There is concern that genetically modified (GM) plants may have adverse affects on the arthropod biodiversity comprising agricultural landscapes. The present study report on a two year field experimental test of whether four different genotypic lines, some are novel with no previous field tests, of GM maize hybrids alter the structure of arthropod food webs that they harbour, relative to non-GM maize (control) that is widely used in agriculture. The different GM genotypes produced either Bt toxins, conferred glyphosate tolerance or a combination of the two traits. Quantitative food web analysis, based on short-term assessment assigning a total of 243,896 arthropod individuals collected from the treatments to their positions in food webs, revealed that complex and stable food webs persisted in each maize treatment. Moreover, food web structure remained relatively unchanged by the GM-genotype. The results suggest that at least in short-term period these particular GM maize genotypes will not have adverse effects on arthropod biota of agricultural landscapes.

It is becoming increasingly appreciated that the structure and functioning of ecological food webs are controlled by the nature and level of plant chemicals. It is hypothesized that intraspecific variation in plant chemical resistance, in which individuals of a host-plant population exhibit genetic differences in their chemical contents (called 'plant chemotypes'), may be an important determinant of variation in food web structure and functioning. We evaluated this hypothesis using field assessments and plant chemical assays in the tansy plant Tanacetum vulgare L. (Asteraceae). We examined food webs in which chemotypes of tansy plants are the resource for two specialized aphids, their predators and mutualistic ants. The density of the ant-tended aphid Metopeurum fuscoviride was significantly higher on particular chemotypes (borneol) than others. Clear chemotype preferences between predators were also detected. Aphid specialist seven-spotted ladybird beetles (Coccinella septempunctata) were more often found on camphor plants, while significantly higher numbers of the polyphagous nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis) were observed on borneol plants. The analysis of plant chemotype effects on the arthropod community clearly demonstrates a range of possible outcomes between plant-aphid-predator networks. The findings help to offer a deeper insight into how one important factor--plant chemical content--influences which species coexist within a food web on a particular host plant and the nature of their trophic linkages.

Field assessments and genetic analyses on tansy aphid, Metopeurum fuscoviride Stroyan were made aiming to investigate whether a specialist aphid species and its associated predator density differ between chemotypes of the plant host, tansy, and whether the essential oil composition of the plant host determines the genetic differences observed between colonies of M. fuscoviride inhabiting these different chemotypes. Tansy plants were defined after volatile extractions as Camphor Pure and Borneol Pure, respectively, with hybrid chemotypes defined as Camphor Hybrid, Borneol Hybrid, and Thujone Hybrid, respectively. Ladybird beetles, Coccinella septempunctata (L.), clearly dominated Pure Camphor plants, whereas significantly higher numbers of the nursery web spider, Pisaura mirabilis (Clerck), were detected on Borneol Pure and Borneol Hybrid plants. Genetic analyses using five polymorphic microsatellite markers revealed that higher genetic similarity existed between M. fuscoviride aphids from Borneol Pure and Borneol Hybrid plants and between Camphor Pure and Camphor Hybrid plants, respectively, whereas a lower level of genetic similarity was seen between these aphids from Thujone Hybrid plants. Accordingly, it is possible that host plant‐adapted species can create much context‐dependency in the nature and strength of predation effects, which may in turn alter costs and benefits of host plant chemical differentiations, or even the prey genotype variations. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 114, 709–719.

BACKGROUND:The five year value in the compound annual growth rate of the biopesticides sector is predicted to be 16% by 2017 and to produce a global market worth This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/ps.4596 Accepted Article$US 10 billion. Despite this, several impediments occur within the EU that negatively influencing biopesticide research and innovation.RESULTS: At present, there are fewer biopesticide-active substances registered in the EU compared to the USA, India, Brazil and China. The relatively low level of biopesticide research in the EU (6,880 ISI papers) versus the USA (18,839), India (9,501) and China (7,875) relates to the greater complexity of EU-based biopesticide regulations compared to these other countries. In this light, it is worth noting that tensions may exist between regulators that emphasise the beneficial nature of biopesticides in environmentally-friendly crop management, and those that adopt a more technologically-based approach dependent on a chemical pesticide-driven model. CONCLUSION:Compared to the other aforementioned countries, far fewer biopesticide products are available in the EU market, mainly as a direct result of the severe regulatory factors present there. The extent to which this trend will continue depends largely on a range of interacting political and/or regulatory decisions that influence environmentally-friendly agricultural industries.Keyword: Environmentally-friendly agriculture, political decisions, environmental laws, pesticide laws, biopesticide research IntroductionCrop production currently represents about 813.5 million tonnes worldwide 1 . Global changes, including extreme variations in climatic conditions, are highly likely to affect agricultural This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Accepted Articleproduction, thereby representing a challenge for global food security 2 . Outbreaks of herbivorous insects and mites, plant diseases caused by plant pathogens (viruses, bacteria, phytoplasma and funguses) and weeds may become more frequent in the face of global change, representing a major impediment to crop production. However, as a result of the evolution of pesticide resistance in the last 50 years or so, many of these pests (including weeds and diseases) are difficult to control. The damage caused by insects and mites ranges from 8-23 % in the USA with an estimated loss of some 5-15% from the total of $US 200 billion in revenue each year [3][4][5] . Invasive pests represent new types of threats and challenges as global trade expands and the climatic conditions shift 6,3,4 . Recent estimates suggest that the losses of crop yield caused by invasive pests will increase to 25% in the EU by 2080 5 .The excessive use of chemic...