A new paper authored by FRAMEwork researchers Laura Mansier and Paul van Rijn from University of Amsterdam has been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
Titled “Modelling Agricultural Landscape Complementation for Natural Pest Control”, the paper shares the dynamic model (and its results) that Laura, a PHD researcher at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of UVA, presented at several conferences earlier this year and in 2023.
The model provides guidelines for optimising the landscape around fields for natural pest control, showing that natural pest control in agriculture is more promising if there are sufficient other landscape elements near a field that provide additional food for predatory insects. It also shows that it is good to grow several crops side by side that differ in growth period. With these measures, the model shows that pest density can be reduced by as much as 95%.
To find out what mix of factors is optimal to support year-round hoverflies in and around a field, Laura used a mathematical model to mimic the influence of landscape composition.
Paul van Rijn, IBED senior researcher and supervising co-author of the study, said:
“So-called landscape complementation is about designing the landscape in such a way that essential resources are available all season long. You can enhance sustainable agriculture by planting species that provide these. For this group of hoverflies, suitable flower species include buckwheat, different umbellifers and true chamomile. Hazel, field maple and guelder rose are examples of suitable trees and shrubs, because they flower early and host aphids.”
An interesting result of the model, according to the authors, is also that the
numbers of pests can fluctuate from year to year, even if the weather conditions
in those years would be exactly the same. Laura says:
“If one of the elements is missing from the landscape, these multi-year fluctuations can become very large, so you find quite low pest densities in one year and suddenly very high in the next year. So, a well-designed landscape can provide lower and more stable pest densities over multiple years.”
The Journal of Applied Ecology publishes novel, broad-reaching papers on the interface between ecological science and the management of the natural environment. It is part of the prestigious British Ecological Society portfolio.
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