Biodiversity drivers of arthropod pest regulation services in tropical agroecosystems of La Réunion island, a first systemic insight
Neve De Mevergnies, Thibault | Huat, Joël | Haran, Julien | Delaunay, T. | Tixier, Marie-Stéphane | Chailleux, Anaïs
Natural pest regulation is a key ecosystem service to achieve agroecological intensification. However, its routine integration to pest management strategies is pending because of its unpredictability, hampering the trust of producers to rely on this service. To reduce this knowledge gap and increase foresight of natural pest regulation in production systems, we studied its drivers in vegetable crop fields in La Réunion, a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. We selected and characterized 20 fields representing the diversity of the grown crops, surrounding habitats, management practices and seasonality of the island. We then assessed the plant and arthropod communities associated with the crop and its margins using quadrats and non-selective interception and pitfall traps. We also observed the presence of pests and their natural enemies on the crop, whilst measuring crop damages and yield. Finally, the surrounding landscape was described at the short scale (within 500m) through GIS. Results demonstrated the strong relation between plant diversity and arthropod diversity, with subsequent consequences on pest abundance and pressure. Effects of the management practices and the landscape on these interactions were highlighted and discussed. Aside increased knowledge concerning systemic pest regulation mechanisms, this study opens the discussion on the utility of the development of bioindicators of these services. Such tools are expected to help stakeholders to further mobilize and integrate these services in their management strategies.
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