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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414921
Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Arthropod Diversity Varies with Distance from On-Farm Floral Enhancements at Small Spatial Scales

Author
item ANDERSON, SARAH - University Of Arkansas
item PHAN, NGOC - University Of Arkansas
item MCARTHUR, JONATHAN - University Of Arkansas
item Reddy, Gadi V.P.
item JOSHI, NEELENDRA - University Of Arkansas

Submitted to: Journal of Entomological Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/21/2024
Publication Date: 8/2/2024
Citation: Anderson, S.E., Phan, N.T., Mcarthur, J.M., Reddy, G.V., Joshi, N.K. 2024. Arthropod Diversity Varies with Distance from On-Farm Floral Enhancements at Small Spatial Scales. Journal of Entomological Science. 59(3):1-6. https://doi.org/10.18474/JES24-39.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18474/JES24-39

Interpretive Summary: Agricultural expansion negatively impacts on-farm biodiversity, ecosystem services, and soil health. Specifically, the conversion of natural lands to agricultural lands decreases arthropod diversity, and habitat loss driven by the replacement of wildlands with intensive agriculture is one of the primary drivers of insect declines globally. Our preliminary results suggest that floral enhancements can mediate arthropod communities in nearby target crops to some degree but that the spatial position of floral enhancements relative to target crops needs to be carefully considered, and interactions between farming practices (high tunnel vs. uncovered field) and floral enhancements need to be assessed more thoroughly. Future work assessing the role of floral enhancements in farmscapes should also take into consideration the impacts on production space and other possible downsides of establishing floral enhancements, such as the potential for increased weed pressure as well as tangential benefits of floral enhancements including crop protection against high winds.

Technical Abstract: On-farm habitat enhancements are commonly implemented as adjacent natural habitats, hedgerows, untilled field margins, and floral enhancements . Previous work has shown that floral enhancements increase the prevalence of pollinators and beneficial predators and parasitoids in nearby target crop fields. To evaluate the influence of distance from on-farm floral enhancements to target crops on arthropod communities, we assessed arthropod community diversity, richness, and composition in six target crop plots at varying distances from a 90 sq m floral enhancement. Arthropod communities within target crop plots were assessed by counting the number of individuals within a family observed within each plot three times per week for a period of 5 weeks from July 12 – Aug 19, 2022.Our finding that arthropod diversity decreased with increasing distance from the floral enhancement suggests that the positive benefits of on-farm floral enhancements on arthropod communities may diminish over relatively small distances. Thus, the distance of floral enhancements relative to target crops within farmscapes may impact the potential benefits derived from these habitat enhancements and should be carefully considered by growers who implement this tool.