Journal article

Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis


Authors listBoetzl, Fabian A.; Sponsler, Douglas; Albrecht, Matthias; Batary, Peter; Birkhofer, Klaus; Knapp, Michal; Krauss, Jochen; Maas, Bea; Martin, Emily A.; Sirami, Clelia; Sutter, Louis; Bertrand, Colette; Baillod, Aliette Bosem; Bota, Gerard; Bretagnolle, Vincent; Brotons, Lluis; Frank, Thomas; Fusser, Moritz; Giralt, David; Gonzalez, Ezequiel; Hof, Anouschka R.; Luka, Henryk; Marrec, Ronan; Nash, Michael A.; Ng, Katherina; Plantegenest, Manuel; Poulin, Brigitte; Siriwardena, Gavin M.; Tscharntke, Teja; Tschumi, Matthias; Vialatte, Aude; Van Vooren, Laura; Zubair-Anjum, Muhammad; Entling, Martin H.; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Schirmel, Jens

Publication year2024

JournalProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume number291

Issue number2014

ISSN0962-8452

eISSN1471-2954

DOI Linkhttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2383

PublisherThe Royal Society


Abstract
Natural pest and weed regulation are essential for agricultural production, but the spatial distribution of natural enemies within crop fields and its drivers are mostly unknown. Using 28 datasets comprising 1204 study sites across eight Western and Central European countries, we performed a quantitative synthesis of carabid richness, activity densities and functional traits in relation to field edges (i.e. distance functions). We show that distance functions of carabids strongly depend on carabid functional traits, crop type and, to a lesser extent, adjacent non-crop habitats. Richness of both carnivores and granivores, and activity densities of small and granivorous species decreased towards field interiors, whereas the densities of large species increased. We found strong distance decays in maize and vegetables whereas richness and densities remained more stable in cereals, oilseed crops and legumes. We conclude that carabid assemblages in agricultural landscapes are driven by the complex interplay of crop types, adjacent non-crop habitats and further landscape parameters with great potential for targeted agroecological management. In particular, our synthesis indicates that a higher edge-interior ratio can counter the distance decay of carabid richness per field and thus likely benefits natural pest and weed regulation, hence contributing to agricultural sustainability.



Citation Styles

Harvard Citation styleBoetzl, F., Sponsler, D., Albrecht, M., Batary, P., Birkhofer, K., Knapp, M., et al. (2024) Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2014), Article 20232383. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2383

APA Citation styleBoetzl, F., Sponsler, D., Albrecht, M., Batary, P., Birkhofer, K., Knapp, M., Krauss, J., Maas, B., Martin, E., Sirami, C., Sutter, L., Bertrand, C., Baillod, A., Bota, G., Bretagnolle, V., Brotons, L., Frank, T., Fusser, M., Giralt, D., ...Schirmel, J. (2024). Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 291(2014), Article 20232383. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2383



Keywords


BEETLE ASSEMBLAGESdistance decayground beetlesLANDSCAPEnatural pest and weed controlSEMINATURAL HABITATSspecies spilloverSustainable agriculture


SDG Areas


Last updated on 2025-01-04 at 22:57