Organic farms conserve a dung beetle species capable of disrupting fly vectors of foodborne pathogens

Jones, Matthew; Wright, Stephanie A.; Smith, Olivia M.; Besser, Thomas E.; Headrick, David H.; Reganold, John P.; Crowder, David W.; Snyder, William E.

doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2019.104020

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…However, there is also evidence that human pathogens can be directly reduced by predation from soil animals. For example, studies in organic farms have shown that dung beetles suppress human pathogenic bacteria and decrease the persistence of human pathogens by accelerating the removal of dung 83 . Earthworms were also reported to eliminate human pathogenic bacteria in dewatered sludge 84 .…”

Section: Positive Links Between Soil Biodiversity and Human Health Su...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities

et al. 2023

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Biodiversity is widely linked to human health, however, connections between human health and soil biodiversity in urban environments remain poorly understood. Here, we stress that reductions in urban soil biodiversity elevate risks to human health, but soil biodiversity can improve human health through pathways including suppressing pathogens, remediating soil, shaping a beneficial human microbiome and promoting immune fitness. We argue that targeted enhancement of urban soil biodiversity could support human health, in both outdoor and indoor settings. The potential of enhanced urban soil biodiversity to benefit human health reflects an important yet understudied field of fundamental and applied research.

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Section: Positive Links Between Soil Biodiversity and Human Health Su...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities

et al. 2023

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“…Since almost all research on the food safety and environmental consequences of on-farm, non-crop vegetation removal has been conducted in California, USA, and the Pacific Northwest (7,14,15,21,25), there is also a need for research conducted in other produce-growing regions. The present study outlines a conceptual framework that can be used to address this need and to quantify tradeoffs and synergies between on-farm food safety and environmental aims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantifying these tradeoffs is complicated by the diversity and mutability of agricultural environments, the complexity and interconnectedness of the processes that impact on-farm food safety and environmental outcomes, and a lack of data for modeling. Since almost all research on the food safety and environmental consequences of on-farm, non-crop vegetation removal has been conducted in California, USA, and the Pacific Northwest (7, 14, 15, 21, 25), there is also a need for research conducted in other produce-growing regions. The present study outlines a conceptual framework that can be used to address this need and to quantify tradeoffs and synergies between on-farm food safety and environmental aims.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Multiple studies have also shown that fecal contamination of surface water by run-off can be reduced by placing vegetative buffers between fecal sources and waterways (22)(23)(24). Several studies further suggested that removing non-crop vegetation may degrade on-farm food safety by favoring wildlife vectors of foodborne pathogens and disfavoring coprophagic organisms that reduce foodborne pathogen prevalence (3,13,(25)(26)(27).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural equation models suggest that on-farm non-crop vegetation removal is not associated with improved food safety outcomes but is linked to impaired water quality

Weller

Love

Weller

et al. 2022

Preprint

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While growers have reported pressures to minimize wildlife intrusion into produce fields through non-crop vegetation (NCV) removal, NCV provides key ecosystem services. To model food safety and environmental tradeoffs associated with NCV removal, published and publicly available food safety and water quality data from the Northeastern USA were obtained. Because data on NCV removal are not widely available, forest-wetland cover was used as a proxy, consistent with previous studies. Structural equation models (SEMs) were used to quantify the effect of forest-wetland cover on (i) food safety outcomes (e.g., detecting pathogens in soil) and (ii) water quality (e.g., nutrient levels). Based on the SEMs, NCV was not associated with or had a protective effect on food safety outcomes (more NCV was associated with a reduced likelihood of pathogen detection). The probabilities of detecting Listeria spp. in soil (Effect Estimate [EE]=-0.17; P=0.005) and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in stream samples (EE=-0.27; P<0.001) were negatively associated with the amount of NCV surrounding the sampling site. Higher amounts of NCV were also associated with lower nutrient, salinity, and sediment levels and higher dissolved oxygen levels. Total phosphorous levels were negatively associated with the amount of NCV in the upstream watershed (EE=-0.27; P<0.001). Similar negative associations (P<0.05) were observed for other physicochemical parameters, such as nitrate (EE=-0.38). Our findings suggest that NCV should not be considered an inherent produce safety risk or result in farm audit demerits. This study also provides a framework for evaluating environmental trade-offs associated with using specific preharvest food safety strategies.

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“…Moreover, their strong link with the ecological processes involved in the recycling of dung make them an excellent reference group for research on biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships (Slade et al ., 2007; Verdú et al ., 2018; Milotić et al ., 2019; Tonelli et al ., 2020). Empirical studies have linked dung beetles to the reduction of greenhouse gas from dung pats (Penttilä et al ., 2013; Piccini et al ., 2017; Verdú et al ., 2020), crop growth and quality (Bornemissza & Williams, 1970; Yamada et al ., 2007; Nervo et al ., 2017), improvements in the physical and chemical characteristics of soils (Brown et al ., 2010; Badenhorst et al ., 2018), secondary seed dispersal (Andresen, 2002; Pérez‐Ramos et al ., 2007) and dung fly and livestock parasite control (Sands & Wall, 2017; Jones et al ., 2019). The growing interest in using dung beetles for biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning relationship studies has led to an increased application of functional diversity metrics based on the use of functional traits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Some considerations on the terminology applied to dung beetle functional groups

Tonelli

2021

Ecological Entomology

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1. Dung beetles are an important group of insects that use excrement for feeding and reproductive purposes. The interest of the scientific community in dung beetles is highlighted by the increasing number of investigations that use them as the focal group.2. In the last few years, several studies have used dung beetles as bioindicators and to study 'biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships' using functional traits. One of the most widely used functional traits in dung beetle studies is their reproductive behaviour.3. In order to evaluate the use of relevant terminology regarding dung beetle nesting behaviour I analysed 1143 articles published between 1969 and 2020.4. The analysis brought to light the following four broad issues regarding dung beetle functional groups: (i) the interchangeable use of terms; (ii) overgeneralizations; (iii) the equating of nesting and trophic behaviour and (iv) misspellings. After reviewing these issues, I propose a solution.

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Organic farms conserve a dung beetle species capable of disrupting fly vectors of foodborne pathogens

Cited by 11 publications

References 57 publications

Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities

Harnessing soil biodiversity to promote human health in cities

Structural equation models suggest that on-farm non-crop vegetation removal is not associated with improved food safety outcomes but is linked to impaired water quality

Some considerations on the terminology applied to dung beetle functional groups

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