Abstract
Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) characterizes and dominates the sagebrush steppe, the largest temperate semi-desert ecosystem in North America. The beneficial arthropod fauna hosted by A. tridentata is poorly known but could be of importance to nearby agriculture seeking to exploit biologically-based pest management. Over four years, we identified and assessed the seasonal abundance of beneficial arthropods (predators, parasitoids, pollinators) associated with A. tridentata during spring to autumn in the Yakima Valley of central Washington using sticky traps. During 2011–2014, 207 sticky traps were placed on non-blooming and blooming A. tridentata plants for a total of 966 trapping days. Overall, across all seasons, we trapped 259.7 beneficial arthropods per trap and 92% of these were parasitoid wasps. Significantly greater numbers of beneficial arthropods were associated with blooming A. tridentata during autumn (410/trap) than non-blooming plants in the spring (181.3/trap) or summer (85.1/trap). Parasitoid wasps and predatory true bugs were most abundant during the autumn, but ladybeetles, lacewings, spiders, bees, and predatory thrips were most common during spring. The association of high numbers of predators, parasitoids, and pollinators with A. tridentata during blooming and non-blooming periods indicates that this plant is an important reservoir of beneficial arthropods in the sagebrush steppe of central Washington. Consequently, biologically-based pest management programs in central Washington may benefit from careful management and retention of A. tridentata plants on crop borders.
Highlights
Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nuttall) is a long-lived, widespread shrub that characterizes and dominates the shrub or sagebrush steppe, the largest temperate semi-desert ecosystem inNorth America [1,2]
This study identifies the major groups of beneficial arthropods in the Yakima Valley of central Washington that are associated with A. tridentata and provides data on their seasonal abundance
This study was conducted over four seasons (2011–2014) in central Washington by counting and identifying beneficial arthropods associated with big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.)
Summary
Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nuttall) is a long-lived, widespread shrub that characterizes and dominates the shrub or sagebrush steppe, the largest temperate semi-desert ecosystem inNorth America [1,2]. It occurs from southern British Columbia to northern Baja Mexico and from the Dakotas and Nebraska to Washington, Oregon, and California, its range has been greatly reduced and fragmented in recent decades [3]. The arthropod fauna of A. tridentata has been little studied, recent research in Idaho indicates that the assemblage is large and diverse [4,5,6]. Specific arthropod species or communities and dynamics on A. tridentata have been studied in Wyoming [7], California [8], Oregon [9], Utah [10,11], and Washington [12]. Numbers of arthropod species recorded on A. tridentata range from 106 to 232 in
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