Pest Management Science (2017) 73, 232-239

Matthew H. Meisner, Tania Zaviezo and Jay A. Rosenheim (2017)
Landscape crop composition effects on cotton yield, Lygus hesperus densities and pesticide use
Pest Management Science 73 (1), 232-239
Abstract:
BACKGROUND
Landscape crop composition surrounding agricultural fields is known to affect the density of crop pests, but quantifying these effects, as well as measuring how they translate to changes in yield, is difficult. Using a large dataset consisting of 1498 records of commercial cotton production in California between 1997 and 2008, we explored the relationship between landscape composition and cotton yield, the density of Lygus hesperus (a key cotton pest) at field-level and within-field spatial scales and pesticide use.
RESULTS
We found that the crop composition immediately adjacent to a cotton field was associated with substantial differences in cotton yield, L. hesperus density and pesticide use. Furthermore, crops that tended to be associated with increased L. hesperus density also tended to be associated with increased pesticide use and decreased cotton yield.
CONCLUSION
Our results suggest a possible mechanism by which landscape composition can affect cotton yield: by increasing the density of pests which in turn damage cotton plants. Our quantification of how surrounding crops affect pest densities, and in turn yield, in cotton fields has significant impacts for cotton farmers, who can use this information to help optimize crop selection and ranch layout.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Jay A. Rosenheim, Tania Zaviezo

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
damage/losses/economics

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Lygus hesperus	Cotton (Gossypium)	U.S.A. (SW)