Biodiversity Commons^™

Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, And Viruses Potential Vectors?, Caroline Barreto Viera, Yanna Reis Praça, Kaio Luis Da Silva Bentes, Paula Beatriz Santiago, Sofia Marcelino Martins Silva, Gabriel Dos Santos Silva, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos, Jaime Martins De Santana, Carla Nunes De Araújo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission …

13 Terrestrial Wetlands, Randall Kolka, Carl T Trettin

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

The objective of this chapter is to characterize the distribution of carbon stocks and fluxes in terrestrial wetlands within North America. The approach was to synthesize available literature from field measurements with analyses of resource inventory data to estimate wetland area, carbon stocks, and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon and methane (CH4) fluxes of terrestrial wetlands (see Appendices 13A, p. 547, and 13B, p. 557, for details1). Then, the findings employed from large-scale simulation studies provided additional context, with consideration given to the effects of disturbance regimes, restoration and creation of terrestrial wetlands, and the application of modeling tools …

Museum Metabarcoding: A Novel Method Revealing Gut Helminth Communities Of Small Mammals Across Space And Time, Stephen E. Greiman, Joseph A. Cook, Vasyl V. Tkach, Eric P. Hoberg, Damian M. Menning, Andrew G. Hope, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra L. Talbot

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Natural history collections spanning multiple decades provide fundamental historical baselines to measure and understand changing biodiversity. New technologies such as next generation DNA sequencing have considerably increased the potential of museum specimens to address significant questions regarding the impact of environmental changes on host and parasite/pathogen dynamics. We developed a new technique to identify intestinal helminth parasites and applied it to shrews (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) because they are ubiquitous, occupy diverse habitats, and host a diverse and abundant parasite fauna. Notably, we included museum specimens preserved in various ways to explore the efficacy of using metabarcoding analyses that may enable identification …

A Glimpse Into The Ecological Communities Of Camp Greenwood, Rachael Noteboom

Honors Projects

There is a Presbyterian summer camp near Greenville, Michigan that is home to beautiful wetlands with a variety of wildlife. This camp is nestled between multiple larger connected lakes and surrounded by many large waterfront properties. The number of campers has dwindled in recent years and the council in charge of the land is desperate to sell the most ecologically important sections of the camp, if not all of the land, to developers for multi-million dollar price tags. My dad is on the committee trying to convince the council and the community to save the camp from development.

I surveyed …

The European Union And The Establishment Of Marine Protected Areas In Antarctica, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines how the EU can best use its powers to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctica. It first discusses the EU’s role in Antarctic governance and legal basis for the EU’s actions, with particular focus on the pending Joined Cases C-625/15 and C-659/16 at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Secondly, the paper analyses the negotiation process of the EU’s MPA proposals in the Southern Ocean within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Thirdly, it provides suggestions regarding the EU’s potential actions that might help achieve proposed Antarctic MPAs.

Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Alignments For Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Shrimp Genus Farfantepenaeus, Laura Timm, S. Simon, Heather Bracken-Grissom Dr.

DEEPEND Datasets

This dataset includes 12S, 16S, and COI sequence data. Sequences were obtained from the eight recognized species of Farfantepenaeus: F. aztecus, F. brasiliensis, F. brevirostris, F. californiensis, F. duorarum, F. isabelae, F. notialis, and F. subtilis. Also included are several sequences from species of Litopenaeus, which serve as outgroup(s).

Landscape Genetics Reveal Broad And Fine‐Scale Population Structure Due To Landscape Features And Climate History In The Northern Leopard Frog (Rana Pipiens) In North Dakota, Justin M. Waraniak, Justin D. L. Fisher, Kevin Purcell, David M. Mushet, Craig A. Stockwell

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Prehistoric climate and landscape features play large roles structuring wildlife populations. The amphibians of the northern Great Plains of North America present an opportunity to investigate how these factors affect colonization, migration, and current population genetic structure. This study used 11 microsatellite loci to genotype 1,230 northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) from 41 wetlands (30 samples/wetland) across North Dakota. Genetic structure of the sampled frogs was evaluated using Bayesian and multivariate clustering methods. All analyses produced concordant results, identifying a major east–west split between two R. pipiens population clusters separated by the Missouri River. Substructuring within the two major identified …

Landscape Genetics Reveal Broad And Fine‐Scale Population Structure Due To Landscape Features And Climate History In The Northern Leopard Frog (Rana Pipiens) In North Dakota, Justin M. Waraniak, Justin D.L. Fisher, Kevin Purcell, David M. Mushet, Craig A. Stockwell

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Prehistoric climate and landscape features play large roles structuring wildlife populations. The amphibians of the northern Great Plains of North America present an opportunity to investigate how these factors affect colonization, migration, and current population genetic structure. This study used 11 microsatellite loci to genotype 1,230 northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) from 41 wetlands (30 samples/wetland) across North Dakota. Genetic structure of the sampled frogs was evaluated using Bayesian and multivariate clustering methods. All analyses produced concordant results, identifying a major east–west split between two R. pipiens population clusters separated by the Missouri River. Substructuring within the two major identified …

Multi-Element Fingerprinting Of Waters To Evaluate Connectivity Among Depressional Wetlands, Yuxiang Yuan, Xiaoyan Zhu, David M. Mushet, Marinus L. Otte

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Establishing the connectivity among depressional wetlands is important for their proper management, conservation and restoration. In this study, the concentrations of 38 elements in surface water and porewater of depressional wetlands were investigated to determine chemical and hydrological connectivity of three hydrological types: recharge, flow-through, and discharge, in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Most element concentrations of porewater varied significantly by wetland hydrologic type (p < 0.05), and increased along a recharge to discharge hydrologic gradient. Significant spatial variation of element concentrations in surface water was observed in discharge wetlands. Generally, higher element concentrations occurred in natural wetlands compared to wetlands with known disturbances (previous drainage and grazing). Electrical conductivity explained 42.3% and 30.5% of the variation of all element concentrations in porewater and surface water. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis showed that the similarity decreased from recharge to flowthrough to discharge wetland in each sampling site. Cluster analysis confirmed that element compositions in porewater of interconnected wetlands were more similar to each other than to those of wetlands located farther away. Porewater and surface water in a restored wetland showed similar multi-element characteristics to natural wetlands. In contrast, depressional wetlands connected by seeps along a deactivated drain-tile path and a grazed wetland showed distinctly different multi-element characteristics compared to other wetlands sampled. Our findings confirm that the multi-element fingerprinting method can be useful for assessing hydro-chemical connectivity across the landscape, and indicate that element concentrations are not only affected by land use, but also by hydrological characteristics.

Contemporary Sunday Hunting Laws: Unnecessary Economic Roadblocks, Ripe For Repeal, Seamus Ovitt

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In America, Sunday closing laws, laws restricting what activities individuals could engage in, date back to the early colonial period; those early laws, like much of North American jurisprudence, trace their roots to the laws that existed in England at the time. Historically, however, laws restricting the behavior of individuals, specifically on Sundays, date back thousands of years; initially, their language was tied directly to that of the Old Testament. As God declared:

[s]ix days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: [in it] thou shalt not …

The Future Of Biodiversity Assessment: Using Environmental Dna And Next-Generation Sequencing To Characterize Biological Communities In The Central Highlands Of Arizona, Courtney Turner-Rathbone

Undergraduate Research Symposium - Prescott

Historically ecological surveys require significant man hours in the field, utilizing methods which can stress species being observed. In using environmental DNA (eDNA) gathered from air, soil, and water, traditional methods may be supplemented or reduced in order to more efficiently utilize funding and reduce or eliminate stress on surveyed species. Water was collected in replicates using aseptic technique from two different sites, 60 miles apart, along the Verde River. Samples were vacuum filtered within 24 hours through 0.45 μm cellulose nitrate (CN) filters to collect eDNA. DNA extraction from the filters was performed. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was …

Notes On The Genera Buthacus, Compsobuthus, And Lanzatus With Several Synonymies And Corrections Of Published Characters (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík

Euscorpius

The taxonomic position of Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013, B. clevai Lourenço, 2001, B. huberi Lourenço, 2001, B. maliensis Lourenço & Qi, 2007, B. nigerianus Lourenço & Qi, 2006, Compsobuthus andresi Lourenço, 2004, C. simoni Lourenço, 1999, C. tassili Lourenço, 2010, C. tofti Lourenço, 2001, C. williamsi Lourenço, 1999, and Sabinebuthus elegans Lourenço, 2001 is revised and fictitious characters in their original descriptions are discussed and corrected. Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013 is synonymized with Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829) syn. n., B. huberi Lourenço, 2001 is confirmed to be a synonym of Buthacus occidentalis Vachon, 1953, B. maliensis Lourenço & Qi, …

Checklist Of Bloodfeeding Mites (Acari: Spinturnicidae) From The Wings Of Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) In The Manú Biosphere Reserve, Peru, Donald Gettinger

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

A survey collection of mites of the family Spinturnicidae from Peruvian bats includes 11 species of Periglischrus (acutisternus, gameroi, grandisoma, herrerai, hopkinsi, iheringi, micronycteridis, ojasti, paracutisternus, paravargasi, and ramirezi) and 2 Spinturnix (americanus and bakeri); almost all represent new locality records. This survey collection is available for further study at the following repositories: The Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; and the Laboratório de Espeleobiologia y Acarologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. When spinturnicid mites are …

Pemban Farmer Agency In Adapting To Climate Change, Rachael Hood

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As a result of climate change, agricultural societies will be challenged by a variety of altered conditions, including increased severe weather events, saltwater intrusion, pest and disease outbreaks, and higher temperatures. The island of Pemba, in the Zanzibar archipelago, is home to many small-scale agriculturalists. During this study, I interviewed Pemban farmers in the districts of Wete and Micheweni about their awareness of the impacts of climate change and the mitigation strategies that they have implemented. The results from Pemba were compared to relevant academic literature regarding climate change to explore whether disparities exist between models of climate change in …

Correlations Between Reef Health And Vertical Zonation On Ushongo Village Reef And Fungu Zinga Reef, Daniel Gates

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

While the existence of vertical zonation on coral reefs is well-known, the driving mechanisms and the influence each has is not clear. This study seeks to investigate the influence of reef health on vertical zonation. Reef health is used as a potential factor since it is essentially a broad description of reef diversity. Therefore, a healthy reef which is very diverse is likely to have more and different interspecies interactions than an unhealthy one. This project investigates whether these altered interactions results in different depth distributions of various coral types, categorized broadly by colony shape. Reef health did not seem …

A Catalog Of Orchid Species And Their Distribution In Mazumbai Forest Reserve, Tanga Region, Tanzania, Sierra Loomis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although orchids are common in Mazumbai Forest Reserve (MFR), there are limited resources on where they grow and how to identify them. The primary objective of this study is to create an updated catalog of orchids in MFR, using species abundance, richness and diversity of the orchids as indicators of where orchids prefer to grow in MFR. Orchid species vary greatly as altitude changes, making it important to survey orchids across different altitudes. Therefore, Mazumbai Forest was split into five different altitudinal bands spanning 1400 – 1900m and six 100 x 20m plots in each band were surveyed for both …

Fish Diversity And Distribution In The Seagrass-Coral Reef Continuum At Two Sites Off The Western Coast Of Isla Bastimentos, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Kathy Liu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystem and the largest biogenic structure on Earth. They serve as shelter for many reef fishes and are a food source for resident and visiting fish species. In the tropics, coral reefs are often in close proximity to seagrass beds and the two contiguous marine habitats are not only highly interconnected but also highly understudied. The seagrass-coral reef continuum offers a wide array of services to human society as well as to various life stages of reef fishes resulting in diel, temporal, or yearly migrations of fish between the two habitats. Tropical reef …

Expanding Instream Flows To Protect Ecosystems In Overallocated River Basins, Belize A. Lane, David E. Rosenberg

Reports

Utahns are expressing a rapidly growing interest in protecting and enhancing instream flows for outdoor recreation and environmental benefits (Endter-Wada et al. 2015). However, many Utah rivers are already over-allocated for agricultural, municipal, hydropower and other water uses, making it difficult to procure additional water for instream flows. ‘Use it or lose it’ western water law and mentality encourages Utahns to use water rather than return it to rivers and ecosystems.

This briefing reviews existing instream flow practices allowed by the Utah water rights system and the challenges to implementation. We suggest key technical and legislative opportunities within and outside …

Reframing The Sustainable Development Goals To Achieve Sustainability In The Anthropocene — A Systems Approach, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Peter Sogaard Jorgensen, Carina Wyborn

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Griggs et al. (2013) redefine sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding Earth’s life-support system, on which the welfare of current and future generations depend.” We recommend this as the end goal that the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) should strive to achieve. Integration across the SDGs is less than what is required from a science perspective. Effective implementation of the SDGs will require States to attend to trade-offs and overlaps. We argue that continuous failure to address integration within the SDGs will jeopardize realization of this ultimate end goal. Therefore, we adopt …

Large Mammals Of The High Andes A Survey Of Community Composition And Habitat Usage In The Highlands Of Angochagua, Sage Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The large mammal community of the high Andes may be the least understood in South America. It contains multiple threatened and charismatic species including the Andean Bear, Mountain Tapir, Red Brocket Deer, Northern Pudu, and Puma. Many of these species are lacking in distribution and population data. The highlands of the Parroquia de Angochagua were once overgrazed by livestock, but have been mostly restored over the last 20 years through conservation efforts by the local community. These highlands are thought to have populations of all the previously mentioned species, though they had not been surveyed before this study. Transect surveys …

The Value Of Chemical Defense: The Effects Of Toxin Milking On The Physical, Physiological, And Behavioral Performance Of Cane Toads (Rhinella Marina), Ryann Blennerhassett

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Amphibians have cutaneous glands on their skin which produce a number of toxic compounds that serve as protection against predators and microorganisms. Cane toads (Rhinella marina) have large parotoid glands located on their shoulders to store toxins, many of which are derived from lipids and are thus energetically expensive to produce. I used a combination of field and laboratory studies to investigate behavioral and physiological consequences of toxin loss and replenishment in cane toads. In a cross-sectional study, free-ranging toads were euthanized and dissected to identify correlations between toxin content and morphology /physiology. Experimental manipulations (manually expressing toxin from glands) …

Three New Chaerilus From Malaysia (Tioman Island) And Thailand (Scorpiones: Chaerilidae), With A Review Of C. Cimrmani, C. Sejnai, And C. Tichyi, František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

Chaerilus majkusi sp. n. from Malaysia (Tioman Island), C. neradorum sp. n. and C. stockmannorum sp. n. from Thailand are described and fully illustrated with color photographs of live and preserved specimens, as well as of their habitat. They are compared to the species C. cimrmani Kovařík, 2012, C. sejnai Kovařík, 2005, and C. tichyi Kovařík, 2000, which we also illustrate with color photographs of live unpublished specimens. Hemispermatophores of C. cimrmani, C. majkusi sp .n., C. stockmannorum sp. n., and C. tichyi are illustrated and compared, and we also describe the karyotypes of C. cimrmani, C. …

Identification Of Microbiota Associated With The Ectosymbiotic Community Structure Of The Appalachian Brook Crayfish (Cambarus Bartonii), Matthew M. Cooke 6268927, Luke T. Fischer, Taylor Griffin, Sherrie Jeffers

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Microbes play a significant role in ecosystems, effecting the vital functions of other organisms, interspecies relationships, and population sizes. Based upon previous research (Skelton et al., 2016), it has been hypothesized that crayfish symbionts (branchiobdellidans) play a significant role in regulating the amount of microbiota associated with the host. A growing body of knowledge is known regarding both the condition of gill fouling and the annelid worm’s symbiotic relationship with the crayfish (Skelton et al., 2016; Skelton et al., 2016). However, there is little to no evidence available concerning the bacteria’s role in the process (Skelton et al., 2016). Microbial …

Acarine Biodiversity In Ecuador: Two New Species Of Endoparasitic Chiggers (Acarina: Trombiculidae) From Terrestrial Andean Anurans, Ricardo Guerrero, Mario Humberto Yánez-Muñoz

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Two species of endoparasitic chiggers, Vercammenia neotropica n. sp. and Microtrombicula ecuadorensis n. sp., are described, both found in terrestrial anurans of the genus Pristimantis collected in the Andes of Ecuador. A new combination is proposed for Trombicula yorkei Sambon, 1928 as Microtrombicula yorkei (Sambon, 1928) n. comb., and Schoengastia lynni Ewing, 1942 is placed as incertae sedis. This is the first record of species of the genus Vercammenia in the Neotropical region.

Resumen

Dos especies de ácaros endoparásitos, Vercammenia neotropica n. sp. y Microtrombicula ecuadorensis n. sp., son descritas, ambas encontradas en anuros terrestres del género Pristimantis …

Cryptic Diversity In The North American Dromochorus Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae): A Congruence-Based Method For Species Discovery, Daniel P. Duran, David P. Herrman, Stephen J. Roman, Rodger A. Gwiazdowski, Jennifer A. Drummond, Glen R. Hood, Scott P. Egan

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

A fundamental problem in biodiversity science is determining the number of species in any taxon, and there is a growing awareness that cryptic diversity contributes to this problem – even in well-studied groups. Discovering cryptic species requires several lines of evidence to elucidate congruent patterns across data-types, and distinguish unrecognized species. Tiger beetles are among the most well-studied insect groups; yet few new North American species have been described since the mid-20th century, suggesting that that the number of morphologically distinct species is reaching an asymptote. We explore the possibility that more species exist in the fauna as cryptic species, …

Conservation Of Aquatic Biodiversity In The Context Of Multiple-Use Management On National Forest System Lands, Brett B. Roper, James M. Capurso, Yvette Paroz, Michael K. Young

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) manages 193 million acres of public lands across 43 states and Puerto Rico. The original intent behind reserving lands managed by the USFS was to improve and protect forests, secure favorable conditions for water flows, and furnish a continuous supply of timber for the nation. Through time national forests have evolved, so they are managed for a broad array of uses. Differing expectations have led to conflicts between aquatic conservation and other aspects of the USFS’ mandate. In the 1990s, these conflicting goals came to a head with the listing of the …

Comparison Of An Endangered Species’ Seed Bank Before And After Ungulate Removal, Melanie K. Phillips, Kathryn Mceachern

STAR Program Research Presentations

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the removal of ungulates on the soil seed bank of the endemic Santa Rosa Island manzanita (Arctostaphylos confertiflora). A. confertiflora was trampled and browsed by non-native ungulates between the years 1850 and 2011 which reduced its ability to produce seeds.This species is an obligate seeder, meaning that sprouting from seeds in the soil is its only method of reproduction. Due in part to the lack of its soil seed bank, this species was federally listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997. In order to …

Review Of The Genus Babycurus Karsch, 1886 (Arachnida, Scorpiones, Buthidae), With Descriptions Of Barbaracurus Gen. N. And Two New Species From Oman And Yemen, František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

The genus Babycurus Karsch, 1886 sensu lato is split into two genera, a strictly African genus Babycurus, and the new genus Barbaracurus gen. n., which mainly includes species from the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Two new species Barbaracurus winklerorum sp. n. from Oman and B. yemenensis sp. n. from Yemen are described, compared with other species, and fully illustrated with color photos of morphology, habitus, live specimens and collection localities. Males of Barbaracurus somalicus (Hirst, 1907) comb. n. and Barbaracurus zambonellii (Borelli, 1902) comb. n. are recorded for the first time and fully illustrated. Babycurus ornatus …

Multiple Facets Of Biodiversity Drive The Diversity-Stability Relationship, Dylan Craven, Nico Eisenhauer, William D. Pearse, Yann Hautier, Christiane Roscher, Forest Isbell, Michael Bahn, Carl Beierkuhnlein, Gerhard Bönisch, Nina Buchmann, Chaeho Byun, Jane A. Catford, Bruno E.L. Cerabolini, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, Joseph M. Craine, Enrica De Luca, Anne Ebeling, John N. Griffin, Andy Hector, Jes Hines, Anke Jentsch, Jens Kattge, Jürgen Kreyling, Vojtech Lanta, Nathan Lemoine, Sebastian T. Meyer, Vanessa Minden, Vladimir Onipchenko, H. Wayne Polley, Peter B. Reich, Jasper Van Ruijven, Brandon Schamp, Melinda D. Smith, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, David Tilman, Alexandra Weigelt, Brian Wilsey, Peter Manning

Biology Faculty Publications

A significant body of evidence has demonstrated that biodiversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning over time in grassland ecosystems. However, the relative importance of different facets of biodiversity underlying the diversity–stability relationship remains unclear. Here we used data from 39 biodiversity experiments and structural equation modeling to investigate the roles of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and both the diversity and community-weighted mean of functional traits representing the ‘fast–slow’ leaf economics spectrum in driving the diversity–stability relationship. We found that high species richness and phylogenetic diversity stabilize biomass production via enhanced asynchrony. Contrary to our hypothesis, low phylogenetic diversity also enhances ecosystem stability …

Crop Pests And Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses To Surrounding Landscape Composition, Daniel S. Karp, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Timothy D. Meehan, Emily A. Martin, Fabrice Declerck, Heather Grab, Claudio Gratton, Lauren Hunt, Ashley E. Larsen, Alejandra Martínez-Salinas, Megan E. O’Rourke, Adrien Rusch, Katja Poveda, Mattias Jonsson, Jay A. Rosenheim, Nancy A. Schellhorn, Teja Tscharntke, Stephen D. Wratten, Wei Zhang, Aaron L. Iverson, Lynn S. Adler, Matthias Albrecht, Audrey Alignier, Gina M. Angelella, Muhammad Zubair Anjum, Jacques Avelino, Péter Batáry, Johannes M. Baveco, Felix J. J. A. Bianchi, Klaus Birkhofer, David J. Gonthier

Entomology Faculty Publications

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop …