiming Qi ,&nbsp;Ariel Szogi ,&nbsp;Kenneth Stone ,&nbsp;Daren R. Harmel ,&nbsp;Jerry H. Martin ,&nbsp;Girma Birru ,&nbsp;Matthew Sima","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109318","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109318","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bermudagrass (<em>Cynodon dactylon</em>, L.) is widely used as a forage in ruminant diets owing to its nutritional value and its capacity to grow under various agroecological conditions. For the southeastern United States climate conditions, previous research on bermudagrass recommended the cultivar Tifton 85 for forage production and a monthly frequency for forage-cutting. Even though bermudagrass cultivars are known to positively respond to nitrogen (N) fertilization, the interplay of the forage-cutting and N fertilization rates is not well understood. As a result, there is not sufficient guidance for adequate harvesting schedules and fertilization management to optimize bermudagrass forage production. Hence, this study aims to clarify the interplay of biomass-cutting events and N fertilization rates on forage quality and quantity, and N footprint. The study used experimental data of bermudagrass Tifton 85 forage production under three N fertilization rates (i.e., high = 504 kg N ha⁻¹, medium = 336 kg N ha⁻¹, and low = 168 kg N ha⁻¹), to calibrate and validate Root Zone Water Quality Model 2 (RZWQM2) for biomass weight and biomass N content. For each N fertilization rate, multiyear simulations of four biomass-cutting scenarios were used to investigate the joint effects of harvesting schedules and N fertilization rates on biomass weight, biomass N content, N use efficiency (NUE), and N leaching. Results show statistically significant effects of the biomass-cutting scenarios on biomass weight and biomass N content for both high and medium N fertilization rates. The interplay of biomass-cutting and N fertilization reflected differently on forage quality and quantity, and N footprint. The low N fertilization did not show any statistically significant effect except for the biomass weight. NUE values were higher with both medium and low N fertilization rates compared to the high N fertilization which showed a relatively high N leaching. The outcomes of this study can be used to inform bermudagrass cutting and fertilization options to achieve forage yield goals with an understanding of the potential environmental consequence of N leaching and low NUE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109318"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Vegetation restoration changed the soil aggregate stability and aggregate carbon stabilization pathway according to δ13C signatures","authors":"Zhuoxia Su ,&nbsp;Shu Zhu ,&nbsp;Zhenhao Wei ,&nbsp;Yanxing He ,&nbsp;Bingqian Su ,&nbsp;Kang Zhang ,&nbsp;Xing Ma ,&nbsp;Zhouping Shangguan","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109317","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109317","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vegetation restoration can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration through the physical protection of soil aggregates. However, the soil aggregate stability and C flow pathway associated with long-term plantation restoration have not yet been fully characterized. Here, we conducted a study on <em>Robinia pseudoacacia</em> plantations at different recovery stages, studied the distribution and stability of aggregates, analysed the aggregate-associated organic carbon (OC) content and δ¹³C value, and quantified the aggregate C flow pathway. The results revealed that vegetation restoration increased the proportion of large macroaggregates (LMAs) and decreased the proportion of small macroaggregates (SMAs), with no changes observed in the proportion of microaggregates (MIAs) or silt + clay (SC) at 0–20 cm. The indices of aggregate stability, namely, the mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD) and structural stability index (SSI), increased under vegetation restoration at 0–20 cm, with maximum values of 3.83 mm, 2.88 mm, and 2.00 %, respectively, at 35 years of age (35Y). The OC content of the LMAs increased from 10.96 to 21.64 g kg⁻¹ and from 7.27 to 10.05 g kg⁻¹ in the 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm layers, respectively. LMAs and SMAs had the greatest contributions to SOC accumulation in the 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm layers, respectively. The δ¹³C value increased with decreasing aggregate size. The C flow pathway was from macroaggregates to MIAs or SC. Compared with abandoned farmland, vegetation restoration decreased the aggregate C flow intensity in the 0–20 cm layer. The soil aggregate stability and aggregate-associated OC content decreased with increasing soil depth, but the soil δ¹³C value exhibited the opposite trend. Vegetation restoration regulated soil aggregate stability by influencing the fine root biomass (FRB) and SOC content. In summary, our analysis offers a valuable reference for the controlling effect of aggregation on C stability influenced by vegetation restoration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109317"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142418032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Water-saving irrigation practices in rice paddies reverse the impact of root aerenchyma on methane emissions","authors":"Siyu Li ,&nbsp;Yajun Zhang ,&nbsp;Jiamei Zhao ,&nbsp;Kees Jan van Groenigen ,&nbsp;Xinya Shen ,&nbsp;Hao Zhang ,&nbsp;Junfei Gu ,&nbsp;Weiyang Zhang ,&nbsp;Dafeng Hui ,&nbsp;Yun Chen ,&nbsp;Lijun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109309","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109309","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rice root aerenchyma (RA) and irrigation practices influence key physiological processes in rice paddies, affecting both yield and methane (CH₄) emissions. However, the interaction between RA and irrigation practices, and its implications for CH₄ mitigation, remains unclear, making it difficult to identify rice cultivars for CH₄ mitigation purposes. Here, we conducted a series of field and pot experiments to evaluate how RA affects grain yield and CH₄ emissions under two common irrigation regimes: continuous flooding (CF) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD). Our results show that the interaction between RA and irrigation regime significantly influenced both rice yield and CH₄ emissions. Under CF, increased RA formation was associated with higher rice yield and lower CH₄ emissions across a wide range of cultivars. These results could be explained by cultivars with well-developed RA increasing root oxygen loss, thereby stimulating CH₄ oxidation and promoting N availability to support plant growth. In AWD systems, no significant differences in rice yield, methanogenesis or methanotrophy were observed between cultivars with varying RA development. However, cultivars with well-developed RA increased CH₄ emissions by 28 %−32 % compared to those with less-developed RA, likely due to enhanced CH₄ transport from anaerobic deep soil layers to the atmosphere. Consistent with these findings, CH₄ emissions under AWD decreased when we inhibited RA development through root irrigation with brassinosteroids. In conclusion, we demonstrate that AWD in paddies can reverse the impact of RA on CH₄ emissions, highlighting the need for CH₄ mitigation strategies involving cultivar selection to account for variations in irrigation practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109309"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142417611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence at the landscape level links high predator/pest ratios to biocontrol services against aphids","authors":"Bing Liu ,&nbsp;Yanhui Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109319","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2024.109319","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Compared with external environment interferences, the interaction between arthropod natural enemies and pests is the key inherent driver determining the strength of biocontrol services. However, the extent to which this effect can suppress pests is still inconclusive. We combined two complementary experiments to determine how variation in an assemblage of generalist arthropod predators modified the level of biocontrol services for suppression of a key aphid pest in cotton fields. Using generalized linear mixed effect models (GLMM) and path analysis, we clarified the causal relationship between predator/aphid ratios (PAR) and (1) the resulting biocontrol services index (BSI) and (2) the aphid population growth index (APGI) as seen in field predator exclusion trials. We also measured the effect of PAR on APGI in more commercial cotton fields. Our results, at landscape level, indicate that when PAR values increased one unit, BSI values improved 34.1 %, and reduced aphid population growth 28.3 % (the standardized effect coefficient in path analysis) during two weeks in field cage-exclusion trials. The effect of high predator/aphid ratios on reducing the aphid population growth rates was also significant in more commercial cotton fields, which were sampled over a longer time interval (4 weeks). Our study confirmed that there was a causal relationship between the natural enemy/pest ratio and the level of biological pest control services for predators and aphid population growth in crop fields. PAR values (predator/aphid ratios) can, therefore, be used to predict the level of biocontrol services in this context instead of relying on more labor-intensive cage exclusion studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 109319"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2024-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142417609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}