Intensification of Paddy Cultivation in Relation to Changing Agrobiodiversity Patterns and Social-Ecological Processes in South India
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Intensification of paddy cultivation in relation to changing agrobiodiversity patterns and social-ecological processes in South India Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Fakultät für Agrarwissenschaften der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen vorgelegt von Lydia Betz geboren am 17.2.1984 Göttingen, Mai 2015 D 7 1. Referentin/Referent: .Prof. Dr. Teja Tscharntke 2. Korreferentin/Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Stefan Vidal Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 23. Juli 2015 TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 2 STUDY REGION: WAYANAD DISTRICT IN KERALA, SOUTH INDIA ............................................. 3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER OUTLINE .................................................................................................................. 6 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 PADDY WEEDS, PESTS AND PREDATORS RESPOND TO AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AT LOCAL AND LANDSCAPE SCALES ......................................................................... 11 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 12 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 12 MATERIAL AND METHODS..................................................................................................... 15 Study Area ........................................................................................................................ 15 Experimental design ......................................................................................................... 15 Data collection .................................................................................................................. 16 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................................ 17 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 18 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 21 Adjacent habitat ................................................................................................................ 21 Grass density and weed richness ...................................................................................... 22 Planthopper abundance .................................................................................................... 22 Fertiliser application ......................................................................................................... 23 Within field location: from edge to centre to bund .......................................................... 23 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 24 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 24 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 25 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER 2 SPIDER FAMILIES AND SPIDER WEBS IN INDIAN RICE FIELDS – AN ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL AND LANDSCAPE EFFECTS ............................................................................................................ 39 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 40 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 41 MATERIAL AND METHODS..................................................................................................... 42 Study site .......................................................................................................................... 42 Experimental design ......................................................................................................... 43 Data collection .................................................................................................................. 44 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................................ 46 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 47 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 53 Planthoppers, Lepidoptera and other insect prey ............................................................. 53 Weed cover and richness .................................................................................................. 55 Adjacent habitat and management ................................................................................... 55 Spider web sampling ........................................................................................................ 56 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 56 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 57 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 57 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER 3 THE SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL WEB: A BRIDGING CONCEPT FOR TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................................... 77 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 78 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 78 Wayanad: a biocultural diversity hotspot ......................................................................... 79 RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 80 Research ethics ................................................................................................................. 80 Data collection methods ................................................................................................... 81 Data analysis: the social ecological web .......................................................................... 81 How to construct a social-ecological web ........................................................................ 82 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 82 Comparing three Adivasi communities using the social-ecological web ........................ 82 The Social-ecological web method – a useful tool? ......................................................... 86 Challenges of integrating different disciplines and stakeholders ..................................... 87 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 88 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... 88 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 89 SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 91 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG .................................................................................................................................. 95 PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 99 CURRICULUM VITAE ................................................................................................................................. 101 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 103 __________________________________ Introduction __________________________________ 1 _______________________________ Introduction _________________________________ INTRODUCTION Paddy (Oriza sativa) is an annual grass, probably domesticated roughly 9,000 years ago in several Asian regions independently (Khush 1997). Today it is the most widely distributed crop in the world and one of the world's most important food crop. Adaptable to a large