Vacant land conversion to community gardens: influences on generalist arthropod predators and biocontrol services in urban greenspaces

Gardiner, Mary M.; Prajzner, Scott P.; Burkman, Caitlin E.; Albro, Sandra L.; Grewal, Parwinder S.

doi:10.1007/s11252-013-0303-6

Cited by 100 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Our family richness and morphospecies richness are similar to other spider studies that were performed in central California, or that had similar methods. In past non-California urban habitat studies that used pitfall traps, family richness averaged at 18 spider families and 64 morphospecies (Moorhead and Philpott 2013, Gardiner et al 2014, Philpott et al 2014). Fraser and Frankie (1986) compared spider communities in urban and natural habitats in Berkeley, CA, and found a total of 20 families and 75 morphospecies, with Gnaphosidae and Lycosidae dominant in pitfall traps for both habitat types.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local and Landscape Correlates of Spider Activity Density and Species Richness in Urban Gardens

2015

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local and Landscape Correlates of Spider Activity Density and Species Richness in Urban Gardens

2015

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“…In many studies with sentinel prey, prey items are restricted from moving by being glued (Armbrecht and Perfecto, 2003) or tethered (Jedlicka et al, 2011;Mathews et al, 2004) to observation locations. Other studies restrict prey movement by using frozen (and thus dead) prey items (e.g., Gardiner et al, 2014;Jones et al, 2001;O'Neal et al, 2005;Prasifka et al, 2006). We chose to use frozen prey, and acknowledge that this may have affected the community of ants removing the coffee berry borers or flies.…”

Section: Predation Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local, landscape, and diversity drivers of predation services provided by ants in a coffee landscape in Chiapas, Mexico

Mora

Garcia-Ballinas

Philpott

2015

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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A B S T R A C TAgricultural management and the landscape surrounding farms impact biological diversity and ecosystem services, such as predation, in agroecosystems. Diversified coffee agroecosystems harbor biodiversity, and maintain ecosystem services, especially when in complex landscapes, and when diversity of organisms providing services is maintained. But few have examined whether biological diversity, per se, or the local and landscape habitat features are stronger drivers of the services provided. We studied the relationships between local characteristics associated with agricultural management (vegetation complexity and agrochemical use), landscape surroundings of farms, abundance and richness of ants, and predation services provided by ants in a tropical coffee landscape. Specifically, we tested whether: (1) ants remove prey items and prey removal differs in the wet and dry season, (2) ant prey removal differs in farms that vary in vegetation complexity and agrochemical use, (3) ant prey removal differs with changes in ant abundance and species richness, and (4) ant prey removal differs with changes in local and landscape characteristics. We established sites across a range of coffee management systems, at varying distances to forest fragments, and in forest fragments and examined prey removal by ants on the ground, coffee branches, and shade tree trunks in the wet and dry season. Prey removal did not differ with season. Prey removal on the ground increased within increases in ant abundance and richness, and number of hollow coffee twigs. Prey removal on coffee plants decreased with vegetation complexity, but increased with ant abundance and richness, coffee density (a local factor), and rustic coffee within 200 m (a landscape factor). Prey removal on trees declined with vegetation complexity, but increased with abundance and richness of ants. Characteristics of the ant community were consistent predictors of prey removal, whereas local and landscape habitat features were less important, and only three habitat features correlated with prey removal. Our results demonstrate the positive effects of ant diversity for predatory function, and that promoting pest control services within coffee agroecosystems may be best accomplished by manipulating ant abundance and richness, or vegetation factors that correlate with ants.

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“…Urbanization has been shown to affect the structure of insect communities, resulting in dramatic changes in their abundance and richness (McIntyre 2000;Grimm et al 2008;Raupp et al 2010;Gardiner et al 2014), most frequently leading to a loss of diversity (Kahn and Cornell 1989;Suarez et al 1998;McKinney 2002;Shochat et al 2004;Sadler et al 2006;Clark et al 2007;Magura et al 2010;Uno et al 2010;Bang and Faeth 2011;Bennett and Gratton 2012;Ramírez Restrepo and Halffter 2013). Few studies have considered how these changes influences the outcome of ecological interactions at multiple trophic levels (Shrewsbury and Raupp 2006;Bennett and Gratton 2012;Fenoglio et al 2013;Pereira-Peixoto et al 2016;Turrini et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does urbanization explain differences in interactions between an insect herbivore and its natural enemies and mutualists?

Rocha

Fellowes

2018

Urban Ecosyst

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Urbanization can alter the composition of arthropod communities. However, little is known about how urbanization affects ecological interactions. Using experimental colonies of the black bean aphid Aphis fabae Scopoli reared on Vicia faba L, we asked if patterns of predator-prey, host-parasitoid and ant-aphid mutualisms varied along an urbanization gradient across a large town in southern England. We recorded the presence of naturally occurring predators, parasitoid wasps and mutualistic ants together with aphid abundance. We examined how biotic (green areas and plant richness) and abiotic features (impervious surfaces and distance to town center) affected (1) aphid colony size, (2) the likelihood of finding predators, mutualistic ants and aphid mummies (indicating the presence of parasitoids), and (3) how the interplay among these factors affected patterns of parasitoid attack, predator abundance, mutualistic interactions and aphid abundance. Aphid abundance was best explained by the number of mutualistic ants attending the colonies. Aphid predators responded negatively to both the proportion of impervious surfaces and to the number of mutualistic ants farming the colonies, and positively to aphid population size, whereas parasitized aphids were found in colonies with higher numbers of aphids and ants. The number of mutualistic ants attending was positively associated with aphid colony size and negatively with the number of aphid predators. Our findings suggest that for insect-natural enemy interactions, urbanization may affect some groups, while not influencing others, and that local effects (mutualists, host plant presence) will also be key determinants of how urban ecological communities are formed.

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Vacant land conversion to community gardens: influences on generalist arthropod predators and biocontrol services in urban greenspaces

Cited by 100 publications

References 68 publications

Local and Landscape Correlates of Spider Activity Density and Species Richness in Urban Gardens

Local and Landscape Correlates of Spider Activity Density and Species Richness in Urban Gardens

Local, landscape, and diversity drivers of predation services provided by ants in a coffee landscape in Chiapas, Mexico

Does urbanization explain differences in interactions between an insect herbivore and its natural enemies and mutualists?

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