Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Management intensity at field and landscape levels affects the structure of generalist predator communities

Rusch, Adrien ; Birkhofer, Klaus LU ; Bommarco, Riccardo ; Smith, Henrik LU and Ekbom, Barbara (2014) In Oecologia 175(3). p.971-983
Abstract
Agricultural intensification is recognised as a major driver of biodiversity loss in human-modified landscapes. Several agro-environmental measures at different spatial scales have been suggested to mitigate the negative impact of intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The effect of these measures on the functional structure of service-providing communities remains, however, largely unexplored. Using two distinct landscape designs, we examined how the management options of organic farming at the field scale and crop diversification at the landscape level affect the taxonomic and functional structure of generalist predator communities and how these effects vary along a landscape complexity gradient. Organic farming as well... (More)
Agricultural intensification is recognised as a major driver of biodiversity loss in human-modified landscapes. Several agro-environmental measures at different spatial scales have been suggested to mitigate the negative impact of intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The effect of these measures on the functional structure of service-providing communities remains, however, largely unexplored. Using two distinct landscape designs, we examined how the management options of organic farming at the field scale and crop diversification at the landscape level affect the taxonomic and functional structure of generalist predator communities and how these effects vary along a landscape complexity gradient. Organic farming as well as landscapes with longer and more diversified crop rotations enhanced the activity-density of spiders and rove beetles, but not the species richness or evenness. Our results indicate that the two management options affected the functional composition of communities, as they primarily enhanced the activity-density of functionally similar species. The two management options increased the functional similarity between spider species in regards to hunting mode and habitat preference. Organic farming enhanced the functional similarity of rove beetles. Management options at field and landscape levels were generally more important predictors of community structure when compared to landscape complexity. Our study highlights the importance of considering the functional composition of generalist predators in order to understand how agro-environmental measures at various scales shape community assemblages and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Agri-environmental measures, Biological pest control, Community, composition, Crop rotation, Functional diversity, Natural enemies, Organic farming, Traits
in
Oecologia
volume
175
issue
3
pages
971 - 983
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000338202600020
  • scopus:84902815015
  • pmid:24810324
ISSN
1432-1939
DOI
10.1007/s00442-014-2949-z
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f7aad056-8084-404f-8016-301f58b3a03a (old id 4602834)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:58:55
date last changed
2022-04-22 00:44:06
@article{f7aad056-8084-404f-8016-301f58b3a03a,
  abstract     = {{Agricultural intensification is recognised as a major driver of biodiversity loss in human-modified landscapes. Several agro-environmental measures at different spatial scales have been suggested to mitigate the negative impact of intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The effect of these measures on the functional structure of service-providing communities remains, however, largely unexplored. Using two distinct landscape designs, we examined how the management options of organic farming at the field scale and crop diversification at the landscape level affect the taxonomic and functional structure of generalist predator communities and how these effects vary along a landscape complexity gradient. Organic farming as well as landscapes with longer and more diversified crop rotations enhanced the activity-density of spiders and rove beetles, but not the species richness or evenness. Our results indicate that the two management options affected the functional composition of communities, as they primarily enhanced the activity-density of functionally similar species. The two management options increased the functional similarity between spider species in regards to hunting mode and habitat preference. Organic farming enhanced the functional similarity of rove beetles. Management options at field and landscape levels were generally more important predictors of community structure when compared to landscape complexity. Our study highlights the importance of considering the functional composition of generalist predators in order to understand how agro-environmental measures at various scales shape community assemblages and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes.}},
  author       = {{Rusch, Adrien and Birkhofer, Klaus and Bommarco, Riccardo and Smith, Henrik and Ekbom, Barbara}},
  issn         = {{1432-1939}},
  keywords     = {{Agri-environmental measures; Biological pest control; Community; composition; Crop rotation; Functional diversity; Natural enemies; Organic farming; Traits}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{971--983}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Oecologia}},
  title        = {{Management intensity at field and landscape levels affects the structure of generalist predator communities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-2949-z}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00442-014-2949-z}},
  volume       = {{175}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}