Converting arable land into flowering fields changes functional and phylogenetic community structure in ground beetles

Baulechner, Dennis; Diekötter, Tim; Wolters, Volkmar; Jauker, Frank

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.005

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…This was especially true for small species such as Anchomenus dorsalis and Trechinii species, and corroborates previous studies showing that carnivorous species, particularly small ones, thrive in disturbed and open habitats (Navntoft et al, 2006;Hanson et al, 2016;Baulechner et al, 2019). In alley cropping systems, UVS seem to act as a sink (i.e.…”

Section: Negative Effects Of Alley Cropping Agroforestry On Generalissupporting

confidence: 89%

“…These results suggest that alley cropping might efficiently promote spiders and predominantly granivorous carabids compared to pure crop systems, because UVS provide suitable overwintering habitats and enhanced plant and invertebrate resources within fields themselves. On the other hand, alley cropping could have detrimental effects on small and carnivorous carabids that forage and overwinter in arable habitats (Baulechner et al, 2019;Boinot et al, 2019b), either because UVS hamper their movements and/or host both competitors and predators. Nevertheless, to our knowledge no study has compared generalist predator communities between alley cropping and pure crop systems under contrasting farming systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Promoting generalist predators of crop pests in alley cropping agroforestry fields: Farming system matters

Boinot

Mézière

Poulmarc’h

et al. 2020

Ecological Engineering

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Developing agroecological practices that enhance biological control of crop pests is a major issue for the transition of agriculture towards sustainable and biodiversityfriendly systems. Agroecological infrastructures (AEI) are devoted to the support of ecosystem service providers, although they have mixed effects on natural enemies of crop pests. In temperate regions, alley cropping agroforestry involves within-field AEI, in the form of tree rows and associated understory vegetation strips. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of generalist predators (carabid beetles and cursorial spiders) to control weed seeds and invertebrate pests in alley cropping vs pure crop systems, under two contrasting farming systems (conventional vs organic). Predator surveys were carried out in May and June 2017 in SouthWestern France over 12 winter cereal fields. Our study revealed that the effect of alley cropping was modulated by the farming system. Under conventional farming, alley cropping had a negative effect on the activity-density and species richness of generalist predators, especially regarding carnivorous carabids whose activity-density was reduced by nearly 50%. Under organic farming, alley cropping enhanced both the activity-density and complementarity of generalist predators, with a twofold increase in the activity-density of seed-feeding carabids (predominantly granivorous and omnivorous), potentially promoting weed seed and invertebrate pest control. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of AEI in promoting natural enemies depends on the farming system at the field scale, which affects resource availability and determines spillover intensity between habitats. AEI are often perceived as sources of natural enemies. However, sink and retention effects (i.e. reduced or delayed spillover into crop fields due to higher 3 attractiveness of AEI) are overlooked and very likely to explain the mixed impacts of AEI on natural enemy communities.

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Section: Negative Effects Of Alley Cropping Agroforestry On Generalissupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting generalist predators of crop pests in alley cropping agroforestry fields: Farming system matters

Boinot

Mézière

Poulmarc’h

et al. 2020

Ecological Engineering

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“…Generalist carnivores are comprised of multiple unrelated groups and, accordingly, also phylogenetically highly diverse. Thus, PD per se is a poor predictor of functional diversity (FD) in carabid communities and might not be affected at all by community responses of feeding groups to environmental change (Baulechner, Diekötter, Wolters, & Jauker, 2019). We found evidence that convergence can cause a discrepancy between phylogenetic and functional divergence not just at broad taxonomic scales (Cadotte et al., 2017) but even within a family at the genus level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convergent evolution of specialized generalists: Implications for phylogenetic and functional diversity of carabid feeding groups

Baulechner

Jauker

Neubauer

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Closely related species are often assumed to be functionally similar. Phylogenetic information is thus widely used to infer functional diversity and assembly of communities. In contrast, evolutionary processes generating functional similarity of phylogenetically distinct taxa are rarely addressed in this context. To investigate the impact of convergent evolution on functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD), we reconstructed the phylogenetic structure of carabid trophic groups. We then analyzed the mandible shapes using geometric morphometrics to link specialization in functional morphology with feeding specialization among herbivores, generalist carnivores, and specialized consumers of Collembola. Our results show that carabid feeding groups are paraphyletic. Herbivory evolved at least twice and specialization to Collembola predation at least three times. Species within feeding groups share a remarkably similar mandible morphology, which evolved convergently. While specialized mandibles of herbivores and collembolan specialists represent an adaptation to their main food source, the particular mandible morphologies do not necessarily reflect the degree of food specialization within feeding groups. Only a few species with a specialized herbivorous mandible may occasionally feed on animals, but the range of specific food resources in generalist carnivore species is large, despite an almost identical mandible shape. Thus, convergent evolution in specialized feeding groups reverses the relationship between PD and functional similarity compared with generalist carnivores. We conclude that phylogenetic relationship is a poor proxy of FD in carabids. Moreover, the inconsistencies between relatedness, morphological adaptation, and ecological function require caution in the characterization of functional groups. Rather than assuming general relationships between PD and FD, we suggest integrating the analysis of evolutionary processes into functional community analyses.

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“…Our study confirmed these findings, revealing the lowest proportion of herbivorous carabids in the most intensively farmed crop-use type (winter wheat), which had by far the lowest wild plant cover and species richness. The positive effects of flowering fields for promoting plant-feeding carabids are confirmed by recent studies (Mader et al, 2017;Baulechner et al, 2019). Other studies confirm the positive effects of organic compared to conventional winter cereals on carabid functional diversity as well as on plant-feeding carabid abundance and richness (Batáry et al, 2012;Gallé et al 2018a).…”

Section: Effects Of Crop-use Typementioning

confidence: 55%

Carabid functional diversity is enhanced by conventional flowering fields, organic winter cereals and edge habitats

Gayer

Löveï

Magura

et al. 2019

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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The continued decline in farmland biodiversity in Europe despite substantial funding for agrienvironment schemes (AES) has prompted calls for more effective biodiversity conservation measures. The current AES regime allows for both holistic measures, such as organic farming, that broadly target the agricultural environment and biodiversity-specific measures, but little is known of their relative efficacies. To address this gap, we studied carabids in 48 arable fields that presented four crop types under different management practices along a gradient of landscape complexity: (a) conventionally managed crop (winter wheat), (b) biodiversityspecific AES under conventional management (sown flowering field), (c) organically managed mono-crop (winter spelt) and (d) organically managed lentil-mixed crop (lentil intercropped with cereal or camelina). For these four crop-use types we compared functional diversity of carabid assemblages at the edge and center of the fields. Using pitfall traps, we collected more than 55,000 carabids of 95 species over two years. We characterized diversity using community weighted means and functional divergence of three ecological traitsbody size, feeding type, and flight ability. Conventional flowering fields and organic winter spelt, but not organic spring sown lentil-mixed-crop, increased the proportion of plant feeding carabids; moreover, trait characteristics and their divergences were most affected by field edges, with smaller, less carnivorous and more flight-enabled species found there than in the center. Distribution of body size and feeding type but not of flight ability was higher within carabid assemblages at the field edges than centres. Surrounding landscape complexity did not affect carabid traits. We conclude that future AES policy should avoid strict decisions between biodiversity specificand holistic measures. Instead, priority should be given to a diversity of different measures, targeting the enhancement of edge habitats as well as productive and non-productive measures.

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Converting arable land into flowering fields changes functional and phylogenetic community structure in ground beetles

Cited by 20 publications

References 64 publications

Promoting generalist predators of crop pests in alley cropping agroforestry fields: Farming system matters

Promoting generalist predators of crop pests in alley cropping agroforestry fields: Farming system matters

Convergent evolution of specialized generalists: Implications for phylogenetic and functional diversity of carabid feeding groups

Carabid functional diversity is enhanced by conventional flowering fields, organic winter cereals and edge habitats

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