Discussion on ground beetles and rove beetles as indicators of sustainable agriculture in Latvia: review
2013
Gailis, J., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia) | Turka, I., Latvia Univ. of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia)
Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) as predators of many pests and weeds in every crop are significant elements of integrated pest management. Worldwide studies show that ground beetles reflect different soil tillage methods, crop rotation, chemical and genetic pollution, usage of fertilizers and landscape fragmentation. All these factors are the parameters based on which it is possible to assess agriculture whether it is sustainable or not. Ground beetles also can indicate different farming systems and potentially serve as keystone indicators of pest abundance. Thus ground beetles can be good indicators of sustainable agriculture, but rove beetles have a good potential to do it. Researches on crop dwelling ground beetles and rove beetles have been done infrequently in Latvia. Mainly these are faunistic studies not paying attention to agricultural environmental factor effect to ground beetles and rove beetles. For using ground beetles and rove beetles as indicators of sustainable agriculture in Latvia, studies on these beetles reaction to different farming activities should be done. These studies must occur in different crops and different places of country, because ground beetle and rove beetle reflection to changes of agricultural environmental factors may be crop- and site - or even field-specific. Overview of literature on ground and rove beetles’ ecology in agroecosystems recorded in Latvia, other European countries and Northern America has been used for this study.
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