Selected elements of cultural landscape structure in Wielkopolska region of Poland as habitats for the parasitoid hymenoptera Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae)

Abstract

1. The studies included cultural landscapes of simple (agricultural land) and complex (forest) structure in Wielkopolska. 2. The goal of the studies was to define biocoenotic function of marginal habitats such as – shrubs, field border, road borders, and forest edges – structural elements of agricultural landscape making suitable habitats for parasitoid hymenoptera of subfamily Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) 3. The authors wanted to establish: i. which of marginal habitats are most attractive for Pimplinae; ii. which of these habitats are similar to forest habitats, due to the qualitative and quantitative structure of parasitoid hymenoptera communities living there; and iii. whether linear marginal habitats (like road sides) can fulfil the function of ecological corridors for parasitoid hymenoptera, between agricultural and forest habitats. 4. The species diversity of Pimplinae in all the habitats of agricultural landscape and forest environment (national park) was similar. 5. On the forest edges (high heterogeneity landscape), the communities of Pimplinae were most numerous. In the low heterogeneity landscape, the greatest species diversity occurred in shrubs. The majority of Pimplinae populations living in agricultural landscape and forest showed great similarity in their qualitative structure and less similarity in their quantitative structure. 6. The conclusion can be made that marginal habitats of agricultural landscape make attractive environment for parasitoids of Pimplinae and that vegetation alongside roads can make function as ecological corridors.

The association of windmills with conservation of pollinating insects and wild plants in homogeneous farmland of western Poland

“…Marginal habitats (some of them being also novel ecosystems) such as balks, fallows, ditches, road verges, and field borders may enable maintaining species diversity when there is a lack of natural habitats (Jankowiak and Ławicki 2014 ; Moroń et al 2014 ; Piekarska-Boniecka et al 2015 ; Assandri et al 2016 ). Many analyses paid attention to the role of these marginal habitats in spatial dynamics of insects and insect-pollinated plants (Banaszak 1992 ; Raemakers et al 2001 ; Ricketts et al 2008 ; Jakobsson and Ågren 2014 ).…”

Variation in a Darwin Wasp (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) Community along an Elevation Gradient in a Tropical Biodiversity Hotspot: Implications for Ecology and Conservation

“…Previous studies have shown that parasitoid wasp communities can sometimes vary across vegetation or habitat types [45,[64][65][66][67], or other features of the habitat, such as the richness of some plant groups [64][65][66][72][73][74][75][76] and structural complexity [57,[68][69][70][71]. In principle, these could serve as proxies for parasitoids, to be used in conservation planning or to aid optimal management of existing habitat [77].…”

“…However, vegetation type may not always affect the diversity of all parasitoid groups [56,65]. Several studies suggest that habitat structural complexity can predict parasitoid wasp diversity in both natural and agroecosystems [57,[68][69][70][71]. Plant diversity can also predict wasp diversity across sites [64][65][66][72][73][74][75][76].…”

Urban greenery of Gdynia as a habitat for parasitoids of the subfamily Pimplinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae)

“…These include parasitoids of the family Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera, Apocrita), which reduce the abundance of plant pests. One of the subfamilies of this family is the Pimplinae, which are among the dominant subfamilies in among others agrocoenoses or orchard habitats (Piekarska-Boniecka et al 2015, 2018. These en-tomophages represent ecto-and endoparasitoids of the eggs, larvae and pupae of many phytophagous species belonging to the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera (Gauld et al 2002;Yu 2012).…”