Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis
Abstract: Natural pest and weed regulation are essential for agricultural production, but the spatial distribution of natural enemies within crop fields and its drivers are mostly unknown. Using 28 datasets comprising 1204 study sites across eight Western and Central European countries, we performed a quantitative synthesis of carabid richness, activity densities and functional traits in relation to field edges (i.e. distance functions). We show that distance functions of carabids strongly depend on carabid functional traits, crop type and, to a lesser extent, adjacent non-crop habitats. Richness of both carnivores and granivores, and activity densities of small and granivorous species decreased towards field interiors, whereas the densities of large species increased. We found strong distance decays in maize and vegetables whereas richness and densities remained more stable in cereals, oilseed crops and legumes. We conclude that carabid assemblages in agricultural landscapes are driven by the complex interplay of crop types, adjacent non-crop habitats and further landscape parameters with great potential for targeted agroecological management. In particular, our synthesis indicates that a higher edge-interior ratio can counter the distance decay of carabid richness per field and thus likely benefits natural pest and weed regulation, hence contributing to agricultural sustainability.
Authors: Fabian A. Boetzl, Douglas Sponsler, Matthias Albrecht, Péter Batáry, Klaus Birkhofer, Michal Knapp, Jochen Krauss, Bea Maas, Emily A. Martin, Clélia Sirami, Louis Sutter, Colette Bertrand, Aliette Bosem Baillod, Gerard Bota, Vincent Bretagnolle, Lluís Brotons, Thomas Frank, Moritz Fusser, David Giralt, Ezequiel González, Anouschka R. Hof, Henryk Luka, Ronan Marrec, Michael A. Nash, Katherina Ng, Manuel Plantegenest, Brigitte Poulin, Gavin M. Siriwardena, Teja Tscharntke, Matthias Tschumi, Aude Vialatte, Laura Van Vooren, Muhammad Zubair-Anjum, Martin H. Entling, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Jens Schirmel
Institutions: University of Würzburg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Agroscope, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, University of Vienna, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Université de Toulouse, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Écologie Fonctionnelle et Écotoxicologie des Agroécosystèmes, Forschungsinstitut für Biologischen Landbau, Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, La Rochelle Université, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications, BOKU University, Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Wageningen University & Research, Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, La Trobe University, Australian National University, Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes, Université Rennes 1, Tour du Valat, British Trust for Ornithology, University of Göttingen, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Ghent University, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University
Language: English
Subfield: Insect Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4390700928