The causes and consequences of pest population variability in agricultural landscapes.

Autor: Paredes D; Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA.; Environmental Resources Analysis Research Group, Department of Plant Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain., Rosenheim JA; Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, California, USA., Karp DS; Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America [Ecol Appl] 2022 Jul; Vol. 32 (5), pp. e2607. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 16.
DOI: 10.1002/eap.2607
Abstrakt: Variability in population densities is key to the ecology of natural systems but also has great implications for agriculture. Farmers' decisions are heavily influenced by their risk aversion to pest outbreaks that result in major yield losses. However, the need for long-term pest population data across many farms has prevented researchers from exploring the drivers and implications of pest population variability (PV). Here, we demonstrate the critical importance of PV for sustainable farming by analyzing 13 years of pest densities across >1300 Spanish olive groves and vineyards. Variable populations were more likely to cause major yield losses, but also occasionally created temporal windows when densities fell below insecticide spray thresholds. Importantly, environmental factors regulating pest variability were very distinct from factors regulating mean density, suggesting variability needs to be uniquely managed. Finally, we found diversifying landscapes may be a win-win situation for conservation and farmers, as diversified landscapes promote less abundant and less variable pest populations. Therefore, we encourage agricultural stakeholders to increase the complexity of the landscapes surrounding their farms through conserving/restoring natural habitat and/or diversifying crops.
(© 2022 The Ecological Society of America.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: