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Pick and Mix: Selecting Flowering Plants to Meet the Requirements of Target Biological Control Insects

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Pick and Mix: Selecting Flowering Plants to Meet the Requirements of Target Biological Control Insects See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260592522 Pick and Mix: Selecting Flowering Plants to Meet the Requirements of Target Biological Control Insects Chapter · April 2012 DOI: 10.1002/9781118231838.ch9 CITATIONS READS 30 244 2 authors: Felix L Wäckers Paul C.J. Van Rijn Biobest Sustainable Crop Management University of Amsterdam 227 PUBLICATIONS 7,479 CITATIONS 53 PUBLICATIONS 2,155 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Yeast inhabiting pollinators and floral rewards: unravelling their impact on insect fitness and plant pollination View project Functional Agrobiodiversity (FAB) in arable landscapes View project All content following this page was uploaded by Paul C.J. Van Rijn on 28 April 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. Chapter 9 Pick and m ix: s electing f lowering p lants to m eet the r equirements of t arget b iological c ontrol i nsects Felix L. W ä ckers and Paul C.J. van Rijn Biodiversity and Insect Pests: Key Issues for Sustainable Management, First Edition. Edited by Geoff M. Gurr, Steve D. Wratten, William E. Snyder, Donna M.Y. Read. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 139 140 Methods INTRODUCTION Box 9.1 The ‘ right kind ’ of Many pollinators and entomophagous arthropods rely diversity on fl oral food (pollen and nectar) at some point during their life cycle (Baggen et al ., 1999 ; Pontin et al ., 2006 ; Olsen and W ä ckers (2007) demonstrated that W ä ckers, 2005 ). The lack of fl oral resources in modern Meteorus autographae parasitoids collected from intensifi ed agricultural systems has long been sus- cotton fi elds bordered by pure stands of cahaba pected to be an important bottleneck for natural pest white vetch ( Vicia sativa × Vicia cordata L.), a control and pollination (Illingworth, 1921 ; van Emden, spe cies selected on the basis of its suitability in 1962 ; Hagen, 1986 ; Biesmeijer et al ., 2006 ). In con- providing nectar, had threefold higher energy servation biological control, diversifi cation of the agro- reserves as compared to unfed individuals. In sharp contrast, M. autographae collected from ecosystem with fl owering vegetation is seen as an cotton fi elds bordered by botanically diverse bird important tool to support the broad range of predators conservation margins showed no elevation in and parasitoids that require nectar and pollen sources energy levels and were actually starving. This to survive and reproduce. However, direct and quanti- shows that enhancing benefi cial arthropods tative evidence for the impact of such landscape man- through diversifi cation of agroecosystems is not agement approaches has been scarce (Heimpel and a function of increased botanical diversity per se, Jervis, 2005 ). New biochemical techniques allow us to but depends on the selection of the ‘ right ’ fl ower- analyse the gut content of fi eld collected insects ing plants. (Heimpel et al ., 2004 ). These methods not only quan- tify the nutritional state of even the smallest individual predator or parasitoid in the fi eld, but also provide information on their feeding history and food source use (W ä ckers and Steppuhn, 2003 ). This methodology position matches the behaviour, morphology and has generated the fi rst proof that insects in agricultural physiology of target organisms (W ä ckers, 2005 ; landscapes lacking fl oral resources can be severely Fiedler et al ., 2008 ). food - deprived (Olsen and W ä ckers, 2007 ; Winkler While recent studies have increased insight into et al ., 2009a ). It has also proven to be an effective the suitability of fl owering plants for entomophagous tool to quantify the impact of landscape management arthropods, seed mixes for conservation biological strategies on the nutritional state of predators and control programmes have long been selected more or parasitoids in the fi eld. This provides sound data for less arbitrarily (Gurr et al ., 2005 ). These shotgun the optimisation of conservation biological control approaches have been ‘ hit and miss ’ in terms of their programmes (Box 9.1 ). This shows that enhancing effectiveness in supporting benefi cial arthropods benefi cial arthropods through diversifi cation of agro- (Andow, 1991 ). An uninformed choice of non - crop ecosystems is not a function of increased botanical vegetation not only means missing out on potential diversity per se, but depends on the selection of the benefi ts but may also actually generate negative effects. ‘ right ’ fl owering plants. We know from pollination Figure 9.1 illustrates the complexities inherent in the ecology that plant – pollinator interactions can be notion that fl oral resources might benefi t biological often highly specifi c and that plants have evolved control; achieving this outcome depends on avoiding a many mechanisms through which they can exclude series of potential negative effects. It is, therefore, no visitors other than the intended specialised pollina- surprise that arbitrarily composed fl oral vegetation can tors (Waser et al ., 1996 ). Specifi city of fl ower exploi- increase pest populations (Baggen and Gurr, 1998 ; tation can be based on the apparency and accessibility W ä ckers et al ., 2007 ; Winkler et al ., 2010 ) and popula- of fl owers, as well as the nectar/pollen composition tions of higher trophic level organisms (Araj et al ., (W ä ckers, 2005 ). It is thus not surprising that groups 2008 ), while these structures can also serve as a sink, of entomophagous arthropods may differ in the range attracting benefi cial species away from the crop of nectar and pollen sources they can exploit. The (Dunning et al ., 1992 ). impact of fl oral resources on biological control can The selection of fl oral vegetation to maximise eco- be optimised by selecting those fl owers whose availa- system services, such as biological control and pollina- bility, appearance, accessibility and chemical com- tion, requires an understanding of the biology and Pick and mix 141 Unsuccessful in finding suitable flowers Successful in finding suitable flowers Energy/time lost that could have been - Foraging + Low mortality risk associated used for other life history functions with flower foraging High mortality risk Floral resources are not accessible - Consumption of floral resources + Flowers provide accessible resources or have been depleted in sufficient quantity Feeding does not translate into Food can be successfully metabolized Feeding translates into enhanced enhanced energy levels, activity or - + Metabolism energy levels, activity life history functions (e.g. toxic nectar) and/or supports life history functions Floral benefits to pests or 4th trophic level Little floral benefits to pests -+- Population dynamics & or 4th trophic level. outweigh predator/parasitoid benefits. interaction with pest species Increased predator/prey ratio. Overall increased pest problems Improved pest control Figure 9.1 The interactions with and at fl oral resources can have positive as well as negative effects on predators and parasitoids at various levels. At each level examples of positive and negative impacts are presented. ecology of the benefi cial species delivering these serv- METHODS OF S TUDYING F LOWER ices. Based on existing insights in insect – plant interac- E XPLOITATION tions, specifi c fl oral seed mixtures can be developed which target specifi c pollinators and/or fl ower - visiting Previously, Jervis et al . (2004) reviewed approaches biocontrol agents (W ä ckers et al ., 1996 ; Pontin et al ., used to study the effect of habitat manipulation on 2006 ; Van Rijn and W ä ckers, 2010 ). This habitat parasitoids and biological control. Here this review is management strategy has been demonstrated to be extended to include methods used to study various effective in enhancing the nutritional state of targeted predators, with the focus on methods to select fl ower- benefi cial insect groups (Olsen and W ä ckers, 2007 ; ing species for use in such habitat manipulation pro- Lee et al ., 2006 ), as well as their local abundance grammes. Various methods have been employed to (Baggen et al ., 1999 ; Vattala et al ., 2006 ; Pontin et al ., assess the suitability of individual fl owering plant 2006 ; Carvell et al ., 2007 ). species as insect food sources (Table 9.1 ). These can The fi rst part of this chapter gives an overview of the be divided into fi ve main categories: various methods that have been used to study the • Recordings of fl ower choice exploitation of specifi c fl owering plants by parasitoids • Morphometric studies (i.e. measurements of fl ower and predators, while discussing the respective advan- and arthropod mouthpart morphology to assess tages and drawbacks of the various methods. In the whether the mouthparts of the arthropods would the- second part, the specifi c fl oral requirements of differ- oretically allow access to nectaries and anthers) ent groups of biological control agents are discussed. • Establishing consumption, either by assessing weight The focus will be on parasitoids, syrphids, lacewings, increase and/or fi tness benefi ts in laboratory studies or predatory bugs and ladybeetles, representing impor- through (palynological or biochemical) analyses of tant taxa of biological control agents. The level of fi eld collected individuals
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