Details
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Aufsatznummer | 8664 |
| Fachzeitschrift | Scientific Reports |
| Jahrgang | 9 |
| Ausgabenummer | 1 |
| Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 17 Dez. 2019 |
| Extern publiziert | Ja |
Abstract
Biological pest control by natural enemies is an important component of sustainable crop production. Among biological control approaches, natural enemy augmentation is an effective alternative when naturally occurring enemies are not sufficiently abundant or effective. However, it remains unknown whether the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol varies along gradients of landscape composition, and how the interactions with resident enemies may modulate the collective impact on pest suppression. By combining field and lab experiments, we evaluated how landscape composition influenced the effectiveness of predator augmentation, and the consequences on pest abundance, plant damage, and crop biomass. We show for the first time that the effectiveness of predator augmentation is landscape-dependent. In complex landscapes, with less cropland area, predator augmentation increased predation rates, reduced pest abundance and plant damage, and increased crop biomass. By contrast, predator releases in simple landscapes had a negative effect on pest control, increasing plant damage and reducing crop biomass. Results from the lab experiment further suggested that landscape simplification can lead to greater interference among predators, causing a decrease in predator foraging efficiency. Our results indicate that landscape composition influence the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol by modulating interactions between the introduced predators and the local enemy community.
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in: Scientific Reports, Jahrgang 9, Nr. 1, 8664, 17.12.2019.
Publikation: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift › Artikel › Forschung › Peer-Review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of augmentative biological control depends on landscape context
AU - Perez-Alvarez , Ricardo
AU - Nault , Brian A.
AU - Poveda , Katja
N1 - Funding Information: We thank J. Thaler, L. Snyder, and two anonymous reviewers for comments that greatly improved this manuscript. This research was supported by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station federal capacity funds to K.P., Project No. NYC1397485 received from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA,) United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
PY - 2019/12/17
Y1 - 2019/12/17
N2 - Biological pest control by natural enemies is an important component of sustainable crop production. Among biological control approaches, natural enemy augmentation is an effective alternative when naturally occurring enemies are not sufficiently abundant or effective. However, it remains unknown whether the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol varies along gradients of landscape composition, and how the interactions with resident enemies may modulate the collective impact on pest suppression. By combining field and lab experiments, we evaluated how landscape composition influenced the effectiveness of predator augmentation, and the consequences on pest abundance, plant damage, and crop biomass. We show for the first time that the effectiveness of predator augmentation is landscape-dependent. In complex landscapes, with less cropland area, predator augmentation increased predation rates, reduced pest abundance and plant damage, and increased crop biomass. By contrast, predator releases in simple landscapes had a negative effect on pest control, increasing plant damage and reducing crop biomass. Results from the lab experiment further suggested that landscape simplification can lead to greater interference among predators, causing a decrease in predator foraging efficiency. Our results indicate that landscape composition influence the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol by modulating interactions between the introduced predators and the local enemy community.
AB - Biological pest control by natural enemies is an important component of sustainable crop production. Among biological control approaches, natural enemy augmentation is an effective alternative when naturally occurring enemies are not sufficiently abundant or effective. However, it remains unknown whether the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol varies along gradients of landscape composition, and how the interactions with resident enemies may modulate the collective impact on pest suppression. By combining field and lab experiments, we evaluated how landscape composition influenced the effectiveness of predator augmentation, and the consequences on pest abundance, plant damage, and crop biomass. We show for the first time that the effectiveness of predator augmentation is landscape-dependent. In complex landscapes, with less cropland area, predator augmentation increased predation rates, reduced pest abundance and plant damage, and increased crop biomass. By contrast, predator releases in simple landscapes had a negative effect on pest control, increasing plant damage and reducing crop biomass. Results from the lab experiment further suggested that landscape simplification can lead to greater interference among predators, causing a decrease in predator foraging efficiency. Our results indicate that landscape composition influence the effectiveness of augmentative biocontrol by modulating interactions between the introduced predators and the local enemy community.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067476632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-45041-1
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-45041-1
M3 - Article
VL - 9
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
IS - 1
M1 - 8664
ER -