Abstract
Abstract Conventional agriculture in the global north is typically characterized by large monocultures, commonly managed with high levels of pesticide or fertilizer input and mechanization. Strip intercropping, that is, diversifying cropland by growing strips of different crops using conventional machinery, may be a viable strategy to promote natural predator diversity and associated biological pest control in such conventional farming systems. We tested the influence of strip intercropping of conventionally managed winter wheat with oilseed rape, using common machinery with 27–36 m broad strips, on arthropod predator diversity and biological pest control. We characterized spider and carabid beetle communities, calculated pest aphid and pollen beetle densities and recorded parasitism rates for both crops (number of mummified aphids on wheat and number of parasitized pollen beetle larvae on oilseed rape). We observed a significant reduction in the densities of wheat aphids (50% decrease) and pollen beetle larvae (20% decrease) in strip intercropping areas compared to monocultures. Parasitism rates of wheat aphids increased significantly from 10% in monocultures to 25% in strip intercropping areas. The number of parasitized pollen beetle larvae did not show the same pattern but was higher towards the centre of the oilseed rape strip. Overall, the composition of predator communities benefited from the close neighbourhood of the two crop species in the strips, as carabid beetles were more abundant in oilseed rape and spiders were more abundant in wheat fields. Overall, strip intercropping reduced the dominance of one predator group and allowed for an equal representation of both spiders and carabid beetles in the mixture. Synthesis and applications . Our study presents evidence of the benefits of adopting strip intercropping with relatively large strips (adapted to existing machinery) for natural predator diversity and biological pest control in a large‐scale conventionally managed farm scenario. Wheat–oilseed rape strip intercropping reduced pest densities, increased parasitism of wheat aphids and promoted equal representation of natural predator groups well beyond the areas of monoculture. Overall, by reducing the area dedicated to only one crop, the implementation of strip intercropping adapted to mechanized agricultural scenarios can be used to increase crop heterogeneity at regional scales and enhance biodiversity and biological control, even in simplified landscapes dominated by large‐scale conventional agriculture.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Strip intercropping reduced wheat aphid density by 50% relative to monoculture.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- strip intercroppinge0
- Interactor
- aphidsAphidomorphae0pest
- Outcome
- densities of wheat aphidse0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 50%e0
- Comparator
- monoculturese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“We observed a significant reduction in the densities of wheat aphids (50% decrease) and pollen beetle larvae (20% decrease) in strip intercropping areas compared to monocultures.”
Claim · model-written summary
Strip intercropping reduced pollen beetle larval density by 20%.
- Taxon
- wheat and oilseed rape
_Brassica_napus_-_Habit.jpg?width=60)
Brassica napusTriticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- strip intercroppinge0
- Interactor
- pollen beetlee0pest
- Outcome
- pollen beetle larvaee0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Value
- 20%e0
- Comparator
- monoculturese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_Brassica_napus_-_Habit.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“We observed a significant reduction in the densities of wheat aphids (50% decrease) and pollen beetle larvae (20% decrease) in strip intercropping areas compared to monocultures.”
t0“wheat and oilseed rape”
Claim · model-written summary
Wheat aphid parasitism rose from 10% in monoculture to 25% in strips.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Treatment
- strip intercropping arease0
- Interactor
- aphidsAphidomorphae0pest
- Outcome
- Parasitism rates of wheat aphidse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 25%e0
- Qualifier
- 10%e0
- Comparator
- monoculturese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Parasitism rates of wheat aphids increased significantly from 10% in monocultures to 25% in strip intercropping areas.”
Claim · model-written summary
Parasitized pollen beetle larvae were more numerous toward the rape strip centre.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napuse0
- Interactor
- pollen beetlee0pest
- Outcome
- number of parasitized pollen beetle larvaee0
- Direction
- highere0
- Setting
- centre of the oilseed rape stripe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The number of parasitized pollen beetle larvae did not show the same pattern but was higher towards the centre of the oilseed rape strip.”
Claim · model-written summary
Carabid beetles were more abundant in oilseed rape.
- Taxon
- oilseed rapeBrassica napuse0
- Interactor
- carabid beetlese0other
- Outcome
- carabid beetlese0
- Direction
- more abundante0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“carabid beetles were more abundant in oilseed rape and spiders were more abundant in wheat fields.”
Claim · model-written summary
Spiders were more abundant in wheat fields.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Outcome
- spiderse0
- Direction
- more abundante0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“carabid beetles were more abundant in oilseed rape and spiders were more abundant in wheat fields.”
Claim · model-written summary
Strip intercropping reduced dominance by one predator group and equalized spider and carabid representation.
- Taxon
- wheat and oilseed rapeBrassica napusTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- strip intercroppinge0
- Second interactor
- carabid beetlese0other
- Outcome
- equal representation of both spiders and carabid beetlese0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“strip intercropping reduced the dominance of one predator group and allowed for an equal representation of both spiders and carabid beetles in the mixture.”
t0“wheat and oilseed rape”
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See all 5 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.