Title:
Controlling weeds with biodiversity
Abstract
: Farmland biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services are affected by agricultural activities at multiple spatial scales. Among these services, the regulation of weeds by invertebrate seed predators has received much attention recently but little is known about the relative effect of local management and landscape context of fields on this process. We monitored seed predation on four common weed species and carabid communities in 28 winter-cereals fields during five consecutive weeks in spring 2010. These fields were situated in contrasted landscape contexts and varied in terms of intensity of pesticide treatments and soil tillage regimes. Weed seed predation was strongly and positively related to the Shannon diversity of (strictly) granivorous carabids and to the activity–density of omnivorous carabids but negatively to the richness of omnivorous carabids. Weed seed predation and granivore diversity were positively related to landscape diversity and the proportion cover of temporary grassland within a 1000 m radius around focal fields and were negatively affected by the intensity of local pesticide treatments. No-till systems sheltered higher diversity of granivorous carabids but did not show higher seed predation rates. We showed that landscape composition factors had a higher relative influence than local practices factors on weed seed predation service. Consequently, weed management strategies should not only consider the management of single fields but also the surrounding landscape to preserve carabid biodiversity and enhance weed seed predation service. [Aude Trichard, Audrey Alignier, Luc Biju-Duval & Sandrine Petit (2013). The relative effects of local management and landscape context on weed seed predation and carabid functional groups.
Basic and Applied Ecology
, online 1 March 2013] [Photo:
The granivore, Harpalus rufipes, feeding on weed seed at the soil surface
© INRA
] ${imageDescription}
Comment
Keywords
: Plant–animal interactions; Carabid; Trophic guild; Landscape composition; No-tillage
Original source
Attachments:
P_rufipes%20eating.jpg
Article: WeedsNews4364 (
permalink
)
Categories: :WeedsNews:biodiversity, :WeedsNews:research alert, :WeedsNews:weed control
Date: 27 March 2013; 7:54:38 PM AEDT
Author Name: David Low
Author ID: adminDavid
