Crop Diversity at the Landscape Level Affects the Composition and Structure of the Vegetation-Dwelling Arthropod Communities in Naked Oat (Avena Chinensis) Fields.

Huan Zhao,Jiahuan Li,Kun Wang,Lizhu Guo

doi:10.3390/ijerph18010030

Abstract

The expansion of agriculture and intensive mechanized production have resulted in the loss of habitats and biodiversity, which has led to the loss of ecological services such as the biological control of pests and diseases, and insect-borne pollination. Current studies mainly focus on the impact of small-scale crop diversity (such as intercropping) on ecological service but lack research on the effects of crop diversity at the landscape scale. In this study, vegetation-dwelling arthropods in naked oat (Avena chinensis) fields under different planting patterns were collected at different growth stages by standardized sweep netting sampling, and the differences in arthropod communities and temporal dynamics were analyzed. Taking this information as an example, the effects of crop diversity at the landscape scale caused by different planting patterns on arthropod communities were studied. It was found that herbivores were the most abundant functional group in the arthropod community in naked oat fields, accounting for 70.13% of the total abundance, followed by natural enemies, accounting for 23.45%, and, finally, other insects. The abundance and species richness of natural enemies in naked oat fields under diversified planting pattern were significantly higher than those under intensive planting pattern, while the abundance and species richness of herbivorous pests showed no significant difference between the two planting patterns. Planting patterns significantly affected the composition and structure of arthropod communities in naked oat fields. Significantly higher ratio of natural enemy to pest and more diverse natural enemies under the diversified planting pattern have shown better biological control potential and the significance of biodiversity protection.

Highlights

Agricultural land is the most important land use mode on the earth, accounting for40% of the surface of nonfrozen land and providing an important source of food for human survival [1]
In terms of functional groups, there were 23 families of herbivores, accounting for 70.13% of the total arthropods, which was the main component of the arthropod community in naked oat fields
The greater abundance of vegetation-dwelling arthropods in naked oat fields under diversified planting pattern mainly consists of winged arthropods, because our study found that winged arthropods in naked oat fields under diversified planting pattern were significantly higher than those under intensive planting pattern (p < 0.001, Table 1), while wingless arthropods showed no significant difference between the two planting patterns (p = 0.557, Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural land is the most important land use mode on the earth, accounting for40% of the surface of nonfrozen land and providing an important source of food for human survival [1]. Numerous studies [2,4,5,6,7] have shown that agricultural intensification results in the reduction of natural enemies’ abundance and species richness, leading to the reduction of associated ecological services such as biological pest control, and the increased use of pesticides [8]. The loss of these ecosystem services is often thought to be related to the decline in biodiversity, and, over the past half century, the expansion and intensification of agriculture has led to the loss of habitats and biodiversity [1,3]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion