Towards a standardized experimental protocol to investigate interactions between weed seeds and ground beetles (Carabidae, Coleoptera)

Deroulers, Paul; Gauffre, Bertrand; Emeriau, S.; Harismendy, A.; Bretagnolle, Vincent

doi:10.1007/s11829-019-09721-z

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Carabids morphological traits, as well as climatic conditions may impact on their consumption rate (Honek et al , 2006; Rusch et al , 2015; Russell et al , 2017). Thus, we used standardized experimental conditions (Deroulers et al , 2017), and selected two morphological traits of carabids, namely body size and the ratio of mandible length to labrum width (ML/LW), which are strongly related to feeding habits of carabid beetles (Forsythe, 1983). Thus, we verified whether the ratio ML/LW and body mass explained variation in seed consumption.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The consumption pattern of 28 species of carabid beetles (Carabidae) to a weed seed,Viola arvensis

Deroulers

Bretagnolle

2018

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Seedbank control has been the cornerstone of agricultural management practices. Regulating weeds by using their predators, as a weed control strategy, may be a prerequisite of decreasing herbicide use, and has thus attracted much research investigating the possible contribution of both vertebrates and invertebrates as weed seed predators. Carabid beetles are considered as one of the most important invertebrate seed predators in agroecosystems. We aimed at investigating carabid beetle preferences to a single prey type, seeds of Viola arvensis. We measured the consumption of seeds in 28 species of carabid beetles, under controlled experimental conditions. Two main tribes are identified in tested species, Harpalini with 12 species and Pterostichini with ten species. We found no relationships between species body mass and Viola's seed consumption, nor with the ratio between mandible length and labrum width (ML/LW). However, trends became significant with the ratio ML/LW when restricting these analyses to species that ate at least five seeds. In addition, we detected a positive and significant relationship between consumption rate and occurrence in trapping sessions over the last 3 years. These results are in favor of weed seeds control by carabids. Clear limits of this study are the use of a single seed species and under control conditions. This experimentation calls for additional studies to check for consistencies in consumption against seed species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The consumption pattern of 28 species of carabid beetles (Carabidae) to a weed seed,Viola arvensis

Deroulers

Bretagnolle

2018

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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“…If these models were extended to other organisms, there may be a lack of data in the literature, although an allometric model of handling time has previously been used to infer bird‐seed feeding interaction strengths (Pocock et al., 2012 ). If new experiments are required to parameterize the models, it is strongly recommended that standardized experimental approaches should be used (Deroulers et al., 2020 ), thus enabling results from multiple experiments to be comparable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: A mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed feeding by carabid beetles

Pocock

Schmucki

Bohan

2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Ecological networks are valuable for ecosystem analysis but their use is often limited by a lack of data because many types of ecological interaction, for example, predation, are short‐lived and difficult to observe or detect. While there are different methods for inferring the presence of interactions, they have rarely been used to predict the interaction strengths that are required to construct weighted, or quantitative, ecological networks. Here, we develop a trait‐based approach suitable for inferring weighted networks, that is, with varying interaction strengths. We developed the method for seed‐feeding carabid ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) although the principles can be applied to other species and types of interaction. Using existing literature data from experimental seed‐feeding trials, we predicted a per‐individual interaction cost index based on carabid and seed size. This was scaled up to the population level to create inferred weighted networks using the abundance of carabids and seeds from empirical samples and energetic intake rates of carabids from the literature. From these weighted networks, we also derived a novel measure of expected predation pressure per seed type per network. This method was applied to existing ecological survey data from 255 arable fields with carabid data from pitfall traps and plant seeds from seed rain traps. Analysis of these inferred networks led to testable hypotheses about how network structure and predation pressure varied among fields. Inferred networks are valuable because (a) they provide null models for the structuring of food webs to test against empirical species interaction data, for example, DNA analysis of carabid gut regurgitates and (b) they allow weighted networks to be constructed whenever we can estimate interactions between species and have ecological census data available. This permits ecological network analysis even at times and in places when interactions were not directly assessed.

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“…If these models were extended to other organisms, there may be a lack of data in the literature, although an allometric model of handling time has previously been used to infer bird-seed feeding interaction strengths (Pocock et al, 2012). If new experiments are required to parameterise the models, it is strongly recommended that standardised experimental approaches should be used (Deroulers, Gauffre, Emeriau, Harismendy, & Bretagnolle, 2020), thus enabling results from multiple experiments to be comparable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: a mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed-feeding by carabid beetles

Pocock

Schmucki

Bohan

2020

Preprint

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Ecological networks are valuable for ecosystem analysis but their use is often limited by a lack of data because many types of ecological interaction, e.g. predation, are short-lived and difficult to observe or detect. There are different methods for inferring the presence of interactions, which we lack methods to predict interaction strengths and so use weighted network analysis.Here, we develop a trait-based approach suitable for creating quantitative networks, i.e. with varying interaction strengths. We developed the method for seed-feeding carabid ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) although the principles can be applied to other interactions.We used existing literature data from experimental seed-feeding trials to predict a per-individual interaction cost index based on carabid and seed size with frequency-dependent prey selection and assuming bottom up control. This was scaled up to the population level to create predicted inferred weighted networks using the abundance of carabids and seeds in samples from arable fields and energetic intake rates of carabids from the literature. From these weighted networks, we also calculated a novel measure of predation pressure.We applied it to existing ecological survey data from 255 arable fields with carabid data from pitfall traps and plant seeds from seed rain traps. Analysis of these inferred networks led to testable hypotheses about how networks and predation pressure varied amongst fields.Inferred networks are valuable because (i) they provide null models for the structuring of food webs to test against empirical species interaction data, e.g. DNA analysis of carabid gut regurgitates, and (ii) they allow weighted inferred networks to be constructed whenever we can estimate interactions between species and have ecological census data available. This would permit network analysis even at times and in places when interactions were not directly assessed.

show abstract

Towards a standardized experimental protocol to investigate interactions between weed seeds and ground beetles (Carabidae, Coleoptera)

Cited by 6 publications

References 46 publications

The consumption pattern of 28 species of carabid beetles (Carabidae) to a weed seed,Viola arvensis

The consumption pattern of 28 species of carabid beetles (Carabidae) to a weed seed,Viola arvensis

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: A mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed feeding by carabid beetles

Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: a mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed-feeding by carabid beetles

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