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Agronomy
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The Ecology and Services of Beneficial Arthropods in Crop Production...
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The Ecology and Services of Beneficial Arthropods in Crop Production Systems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 3944

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Finbarr Horgan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
2. BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK
3. EcoLaVerna Integral Restoration Ecology, Bridestown, Kildinan, Cork, Ireland
4. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule, Escuela de Agronomía, Casilla 7-D, Curicó, Chile
Interests: herbivory and herbivore ecology; insect ecology; pollinators; dung beetles; conservation; crop and grassland entomology; wildlife-friendly farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crop production systems constitute the largest terrestrial biomes in many regions. These agricultural landscapes—which provide food, fibers and other materials for human societies—are also habitat for diverse arthropod communities. The arthropods that are capable of tolerating agricultural landscapes include herbivores and their natural enemies; however, synanthropic arthropods also provide other essential ecosystem services, such as weed control, pollination and decomposition. This Special Issue will examine the benefits for human societies from arthropods in agricultural systems. In particular, this Special Issue aims to quantify these services at regional or global scales. However, papers that describe arthropod services at field scales, or that describe agroecological approaches to optimize these services, are also welcome. Papers can encompass any arthropod group (insects, spiders, millipedes, etc.) and any crop production system. Papers may focus on provisioning (e.g., silk, honey), regulating (e.g., pest and weed regulation, biological control) and/or cultural services, as well as underlying supporting services. Papers based on stakeholder surveys are also welcome.

Dr. Finbarr Horgan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agroecology
  • crop production
  • black soldier fly
  • decomposition
  • ecosystem services
  • natural enemies
  • natural weed management
  • biological control
  • pollinators
  • integrated pest management
  • circular agriculture
  • farmer surveys
  • predators
  • parasitoids
  • semiochemicals

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1315 KiB  
Article
Wild Floral Visitors Are More Important Than Honeybees as Pollinators of Avocado Crops
by Juan L. Celis-Diez, Camila B. García, Juan J. Armesto, Sebastián Abades, Michael P. D. Garratt and Francisco E. Fontúrbel
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071722 - 27 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1503
Abstract
Wild insects provide pollination services in agroecosystems. Avocado is an economically important crop grown in the Chilean Mediterranean climate region and exported worldwide. Avocado pollination is managed using honeybee hives, while the role of wild insects as pollinators remains poorly known. We quantified [...] Read more.
Wild insects provide pollination services in agroecosystems. Avocado is an economically important crop grown in the Chilean Mediterranean climate region and exported worldwide. Avocado pollination is managed using honeybee hives, while the role of wild insects as pollinators remains poorly known. We quantified the relative contributions of wild floral visitors and honeybees to the fruit set of avocados in two contrasting seasons (2015 and 2016) in Central Chile. Observations were made in 60 trees grown nearby (~300 m) to remnant patches of native sclerophyll vegetation. We found that honeybees and wild insects accounted for 48.6% and 51.4% of total floral visitation, respectively, with a 68% taxonomic similarity of floral visitors between seasons. The presence of honeybees significantly modulated the floral visitor composition and modified plant-pollination network parameters, which resulted in the biotic homogenization of the interaction network, through the increase of shared tree–floral visitor interactions, to the detriment of exclusive interactions. Finally, wild insects were more effective than honeybees in pollinating avocado trees and their contribution was greatest during the dry year. Thus, honeybees alone cannot be relied upon to deliver maximum pollination. We highlight ecological intensification practices to encourage wild insect visits and avoid native vegetation replacement with orchards. Therefore, we emphasize that future ecological intensification research should address agricultural practices to promote wild insects and evaluate the role of native vegetation as wild pollinator habitat in agricultural landscapes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Ecology and Services of Beneficial Arthropods in Crop Production Systems)
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16 pages, 1812 KiB  
Article
Crop-Specific Effects on Pan-Trap Sampling of Potential Pollinators as Influenced by Trap Color and Location
by Solange A. Jaques, Christian Jofré-Pérez, Maureen M. Murúa, Lorena Vieli and Francisco E. Fontúrbel
Agronomy 2023, 13(2), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020552 - 15 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2052
Abstract
Characterizing insect communities in pollinator-dependent crops helps determine the potential pollinator effectiveness and their effects on crop yield. Few studies have examined pollinator communities and their services to crops in South America. Furthermore, optimal sampling methods for these communities in the crop habitat [...] Read more.
Characterizing insect communities in pollinator-dependent crops helps determine the potential pollinator effectiveness and their effects on crop yield. Few studies have examined pollinator communities and their services to crops in South America. Furthermore, optimal sampling methods for these communities in the crop habitat have received little attention. Pan traps are one of the simplest and most widely used sampling methods to assess insect diversity. We compared different pan trap arrangements to describe potential pollinator communities in two commercial crops (blueberry and canola) in Southern Chile. We compared communities in the crops and assessed how sampling position (border or center) and pan trap color (blue, white, or yellow) affected sample composition. Species composition was significantly different between crops. Furthermore, trap color affected sample composition in blueberry, but trap position did not, whereas color had no significant effect on canola, but trap position did. In all cases, yellow pans captured the largest number of species. Hymenoptera explained most of the differences in sampling efficiency because of the differential responses across species. We suggest that pan trap assessments of the diversity in potential pollinator insects depend on crop characteristics, including planting configuration and floral morphology. Therefore, comparative studies should include pans of different colors positioned at various locations within the crop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Ecology and Services of Beneficial Arthropods in Crop Production Systems)
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