The effects of plant diversity and insect herbivory on performance of individual plant species in experimental grassland

2006 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 922-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPH SCHERBER ◽  
ALEXANDRU MILCU ◽  
STEPHAN PARTSCH ◽  
STEFAN SCHEU ◽  
WOLFGANG W. WEISSER
HortScience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 511B-511
Author(s):  
Jason Walker ◽  
John S. Caldwell ◽  
Robert H. Jones

To assess the value of uncultivated vegetation for control of cucumber beetles, populations of striped (Acalymma vittatum Fabr.), spotted (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber), and western cucumber beetles (Acalymma trivittatum Mann.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and natural enemy Diptera flies (as an indicator of Celatoria spp. parasitoids), Pennsylvania leatherwings (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus DeGeer) (Coleoptera: Cantharidae), lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Hymenoptera wasps, and spiders were monitored with sticky traps on 50-m transects running through a field of Cucumis sativa L. `Arkansas Littleleaf' into bordering uncultivated vegetation. Plant species composition was determined in square plots around each sticky trap by estimating total plant cover and height distribution of plants from 0 to 1.0 m. In both years, numbers of cucumber beetles increased and numbers of Diptera decreased towards the crop. These trends increased monthly to peaks in Aug. 1995 (0.3 to 6.0 striped cucumber beetles; 40.0 to 15.3 Diptera) and July in 1996 (0.1 to 7.1 striped cucumber beetles; 46.7 to 15.5 Diptera). Abundance of individual plant species contributed more to maximum R2 regression of insect populations than did measures of plant diversity in sampling squares. Diptera were negatively correlated with sweet-vernal grass (r = –0.65 at 0 m) and wild rose (r = –0.62 at 0.5 m) in 1995, and goldenrod (r = –0.31, –0.59, and –0.53 at 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 m, respectively) in 1996, but positively correlated with wild violets (Viola spp.) (r = +0.38 at 0 m) in 1996. Cucumber beetles were negatively correlated with wild violets (r = –0.30 at 0 m) and white clover (Trifolium repens) (r = –0.37 at 0 m) in 1996. These results suggest that increasing or decreasing specific plants in uncultivated vegetation might be useful for influencing pest and beneficial insect populations in cucurbit production.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 534
Author(s):  
Pavel Samec ◽  
Jiří Volánek ◽  
Miloš Kučera ◽  
Pavel Cudlín

Plant distribution is most closely associated with the abiotic environment. The abiotic environment affects plant species’ abundancy unevenly. The asymmetry is further deviated by human interventions. Contrarily, soil properties preserve environmental influences from the anthropogenic perturbations. The study examined the supra-regional similarities of soil effects on plant species’ abundance in temperate forests to determine: (i) spatial relationships between soil property and forest-plant diversity among geographical regions; (ii) whether the spatial dependencies among compared forest-diversity components are influenced by natural forest representation. The spatial dependence was assessed using geographically weighted regression (GWR) of soil properties and plant species abundance from forest stands among 91 biogeographical regions in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). Regional soil properties and plant species abundance were acquired from 7550 national forest inventory plots positioned in a 4 × 4 km grid. The effect of natural forests was assessed using linear regression between the sums of squared GWR residues and protected forest distribution in the regions. Total diversity of forest plants is significantly dependent on soil-group representation. The soil-group effect is more significant than that of bedrock bodies, most of all in biogeographical regions with protected forest representation >50%. Effects of soil chemical properties were not affected by protected forest distribution. Spatial dependency analysis separated biogeographical regions of optimal forest plant diversity from those where inadequate forest-ecosystem diversity should be increased alongside soil diversity.


Nematology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Viketoft

AbstractThis study describes the nematode community in a semi-natural grassland and investigates if certain individual plant species can cause a spatial structure in the nematode fauna. Nematode communities were analysed in soil under Trifolium repens, Festuca ovina and from randomly taken samples. Seventy-nine nematode genera were identified. Some of the species found have not previously been reported from Sweden. Multivariate analysis separated the nematode communities associated with the two selected plant species from each other, and several individual nematode genera differed in abundance between the plant species. Trifolium repens supported greater populations of the plant feeder Tylenchorhynchus and the bacterial feeders Eucephalobus, Chiloplacus, Eumonhystera and Panagrolaimus, but fewer numbers of the bacterial feeder Achromadora. Soil under F. ovina contained more nematodes from the family Alaimidae. A comparison is given with other studies from grassland systems in Sweden.


Check List ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gh. Hassan Dar ◽  
Akhtar H. Malik ◽  
Anzar A. Khuroo

The current paper provides a taxonomic inventory of the vascular plant species collected by the authors during the last two decades from the Rajouri and Poonch districts, located along the Pir Panjal range in the Indian Himalayan State of Jammu and Kashmir. The inventory records a total of 352 species, which belong to 270 genera in 83 families. Of the total taxa, the angiosperms are represented by 331 species in 253 genera and 77 families; gymnosperms by 12 species in 9 genera and 3 families; and pteridophytes by 9 species in 7 genera and 3 families. Asteraceae is the largest family, contributing 42 species; while Artemisia is the largest genus, with 5 species. The inventory is expected to provide baseline scientific data for further studies on plant diversity in these two border districts, and can be used to facilitate the long-term conservation and sustainable use of plant resources in this Himalayan region.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
FABIO ANGEOLETTO ◽  
JUAN PEDRO RUIZ SANZ ◽  
RICARDO MASSULO ALBERTIN ◽  
FREDERICO FONSECA DA SILVA

Abstract Home gardens have considerable biodiversity conservation potential. However, these spaces are unplanned, and there is little information about the flora diversity in the backyards of different social classes. The current study has quantified and compared plant diversity in the backyards of two neighborhoods located in the metropolitan region of Maringá - RMM (Paraná, Brazil), namely, Conjunto Triangulo and Zona 02. The diversity patterns were markedly different when the neighborhoods were compared. Therefore the present study has set some planning guidelines aiming at increasing the presence of woody vegetation, as well as at contributing to biodiversity conservation, including the conservation of endangered plant species, in the backyards of the RMM.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keshab Shrestha

Lying at western corner of the Kathmandu city, the Swoyambhu hillock (1403.76m) represents a surviving pristine forest in the metropolitan capital of Nepal. Once an extension of Jamaca (2096m) with luxuriant sub-tropical forest is now invaded by dense human population and other developmental activities. This hillock is still rich with a total plant species of 319. Of them, 65 are trees, 43 shrubs, 194 herbs and 17 climbers. Northern slope of the hillock is rich in tree species with scattered patches of under-growing bushes and ferns, whereas southern, western and eastern slopes are much disturbed with exotic species of plants, creating challenges to the norms of the heritage standard. Domination by Pinus roxburghii (chire pine) and Eucalyptus, Jacaranda and Callistemon, etc are altering the indigenous nature of the hillock. And also the forested hillock has been randomly utilized for refreshment, yoga, ayurbedic remedy and food. Due to growing constructions and exploitations, the forested hillock is now facing a threat to maintain its pristine ecosystem. <i>Nepal Journal of Science and Technology</i> Vol. 7, 2006


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel K. N’Woueni ◽  
Orou G. Gaoue

AbstractThe conversion of natural systems into farms and agroecosystems is the main cause of biodiversity loss. In human-dominated landscapes, understanding the interactions between agroforestry systems and adjacent natural vegetation is fundamental to developing sustainable agricultural systems. Species can move between these two systems with natural systems providing the regional pool of species that shape the agricultural values and conservation value of the agroforestry systems. We investigated the influence of neighboring natural habitats on traditional agroforestry systems in the buffer zone of Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in Benin to understand the contribution of regional processes on the quality of agroforestry systems. We expected that agroforestry parklands adjacent to natural vegetation with high species diversity will also have higher plant species diversity. We found no similarity in plant species composition between agroforestry systems and adjacent natural habitats. A small proportion of species in adjacent natural habitats were found in agroforestry systems. The proportion of shared species was not significantly influenced by plant diversity in adjacent natural habitats or the distance from the agroforestry systems to the natural adjacent habitat. However, plant diversity in agroforestry systems was strongly associated with site ethnobotanical values indicating that farmers act as a supplemental but severe environmental filter of the regional species pool. Our study suggests that promoting the plantation of plants with high ethnobotanical use-value is a potentially viable strategy for sustainable agriculture and ecological restoration in Biosphere reserves.


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