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Organic farming affects the biological control of hemipteran pests and yields in spring barley independent of landscape complexity

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Abstract

Context

Hemipteran pests cause significant yield losses in European cereal fields. It has been suggested that local management interventions to promote natural enemies are most successful in simple landscapes that are dominated by large arable fields.

Objectives

We study how farming category (conventional, new and old organic fields) and landscape complexity affect pests, natural enemies and biological control services in spring barley. We further analyse if yields are related to pest infestation or biological control services.

Methods

The amount of pasture and the length of field borders were used to define landscape complexity around barley fields in Southern Sweden. Arthropods were sampled with an insect suction sampler and predation and parasitism services were estimated by field observations and inspections of pest individuals.

Results

Pest infestation was affected by landscape complexity, with higher aphid, but lower leafhopper numbers in more complex landscapes. Aphid predation was higher under organic farming and affected by effects on predator abundance and community composition independent of landscape complexity. Auchenorrhyncha parasitism was neither significantly affected by landscape complexity nor by farming category. Higher aphid predation rates and lower aphid densities were characteristic for organically managed fields with higher barley yields.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that it is possible to increase both aphid biological control services and barley yield via local management effects on predator communities independent of landscape complexity. However, the success of such management practices is highly dependent on the pest and natural enemy taxa and the nature of the trophic interaction.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to three anonymous referees that helped improving a previous version of the manuscript. We thank the farmers for letting us work on their fields and Herbert Nickel for the identification of leafhoppers. The project was financed by The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) and the Crafoordska Stiftelsen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, 22362, Lund, Sweden

    K. Birkhofer, F. Arvidsson & H. G. Smith

  2. Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany

    D. Ehlers

  3. Department of Animal Ecology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    V. L. Mader

  4. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ulls Väg 16, 75651, Uppsala, Sweden

    J. Bengtsson

  5. Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Sölvegatan 37, 22362, Lund, Sweden

    H. G. Smith

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  1. K. Birkhofer
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  3. D. Ehlers
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  4. V. L. Mader
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Correspondence to K. Birkhofer.

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Birkhofer, K., Arvidsson, F., Ehlers, D. et al. Organic farming affects the biological control of hemipteran pests and yields in spring barley independent of landscape complexity. Landscape Ecol 31, 567–579 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0263-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0263-8

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