Above- and below-ground assessment of carabid community responses to crop type and tillage

A - Papers appearing in refereed journals

Jowett, K., Milne, A. E., Garrett, D., Potts, S. G., Senapathi, D. and Storkey, J. 2020. Above- and below-ground assessment of carabid community responses to crop type and tillage. Agricultural and Forest Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12397

AuthorsJowett, K., Milne, A. E., Garrett, D., Potts, S. G., Senapathi, D. and Storkey, J.
Abstract

1) Carabid beetles are major predators in agro-ecosystems. The composition of their communities within crop environments governs the pest control services they provide. An understudied aspect is the distribution of predacious carabid larvae in the soil.
2) We used novel subterranean trapping with standard pitfall trapping, within a multi-crop rotation experiment, to assess the responses of above- and below-ground carabid communities to management practices
3) Crop and trap type significantly affected pooled carabid abundance with an interaction of the two, the highest numbers of carabids were caught in subterranean traps in barley under sown with grass.
4) Trap type accounted for the most variance observed in carabid community composition, followed by crop.
5) Tillage responses were only apparent at the species level for three of the eight species modelled.
6) Responses to crop type varied by species. Most species had higher abundance in under-sown barley, than grass, wheat and barley. Crop differences were greater in the subterranean trap data. For predaceous larvae standard pitfalls showed lowest abundances in under-sown barley, yet subterranean traps revealed actual abundances to be highest in this crop.
7) Comprehensive estimation of ecosystem services should incorporate both above- and below ground community appraisal, towards appropriate management.

KeywordsAgricultural management; Carabid beetles; Tillage; Trapping methodology; Biological pest control; Arable fields; Ecosystem functions; Broom's Barn
Year of Publication2020
JournalAgricultural and Forest Entomology
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/afe.12397
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
FunderUniversity of Reading
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Natural Environment Research Council
Funder project or codeDoctoral Training Partnership (University of Reading)
ASSIST - Achieving Sustainable Agricultural Systems
BBSRC Strategic Programme in Smart Crop Protection
S2N - Soil to Nutrition [ISPG]
Publisher's version
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online21 Jul 2020
Publication process dates
Accepted26 Jun 2020
PublisherWiley
ISSN1461-9555

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