Skip to main content

Local and landscape effects of agricultural intensification on Carabid community structure and weed seed predation in a perennial cropping system

Landscape Ecology volume 31, pages 2163–2174 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Context

The effects of agricultural intensification on service-providing communities remain poorly studied in perennial cropping systems. However, such systems differ greatly from annual cropping systems in terms of spatio-temporal dynamics and levels of disturbance. Identifying how land use changes at different scales affect communities and ecosystem services in those habitats is of major importance.

Objectives

Our objectives were to examine the effects of local and landscape agricultural intensification on ground beetle community structure and weed seed predation services.

Methods

We examined the effects of local vegetation management and landscape context on ground beetle community structure and weed seed predation in 20 vineyards of southwestern France in 2013 and 2014. Vineyards were selected along a landscape complexity gradient and experienced different management of local vegetation.

Results

The activity-density of ground beetles decreased with increasing landscape complexity while species richness and evenness remained unchanged. Phytophagous and macropterous species dominated ground beetle communities. Seed predation was positively related to the activity-density of one species, Harpalus dimidiatus, and was not affected by local management or landscape context. We found that within-year temporal diversity in ground beetle assemblages increased with landscape complexity.

Conclusions

Our study shows that increasing the proportion of semi-natural habitats in vineyard landscapes enhances the temporal diversity of ground beetles. However, we also found that measures targeting specific species delivering biological control services are a reasonable strategy if we are to maximize natural pest control services such as weed seed regulation to support crop production and reduce agrochemical use.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Baselga A (2010) Partitioning the turnover and nestedness components of beta diversity. Global Ecol Biogeogr 19:134–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baselga A, Orme CDL (2012) Betapart: an R package for the study of beta diversity. Methods Ecol Evol 3:808–812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batáry P, Báldi A, Kleijn D, Tscharntke T (2011) Landscape-moderated biodiversity effects of agri-environmental management: a meta-analysis. Proc R Soc B 278:1894–1902

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benton TG, Vickery JA, Wilson JD (2003) Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? Trends Ecol Evol 18:182–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi FJJA, Booij CJH, Tscharntke T (2006) Sustainable pest regulation in agricultural landscapes: a review on landscape composition, biodiversity and natural pest control. Proc R Soc B 273:1715–1727

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Blitzer EJ, Dormann CF, Holzschuh A, Klein A-M, Rand TA, Tscharntke T (2012) Spillover of functionally important organisms between managed and natural habitats. Agric Ecosyst Environ 146:34–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruggisser OT, Schmidt-Entling MH, Bacher S (2010) Effects of vineyard management on biodiversity at three trophic levels. Biol Conserv 143:1521–1528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butault JP, Dedryver CA, Gary C, Guichard L, Jacquet F, Meynard JM, Nicot P, Pitrat M, Reau R, Sauphanor B, Savini I, Volay T (2010) Synthèse du rapport d’étude Écophyto R&D quelles voies pour réduire l’usage des pesticides? INRA Editions

  • Cadotte MW, Carscadden K, Mirotchnick N (2011) Beyond species: functional diversity and the maintenance of ecological processes and services. J Appl Ecol 48:1079–1087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, Hooper DU, Perrings C, Venail P, Narwani A, Mace GM, Tilman D, Wardle DA, Kinzig AP, Daily GC, Loreau M, Grace JB, Larigauderie A, Srivastava DS, Naeem S (2012) Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 486:59–67

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chaplin-Kramer R, O’Rourke ME, Blitzer EJ, Kremen C (2011) A meta-analysis of crop pest and natural enemy response to landscape complexity. Ecol Lett 14:922–932

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Danne A, Thomson LJ, Sharley DJ, Penfold CM, Hoffmann AA (2010) Effects of native grass cover crops on beneficial and pest invertebrates in Australian vineyards. Environ Entomol 39:970–978

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eilers EJ, Klein AM (2009) Landscape context and management effects on an important insect pest and its natural enemies in almond. Biol Control 51:388–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier E, Cortez J, Billès G, Navas ML, Roumet C, Debussche M, Laurent G, Blanchard A, Aubry D, Bellmann A, Neill C, Toussaint JP (2004) Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession. Ecology 85:2630–2637

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickx F, Maelfait JP, Desender K, Aviron S, Bailey D, Diekotter T, Lens L, Liira J, Schweiger O, Speelmans M, Vandomme V, Bugter R (2009) Pervasive effects of dispersal limitation on within- and among-community species richness in agricultural landscapes. Global Ecol Biogeogr 18:607–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holland JM, Luff ML (2000) The effects of agricultural practices on Carabidae in temperate agroecosystems. Integr Pest Manag Rev 5:109–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeanneret P, Schüpbach B, Luka H (2003) Quantifying the impact of landscape and habitat features on biodiversity in cultivated landscapes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 98:311–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonason D, Smith HG, Bengtsson J, Birkhofer K (2013) Landscape simplification promotes weed seed predation by carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Landscape Ecol 28:487–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleijn D, Rundlöf M, Scheper J, Smith HG, Tscharntke T (2011) Does conservation on farmland contribute to halting the biodiversity decline? Trends Ecol Evol 26:474–481

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleijn D, Winfree R, Bartomeus I, Carvalheiro LG, Henry M, Isaacs R, Klein AM, Kremen C, M’Gonigle LK, Rader R, Ricketts TH, Williams NM, Lee Adamson N, Ascher JS, Báldi A, Batáry P, Benjamin F, Biesmeijer JC, Blitzer EJ, Bommarco R, Brand MR, Bretagnolle V, Button L, Cariveau DP, Chifflet R, Colville JF, Danforth BN, Elle E, Garratt MPD, Herzog F, Holzschuh A, Howlett BG, Jauker F, Jha S, Knop E, Krewenka KM, Le Féon V, Mandelik Y, May EA, Park MG, Pisanty G, Reemer M, Riedinger V, Rollin O, Rundlöf M, Sardiñas HS, Scheper J, Sciligo AR, Smith HG, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thorp R, Tscharntke T, Verhulst J, Viana BF, Vaissière BE, Veldtman R, Westphal C, Potts SG (2015) Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation. Nat Commun 6:7414

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kotze DJ, Brandmayr P, Casale A, Dauffy-Richard E, Dekoninck W, Koivula MJ, Lövei GL, Mossakowski D, Noordijk J, Paarmann W, Pizzolotto R, Saska P, Schwerk A, Serrano J, Szyszko J, Taboada A, Turin H, Venn S, Vermeulen R, Zetto T (2011) Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe—from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation. ZooKeys 100:55–148

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kulkarni SS, Dosdall LM, Willenborg CJ (2015) The role of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in weed seed consumption: a review. Weed Sci 63:335–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laliberté E, Legendre P, Shipley B (2014) FD: measuring functional diversity from multiple traits, and other tools for functional ecology. R package version 1.0-12

  • Laliberté E, Wells JA, DeClerck F, Metcalfe DJ, Catterall CP, Queiroz C, Aubin I, Bonser SP, Ding Y, Fraterrigo JM, McNamara S, Morgan JW, Merlos DS, Vesk PA, Mayfield MM (2010) Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities. Ecol Lett 13:76–86

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landis DA, Wratten SD, Gurr GM (2000) Habitat Management to conserve natural enemies of arthropod pests in agriculture. Annu Rev Entomol 45:175–201

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leps J, De Bello F, Lavorel S, Berman S (2006) Quantifying and interpreting functional diversity of natural communities: practical considerations matter. Preslia 78:481–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindroth CH (1985) The Carabidae (Coleoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark, vol 15, part 1. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, Leiden

  • Luff ML (1998) Provisional atlas of the ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Britain. Biological Records Centre, Huntingdon

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundgren JG (2009) Relationships of natural enemies and non-prey foods. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Maisonhaute JÉ, Peres-Neto P, Lucas É (2010) Influence of agronomic practices, local environment and landscape structure on predatory beetle assemblage. Agric Ecosyst Environ 139:500–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menalled FD, Marino PC, Renner KA, Landis DA (2000) Post-dispersal weed seed predation in Michigan crop fields as a function of agricultural landscape structure. Agric Ecosyst Environ 77:193–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menalled FD, Smith RG, Dauer JT, Fox TB (2007) Impact of agricultural management on carabid communities and weed seed predation. Agric Ecosyst Environ 118:49–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls CI, Parrella M, Altieri MA (2001) The effects of a vegetational corridor on the abundance and dispersal of insect biodiversity within a northern California organic vineyard. Landscape Ecol 16:133–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petit S, Boursault A, Guilloux ML, Munier-Jolain N, Reboud X (2010) Weeds in agricultural landscapes: a review. Agron Sustain Dev 31:309–317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purtauf T, Roschewitz I, Dauber J, Thies C, Tscharntke T, Wolters V (2005) Landscape context of organic and conventional farms: Influences on carabid beetle diversity. Agric Ecosyst Environ 108:165–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2015) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/

  • Rand TA, Tylianakis JM, Tscharntke T (2006) Spillover edge effects: the dispersal of agriculturally subsidized insect natural enemies into adjacent natural habitats. Ecol Lett 9:603–614

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson RA, Sutherland WJ (2002) Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain. J Appl Ecol 39:157–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roschewitz I, Thies C, Tscharntke T (2005) Are landscape complexity and farm specialisation related to land-use intensity of annual crop fields? Agric Ecosyst Environ 105:87–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roume A, Deconchat M, Raison L, Balent G, Ouin A (2011) Edge effects on ground beetles at the woodlot–field interface are short-range and asymmetrical. Agric Forest Entomol 13:395–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusch A, Birkhofer K, Bommarco R, Smith HG, Ekbom B (2014) Management intensity at field and landscape levels affects the structure of generalist predator communities. Oecologia 175:971–983

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rusch A, Birkhofer K, Bommarco R, Smith HG, Ekbom B (2015b) Predator body sizes and habitat preferences predict predation rates in an agroecosystem. Basic Appl Ecol 16:250–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusch A, Delbac L, Muneret L, Thiéry D (2015a) Organic farming and host density affect parasitism rates of tortricid moths in vineyards. Agric Ecosyst Environ 214:46–53

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusch A, Valantin-Morison M, Sarthou J, Roger-Estrade J (2010) Biological control of insect pests in agroecosystems: effects of crop management, farming systems and semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale. A review. Adv Agron 109:219–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanguankeo PP, León RG (2011) Weed management practices determine plant and arthropod diversity and seed predation in vineyards. Weed Res 51:404–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sattler T, Duelli P, Obrist MK, Arlettaz R, Moretti M (2010) Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management. Landscape Ecol 25:941–954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schellhorn NA, Gagic V, Bommarco R (2015) Time will tell: resource continuity bolsters ecosystem services. Trends Ecol Evol 30:524–530

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schweiger O, Maelfait JP, Van Wingerden W, Hendrickx F, Billeter R, Speelmans M, Augenstein I, Aukema B, Aviron S, Bailey D, Bukacek R, Burel F, Diekötter T, Dirksen J, Frenzel M, Herzog F, Liira J, Roubalova M, Bugter R (2005) Quantifying the impact of environmental factors on arthropod communities in agricultural landscapes across organizational levels and spatial scales. J Appl Ecol 42:1129–1139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoate C, Boatman ND, Borralho RJ, Carvalho CR, de Snoo GR, Eden P (2001) Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. J Environ Manag 63:337–365

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Symondson WOC, Sunderland KD, Greenstone MH (2002) Can generalist predators be effective biocontrol agents? Annu Rev Entomol 47:561–594

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thies C, Haenke S, Scherber C, Bengtsson J, Bommarco R, Clement LW, Ceryngier P, Dennis C, Emmerson M, Gagic V, Hawro V, Liira J, Weisser WW, Winqvist C, Tscharntke T (2011) The relationship between agricultural intensification and biological control: experimental tests across Europe. Ecol Appl 21:2187–2196

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson LJ, Hoffmann AA (2013) Spatial scale of benefits from adjacent woody vegetation on natural enemies within vineyards. Biol Control 64:57–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trichard A, Alignier A, Biju-Duval L, Petit S (2013) The relative effects of local management and landscape context on weed seed predation and carabid functional groups. Basic Appl Ecol 14:235–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trichard A, Ricci B, Ducourtieux C, Petit S (2014) The spatio-temporal distribution of weed seed predation differs between conservation agriculture and conventional tillage. Agric Ecosyst Environ 188:40–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivellone V, Paltrinieri LP, Jermini M, Moretti M (2012) Management pressure drives leafhopper communities in vineyards in Southern Switzerland. Insect Conserv Divers 5:75–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tscharntke T, Klein AM, Kruess A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thies C (2005) Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity—ecosystem service management. Ecol Lett 8:857–874

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tscharntke T, Tylianakis JM, Rand TA, Didham RK, Fahrig L, Batáry P, Bengtsson J, Clough Y, Crist TO, Dormann CF, Ewers RM, Fründ J, Holt RD, Holzschuh A, Klein AM, Kleijn D, Kremen C, Landis DA, Laurance W, Lindenmayer D, Scherber C, Sodhi N, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thies C, van der Putten WH, Westphal C (2012) Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes—eight hypotheses. Biol Rev 87:661–685

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tylianakis JM, Klein AM, Tscharntke T (2005) Spatiotemporal variation in the diversity of hymenoptera across a tropical habitat gradient. Ecology 86:3296–3302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westerman PR, Hofman A, Vet LEM, van der Werf W (2003) Relative importance of vertebrates and invertebrates in epigeaic weed seed predation in organic cereal fields. Agric Ecosyst Environ 95:417–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winfree R, Fox JW, Williams NM, Reilly JR, Cariveau DP (2015) Abundance of common species, not species richness, drives delivery of a real-world ecosystem service. Ecol Lett 18:626–635

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winqvist C, Bengtsson J, Aavik T, Berendse F, Clement LW, Eggers S, Fischer C, Flohre A, Geiger F, Liira J, Pärt T, Thies C, Tscharntke T, Weisser WW, Bommarco R (2011) Mixed effects of organic farming and landscape complexity on farmland biodiversity and biological control potential across Europe. J Appl Ecol 48:570–579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woltz JM, Isaacs R, Landis DA (2012) Landscape structure and habitat management differentially influence insect natural enemies in an agricultural landscape. Agric Ecosyst Environ 152:40–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodcock BA, Redhead J, Vanbergen AJ, Hulmes L, Hulmes S, Peyton J, Nowakowski M, Pywell RF, Heard MS (2010) Impact of habitat type and landscape structure on biomass, species richness and functional diversity of ground beetles. Agric Ecosyst Environ 139:181–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur A, Ieno EN, Walker N, Saveliev AA, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Aurore Sage, Benjamin Joubard, Alice Chéron and Emilie Vergnes for precious assistance during fieldwork. This research was funded by a grant from the CASDAR Biocontrol to AR and DT and by a Grant from INRA SPE to AR. This research was carried out within the cluster of excellence COTE (Continental to Coastal Ecosystems: Evolution, Adaptability and Governance).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, UMR1065 Santé et Agroécologie du Vignoble, 33883, Villenave d’Ornon, France

    Adrien Rusch, Delphine Binet, Lionel Delbac & Denis Thiéry

  2. Université de Bordeaux, ISVV, INRA UMR 1065 SAVE, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Ave E. Bourlaux, 33883, Villenave d’Ornon Cedex, France

    Adrien Rusch, Delphine Binet, Lionel Delbac & Denis Thiéry

Authors
  1. Adrien Rusch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Delphine Binet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lionel Delbac
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Denis Thiéry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adrien Rusch.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 3639 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rusch, A., Binet, D., Delbac, L. et al. Local and landscape effects of agricultural intensification on Carabid community structure and weed seed predation in a perennial cropping system. Landscape Ecol 31, 2163–2174 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0390-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0390-x

Keywords

  • Biological control
  • Carabidae
  • Ecological intensification
  • Functional diversity
  • Predators
  • Trophic interactions
  • Beta diversity
  • Species turnover