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Boldorini GX, Mccary MA, Romero GQ, Mills KL, Sanders NJ, Reich PB, Michalko R, Gonçalves-Souza T. Predators control pests and increase yield across crop types and climates: a meta-analysis. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232522. [PMID: 38444337 PMCID: PMC10915543 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Pesticides have well-documented negative consequences to control crop pests, and natural predators are alternatives and can provide an ecosystem service as biological control agents. However, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding whether such biological control can be a widely applicable solution, especially given ongoing climatic variation and climate change. Here, we performed a meta-analysis focused on field studies with natural predators to explore broadly whether and how predators might control pests and in turn increase yield. We also contrasted across studies pest suppression by a single and multiple predators and how climate influence biological control. Predators reduced pest populations by 73% on average, and increased crop yield by 25% on average. Surprisingly, the impact of predators did not depend on whether there were many or a single predator species. Precipitation seasonality was a key climatic influence on biological control: as seasonality increased, the impact of predators on pest populations increased. Taken together, the positive contribution of predators in controlling pests and increasing yield, and the consistency of such responses in the face of precipitation variability, suggest that biocontrol has the potential to be an important part of pest management and increasing food supplies as the planet precipitation patterns become increasingly variable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel X. Boldorini
- Department of Biology, Ecological Synthesis and Biodiversity Conservation Lab, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
- Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | | | - Gustavo Q. Romero
- Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Kirby L. Mills
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Nathan J. Sanders
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Peter B. Reich
- Institute for Global Change Biology, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Radek Michalko
- Department of Forest Ecology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Thiago Gonçalves-Souza
- Department of Biology, Ecological Synthesis and Biodiversity Conservation Lab, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
- Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Institute for Global Change Biology, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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2
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Vansynghel J, Ocampo-Ariza C, Maas B, Martin EA, Thomas E, Hanf-Dressler T, Schumacher NC, Ulloque-Samatelo C, Yovera FF, Tscharntke T, Steffan-Dewenter I. Quantifying services and disservices provided by insects and vertebrates in cacao agroforestry landscapes. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221309. [PMID: 36100014 PMCID: PMC9470269 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals provide services such as pollination and pest control in cacao agroforestry systems, but also disservices. Yet, their combined contributions to crop yield and fruit loss are mostly unclear. In a full-factorial field experiment in northwestern Peru, we excluded flying insects, ants, birds and bats from cacao trees and assessed several productivity indicators. We quantified the contribution of each group to fruit set, fruit loss and marketable yield and evaluated how forest distance and canopy closure affected productivity. Fruit set dropped (from 1.7% to 0.3%) when flying insects were excluded and tripled at intermediate (40%) compared to high (greater than 80%) canopy cover in the non-exclusion treatment. Fruit set also dropped with bird and bat exclusion, potentially due to increased abundances of arthropods preying on pollinators or flower herbivores. Overall, cacao yields more than doubled when birds and bats had access to trees. Ants were generally associated with fruit loss, but also with yield increases in agroforests close to forest. We also evidenced disservices generated by squirrels, leading to significant fruit losses. Our findings show that several functional groups contribute to high cacao yield, while trade-offs between services and disservices need to be integrated in local and landscape-scale sustainable cacao agroforestry management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine Vansynghel
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.,Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Lima office, Avenida La Molina 1895, La Molina 12, Lima, Peru
| | - Carolina Ocampo-Ariza
- Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Lima office, Avenida La Molina 1895, La Molina 12, Lima, Peru.,Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bea Maas
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.,Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Emily A Martin
- Zoological Biodiversity, Institute of Geobotany, Leibniz University Hannover, Nienburger Straße 17, 30167 Hannover, Germany
| | - Evert Thomas
- Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Lima office, Avenida La Molina 1895, La Molina 12, Lima, Peru
| | - Tara Hanf-Dressler
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nils-Christian Schumacher
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Carlos Ulloque-Samatelo
- Universidad Nacional de Piura, Urb. Miraflores s/n, 295 Piura, Peru.,Universidad Continental Arequipa, Ciencias de la Empresa, Av. Los Incas s/n Urb. Lambramani, José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, Arequipa, Peru
| | - Fredy F Yovera
- Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Lima office, Avenida La Molina 1895, La Molina 12, Lima, Peru.,Norandino Ltds. Mz X Lote 3 y 4, Zona Industrial II etapa, Piura, Peru
| | - Teja Tscharntke
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
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Chua KO, Liew YJM, See-Too WS, Tan JY, Yong HS, Yin WF, Chan KG. Formicincola oecophyllae gen. nov. sp. nov., a novel member of the family Acetobacteraceae isolated from the weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 2022; 115:995-1007. [DOI: 10.1007/s10482-022-01750-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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4
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Merle I, Hipólito J, Requier F. Towards integrated pest and pollinator management in tropical crops. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 50:100866. [PMID: 34971783 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2021.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Revised: 12/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Biotic pollination and pest control are two critical insect-mediated ecosystem services that support crop production. Although management of both services is usually treated separately, the new paradigm of Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM) suggests synergetic benefits by considering them together. We reviewed the management practices in two major tropical perennial crops: cocoa and coffee, to assess IPPM applications under the tropics. We found potential synergies and antagonisms among crop pest and pollination management, however, very few studies considered these interactions. Interestingly, we also found management practices focusing mainly on a single service mediated by insects although species can show multiple ecological functions as pests, natural enemies, or pollinators. The tropics represent a promising area for the implementation of IPPM and future research should address this concept to move towards a more sustainable agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle Merle
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, Gif-sur-Yvette, 91198, France
| | - Juliana Hipólito
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | - Fabrice Requier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, Gif-sur-Yvette, 91198, France.
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