scholarly journals Short Communication: Landscape composition alters parasitoid wasps but not their host diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tazkiyatul Syahidah ◽  
AKHMAD RIZALI ◽  
LILIK B. PRASETYO ◽  
PUDJIANTO ◽  
DAMAYANTI BUCHORI
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Host Diversity ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Lepidopteran Larvae

Abstract. Syahidah T, Rizali A, Prasetyo LB, Pudjianto, Buchori D. 2020. Short Communication: Landscape composition alters parasitoid wasps but not their host diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes. Biodiversitas 21: 1702-1706. The diversity of parasitoid wasps and their hosts in an agricultural landscape is affected by crop management and habitat conditions around crop fields. The composition of agricultural landscapes that are dominated by non-crop or natural habitats are assumed to be able to support the presence of parasitoid wasps as biological control of pests. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of landscape composition on the diversity of parasitoid wasps and their hosts in agricultural landscapes. The research observations were conducted on six fields of long-bean cultivation located in Bogor District, West Java Province, Indonesia. Parasitoid wasps were collected by hand-collecting of their hosts (lepidopteran larvae) within 60 m distance transect to each long-bean field. In total, 17 species of parasitoid wasps and 12 species of lepidopteran larvae were found from all agricultural landscapes. A parasitoid wasp, Microplitis manilae was found in all long-bean fields (except Bantarjaya) and only parasitized the tobacco cutworm (Spodoptera litura). The tomato looper, Chrysodeixis chalcites had the highest associated parasitoids and was also parasitized by Braconidae sp5 which was also a parasitoid of S. litura. Based on the analysis results, the patch numbers of natural habitats had a positive effect on the diversity of parasitoid wasps and had no effect on the diversity of lepidopteran larvae. In conclusion, landscape compositions with patchy natural habitats have an important role to preserve beneficial insects and maintain ecosystem services in tropical agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Predation on Drosophila suzukii within Hedges in the Agricultural Landscape

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Alexandra Siffert ◽  
Fabian Cahenzli ◽  
Patrik Kehrli ◽  
Claudia Daniel ◽  
Virginie Dekumbis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Gut Content ◽  
Drosophila Suzukii ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Host Fruit ◽  
Molecular Gut Content Analysis ◽  
Wild Fruits ◽  
Diverse Community

The invasive Drosophila suzukii feeds and reproduces on various cultivated and wild fruits and moves between agricultural and semi-natural habitats. Hedges in agricultural landscapes play a vital role in the population development of D. suzukii, but also harbor a diverse community of natural enemies. We investigated predation by repeatedly exposing cohorts of D. suzukii pupae between June and October in dry and humid hedges at five different locations in Switzerland. We sampled predator communities and analyzed their gut content for the presence of D. suzukii DNA based on the COI marker. On average, 44% of the exposed pupae were predated. Predation was higher in dry than humid hedges, but did not differ significantly between pupae exposed on the ground or on branches and among sampling periods. Earwigs, spiders, and ants were the dominant predators. Predator communities did not vary significantly between hedge types or sampling periods. DNA of D. suzukii was detected in 3.4% of the earwigs, 1.8% of the spiders, and in one predatory bug (1.6%). While the molecular gut content analysis detected only a small proportion of predators that had fed on D. suzukii, overall predation seemed sufficient to reduce D. suzukii populations, in particular in hedges that provide few host fruit resources.

scholarly journals Apomictic parthenogenesis in a parasitoid waspMeteorus pulchricornis, uncommon in the haplodiploid order Hymenoptera

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Tsutsui ◽  
K. Maeto ◽  
K. Hamaguchi ◽  
Y. Isaki ◽  
Y. Takami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Parasitoid Wasps ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Insect Order ◽  
Egg Maturation ◽  
Polar Bodies ◽  
Lepidopteran Larvae ◽  
Apomictic Parthenogenesis ◽  
Meteorus Pulchricornis ◽  
New Type

AbstractAlthough apomixis is the most common form of parthenogenesis in diplodiploid arthropods, it is uncommon in the haplodiploid insect order Hymenoptera. We found a new type of spontaneous apomixis in the Hymenoptera, completely lacking meiosis and the expulsion of polar bodies in egg maturation division, on the thelytokous strain of a parasitoid waspMeteorus pulchricornis(Wesmael) (Braconidae, Euphorinae) on pest lepidopteran larvaeSpodoptera litura(Fabricius) (Noctuidae). The absence of the meiotic process was consistent with a non-segregation pattern in the offspring of heterozygous females, and no positive evidence was obtained for the induction of thelytoky by any bacterial symbionts. We discuss the conditions that enable the occurrence of such rare cases of apomictic thelytoky in the Hymenoptera, suggesting the significance of fixed heterosis caused by hybridization or polyploidization, symbiosis with bacterial agents, and occasional sex. Our finding will encourage further genetic studies on parasitoid wasps to use asexual lines more wisely for biological control.

scholarly journals More pests but less treatments: ambivalent effect of landscape complexity on Conservation Biological Control

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Zamberletti ◽  
Khadija Sabir ◽  
Thomas Opitz ◽  
Olivier Bonnefon ◽  
Edith Gabriel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Conservation Biological Control ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Predator Population ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Landscape Complexity ◽  
Spatio Temporal

AbstractIn agricultural landscapes, the amount and organization of crops and semi-natural habitats (SNH) have the potential to promote a bundle of ecosystem services due to their influence on ecological community at multiple spatio-temporal scales. SNH are relatively undisturbed and are often source of complementary resources and refuges, supporting more diverse and abundant natural pest enemies. However, the nexus of SNH proportion and organization with pest suppression is not trivial. It is thus crucial to understand how the behavior of pest and auxiliary species, the underlying landscape structure, and their interaction may influence conservation biological control (CBC). Here, we develop a generative stochastic landscape model to simulate realistic agricultural landscape compositions and configurations of fields and linear elements. Generated landscapes are used as spatial support over which we simulate a spatially explicit predator-prey dynamic model. We find that SNH boost predator population, but predator movement from hedges to fields is fundamental for an efficient pest regulation by auxiliaries and to decrease pesticide treatments. Moreover landscape elements may lead to different effects on pest reduction depending on the considered scale. Integration of species behaviors and traits with landscape structure at multiple scales are needed to provide useful insights for CBC.

scholarly journals Agricultural Landscape Composition Linked with Acoustic Measures of Avian Diversity

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Adam P. Dixon ◽  
Matthew E. Baker ◽  
Erle C. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Landscape Patterns ◽  
Landscape Configuration ◽  
High Resolution Mapping ◽  
Resolution Mapping

Measuring, monitoring, and managing biodiversity across agricultural regions depends on methods that can combine high-resolution mapping of landscape patterns with local biodiversity observations. This study explores the potential to monitor biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by linking high-resolution remote sensing with passive acoustic monitoring. Land cover maps produced using a small unmanned aerial system (UAS) and PlanetScope (PS) satellite imagery were used to investigate relationships between landscape patterns and an acoustically derived biodiversity index (vocalizing bird species richness) across 12 agricultural sample locations equipped with acoustic recorders in Iowa, USA during the 2018 growing season. Statistical assessment revealed a significant direct association between vocalizing bird richness and percent noncrop vegetation cover. High spatial resolution (1 m) UAS mapping produced stronger statistical associations than PS-based maps (3 m) for landscape composition metrics. Landscape configuration metrics (Shannon’s diversity index, contagion, perimeter-area-ratio, and circumscribing circle index) were either cross-correlated with composition metrics or unusable owing to complete landscape homogeneity in some agricultural landscape samples. This study shows that high resolution mapping of noncrop vegetation cover can be linked with acoustic monitoring of unique bird vocalizations to provide a useful indicator of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Apiformes) in the Agricultural Landscape of Bulgaria: Species Diversity

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Józef Banaszak ◽  
Bojana Dochkova
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Brassica Napus ◽  
Raphanus Sativus ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Forage Plants ◽  
Dominance Structure ◽  
Bee Communities

Abstract Wild bees (Apiformes) were studied in 4 crop fields and 8 refuge habitats for 2 - 5 years in agricultural landscapes in the Pleven and Plovdiv regions of Bulgaria. In total, 233 bee species were recorded. Bee forage plants visited by the honey bee and wild Apiformes are listed for each refuge habitat. Species composition is given for individual habitats, including fields of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), oilseed rape (Brassica napus), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and radish (Raphanus sativus). Species richness and dominance structure of bee communities in the 2 regions are compared, and species responsible for significant differences are identified.

The Bee Community of Cannabis sativa and Corresponding Effects of Landscape Composition

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-202
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Ryan Flicker ◽  
Katja Poveda ◽  
Heather Grab
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Cannabis Sativa ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Flowering Phenology ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Pollination Services

Abstract Industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa (Cannabaceae), is a newly introduced and rapidly expanding crop in the American agricultural landscape. As an exclusively wind-pollinated crop, hemp lacks nectar but produces an abundance of pollen during a period of floral dearth in agricultural landscapes. These pollen resources are attractive to a range of bee species but the diversity of floral visitors and their use of hemp across a range of agricultural contexts remains unclear. We made repeated sweep net collections of bees visiting hemp flowers on farms in New York, which varied in both landscape context and phenotypic traits of hemp varieties. We identified all bee visitors to the species level and found that hemp supported 16 different bee species. Landscape simplification negatively impacted the abundance of bees visiting hemp flowers but did not affect the species richness of the community. Plant height, on the other hand, was strongly correlated with bee species richness and abundance for hemp plots with taller varieties attracting a broader diversity of bee species. Because of its temporally unique flowering phenology, hemp has the potential to provide a critical nutritional resource to a diverse community of bees during a period of floral scarcity and thereby may help to sustain agroecosystem-wide pollination services for other crops in the landscape. As cultivation of hemp increases, growers, land managers, and policy makers should consider its value in supporting bee communities and take its attractiveness to bees into account when developing pest management strategies.

scholarly journals More pests but less pesticide applications: Ambivalent effect of landscape complexity on conservation biological control

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. e1009559
Author(s):  
Patrizia Zamberletti ◽  
Khadija Sabir ◽  
Thomas Opitz ◽  
Olivier Bonnefon ◽  
Edith Gabriel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Conservation Biological Control ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Linear Elements ◽  
Pest Density

In agricultural landscapes, the amount and organization of crops and semi-natural habitats (SNH) have the potential to promote a bundle of ecosystem services due to their influence on ecological community at multiple spatio-temporal scales. SNH are relatively undisturbed and are often source of complementary resources and refuges, therefore supporting more diverse and abundant natural pest enemies. However, the nexus of SNH proportion and organization with pest suppression is not trivial. It is thus crucial to understand how the behavior of pest and natural enemy species, the underlying landscape structure, and their interaction, may influence conservation biological control (CBC). Here, we develop a generative stochastic landscape model to simulate realistic agricultural landscape compositions and configurations of fields and linear elements. Generated landscapes are used as spatial support over which we simulate a spatially explicit predator-prey dynamic model. We find that increased SNH presence boosts predator populations by sustaining high predator density that regulates and keeps pest density below the pesticide application threshold. However, predator presence over all the landscape helps to stabilize the pest population by keeping it under this threshold, which tends to increase pest density at the landscape scale. In addition, the joint effect of SNH presence and predator dispersal ability among hedge and field interface results in a stronger pest regulation, which also limits pest growth. Considering properties of both fields and linear elements, such as local structure and geometric features, provides deeper insights for pest regulation; for example, hedge presence at crop field boundaries clearly strengthens CBC. Our results highlight that the integration of species behaviors and traits with landscape structure at multiple scales is necessary to provide useful insights for CBC.

scholarly journals Hedgerows Have a Barrier Effect and Channel Pollinator Movement in the Agricultural Landscape

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Klaus ◽  
Julia Bass ◽  
Lisa Marholt ◽  
Birte Müller ◽  
Björn Klatt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Pollen Dispersal ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Fluorescent Dye ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Landscape Elements ◽  
Mobile Species ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Linear Landscape Elements

Abstract Agricultural intensification and the subsequent fragmentation of semi-natural habitats severely restrict pollinator and pollen movement threatening both pollinator and plant species. Linear landscape elements such as hedgerows are planted for agricultural and conservation purposes to increase the resource availability and habitat connectivity supporting populations of beneficial organisms such as pollinators. However, hedgerows may have unexpected effects on plant and pollinator persistence by not just channeling pollinators and pollen along, but also restricting movement across the strip of habitat. Here, we tested how hedgerows influence pollinator movement and pollen flow. We used fluorescent dye particles as pollen analogues to track pollinator movement between potted cornflowers Centaurea cyanus along and across a hedgerow separating two meadows. The deposition of fluorescent dye was significantly higher along the hedgerow than across the hedgerow and into the meadow, despite comparable pollinator abundances. The differences in pollen transfer suggest that hedgerows can affect pollinator and pollen dispersal by channeling their movement and acting as a permeable barrier. We conclude that hedgerows in agricultural landscapes can increase the connectivity between otherwise isolated plant and pollinator populations (corridor function), but can have additional, and so far unknown barrier effects on pollination services. Functioning as a barrier, linear landscape elements can impede pollinator movement and dispersal, even for highly mobile species such as bees. These results should be considered in future management plans aiming to enhance the persistence of threatened pollinator and plant populations by restoring functional connectivity and to ensure sufficient crop pollination in the agricultural landscape.

scholarly journals Conserving predators across agricultural landscapes in Colombia: habitat use and space partitioning by jaguars, pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis

Oryx ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Boron ◽  
Panteleimon Xofis ◽  
Andres Link ◽  
Esteban Payan ◽  
Joseph Tzanopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Space Partitioning ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Felid Species

AbstractLoss and degradation of natural habitats continue to increase across the tropics as a result of agricultural expansion. Consequently, there is an urgent need to understand their effects, and the distribution and habitat requirements of wildlife within human-modified landscapes, to support the conservation of threatened species, such as felids. We combined camera trapping and land cover data into occupancy models to study the habitat use and space partitioning by four sympatric felid species in an agricultural landscape in Colombia. Land use in the area includes cattle ranching and oil palm cultivation, the latter being an emerging land use type in the Neotropics. Factors determining species occupancy were the presence of wetlands for jaguars (positive effect); water proximity for pumas (positive effect); and presence of pastures for ocelots and jaguarundis (negative effect). Only ocelots were occasionally recorded in oil palm areas. Our results suggest that to align development with the conservation of top predators it is crucial to maintain areas of forest and wetland across agricultural landscapes and to restrict agricultural and oil palm expansion to modified areas such as pastures, which are of limited conservation value. Because there is no spatial segregation between the felid species we studied, conservation strategies that benefit all of them are possible even in modified landscapes.

scholarly journals The Relict Ecosystem of Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea in an Agricultural Landscape: Past, Present and Future Scenarios

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Antonio J. Mendoza-Fernández ◽  
Fabián Martínez-Hernández ◽  
Esteban Salmerón-Sánchez ◽  
Francisco J. Pérez-García ◽  
Blas Teruel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Maytenus Senegalensis

Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea is a shrub belonging to the Celastraceae family, whose only European populations are distributed discontinuously along the south-eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, forming plant communities with great ecological value, unique in Europe. As it is an endangered species that makes up plant communities with great palaeoecological significance, the development of species distribution models is of major interest under different climatic scenarios, past, present and future, based on the fact that the climate could play a relevant role in the distribution of this species, as well as in the conformation of the communities in which it is integrated. Palaeoecological models were generated for the Maximum Interglacial, Last Maximum Glacial and Middle Holocene periods. The results obtained showed that the widest distribution of this species, and the maximum suitability of its habitat, occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum, when the temperatures of the peninsular southeast were not as contrasting as those of the rest of the European continent and were favored by higher rainfall. Under these conditions, large territories could act as shelters during the glacial period, a hypothesis reflected in the model’s results for this period, which exhibit a further expansion of M. europaea’s ecological niche. The future projection of models in around 2070, for four Representative Concentration Pathways according to the fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, showed that the most favorable areas for this species would be Campo de Dalías (southern portion of Almería province) as it presents the bioclimatic characteristics of greater adjustment to M. europaea’s ecological niche model. Currently, some of the largest specimens of the species survive in the agricultural landscapes in the southern Spain. These areas are almost totally destroyed and heavily altered by intensive agriculture greenhouses, also causing a severe fragmentation of the habitat, which implies a prospective extinction scenario in the near future.

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