Journal of Pest Science (2018) 91, 1093-1105

Selected publication you are invited to contribute to the discussion section (above tab)

Josef S. Berger, Klaus Birkhofer, Helena I. Hanson and Katarina Hedlund (2018)
Landscape configuration affects herbivore–parasitoid communities in oilseed rape
Journal of Pest Science 91 (3), 1093-1105
Abstract: It is crucial to consider the effects of large-scale drivers on species presences and ecological interactions to understand what structures communities. In our study, we investigated how the species composition and the potential interaction networks of herbivore and parasitoid communities in oilseed rape fields are affected by agricultural landscape characteristics. Insect communities of 26 winter oilseed rape fields in southern Sweden were captured in water traps over a continuous time span of 30 ± 2 days. In total, 31% of the variation in the composition of herbivore host communities was explained by a combination of the surrounding oilseed rape area in the study year and the previous year and distance to the nearest forest. The oilseed rape area in the study year and distance to forest also explained 14% of the variation in the composition of parasitoid communities. Distance to the nearest forest together with the area of oilseed rape in the previous year explained 45% of the variation in asymmetry of interaction webs. These results indicate that several measures of landscape configuration are important both for the composition of host and parasitoid communities and also for the structure of interaction networks. Our results support the view that it is an appropriate strategy to cultivate oilseed rape in landscapes that are far away from forests, in order to minimize recolonization by pest species and at the same time to attract parasitoid species from the open landscape.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
(original language: English)
Full text of article

Database assignments for author(s): Klaus Birkhofer

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Phradis interstitialis (parasitoid)
Phradis morionellus (parasitoid)			Sweden