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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Southeast Watershed Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336778
Research Project: Ecology and Biologically-based Management Systems for Insect Pests in Agricultural Landscapes in the Southeastern Region

Location: Southeast Watershed Research

Title: Region, landscape, and host plant effects on reproduction by a mobile, multivoltine arthropod herbivore

Author
item Olson, Dawn
item PRESCOTT, KRISTINA - University Of Minnesota
item ZEILINGER, ADAM - University Of California
item HOU, SUQIN - Harvard University
item Coffin, Alisa
item Smith, Coby
item RUBERSON, JOHN - Kansas State University
item ANDOW, DAVID - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: US-International Association for Landscape Ecology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/16/2016
Publication Date: 4/10/2017
Citation: Olson, D.M., Prescott, K., Zeilinger, A., Hou, S., Coffin, A.W., Smith, C.M., Ruberson, J., Andow, D. 2017. Region, landscape, and host plant effects on reproduction by a mobile, multivoltine arthropod herbivore [abstract]. US-International Association for Landscape Ecology.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Community structure, species abundance, and biotic interactions of invertebrate species in farmlands are influenced by larger-scale processes at region and landscape levels. While previous work makes clear the importance of landscape factors for natural enemy populations, relatively less is known about their influence on arthropod pest populations. The economically important brown stink bug, Euschistus servus, is a mobile, multivoltine pest of many crops in southeastern USA. We estimated its finite rate of population increase (lambda) in 192 fields in two regions on four major crop hosts—maize, peanut, cotton and soybean—over three years in southern Georgia. In addition, we estimated the densities of predatory fire ants and Geocoris spp. and used a geographic information system (GIS) to characterize the surrounding landscape structure (proportion of land-use types, connectivity of host cropland). Penalized regression was used to identify the subset of local and landscape characteristics and predator densities that account for variation in lambda. Higher fire ant density was associated with lower lambda. Common measures of landscape complexity, such as % green-veining, had very little association. However, a higher proportion of peanut or maize, a lower proportion of cotton or soybean in the landscape, and shorter distances to soybean were associated with higher lambda. These landscape associations are more complex and subtle than those previously described for other arthropod pests.