Pest regulation ecosystem services in croplands under changing landscape conditions

景观条件变化下农田害虫防治生态系统服务

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03175
• 负责人: Galpern, Paul
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=744739
• 关键词: Pest; regulation; ecosystem; services; croplands

Predation by naturally-occurring insects and arthropods can help to control damage to crops caused by insect pests. This biological pest control is part of a portfolio of measures used by farmers to prevent an estimated 18% loss in crop yields, globally, that would otherwise be caused by pests. However, biological control depends on the availability of habitat in agricultural landscapes. Intensive management practices in croplands such as clearing vegetation to expand fields, and climate stressors such as drought, have the potential to affect this ecosystem service by removing or disturbing habitats that support the natural enemies of crop pests. My research program investigates risks to pest regulation ecosystem services by studying the response of natural enemies to changing landscape conditions, such as vegetation clearance and drought, and by exploring the effects natural enemies may have on pest regulation and crop yields. My team of 13 trainees (7 undergraduates, 4 Master's and 2 Doctoral) will use an approach that focuses on the traits of these predators (i.e., their morphological, behavioural, or physiological characteristics). We will collect data in crop fields chosen to represent current landscape conditions that may become more (or less) common in future. Using these data, trainees will test hypotheses that connect current conditions, such as the availability of non-crop vegetation or moisture in a field, with natural enemies and their traits, and model the sensitivity of pest regulation to changes in these conditions. While doing so, trainees will develop transferrable skills in landscape ecology, community ecology, entomology, remote sensing, and advanced statistical methods. At a time of rapid global change, my research program explores a critical connection between biodiversity and ecosystem function that is at risk of disruption. By focusing on the traits of organisms that are present in fields, rather than on the species themselves, our findings will be translatable across cropping systems and continents, contributing to emerging international dialogues on the risks to ecosystem services under global change. We will further innovate by measuring the consequences of pest regulation for crop yield, using precision agricultural data collected from harvesting equipment, and we will develop a new approach for modelling traits and their relationship with services. This work forms part of a longer-term landscape ecological research program aimed at understanding how the environmental conditions in croplands may affect multiple ecosystem services.

自然存在的昆虫和节肢动物的捕食有助于控制害虫对农作物造成的损害。这种生物害虫防治是农民采取的一系列措施的一部分，旨在防止全球范围内因害虫造成的农作物产量损失约 18%。然而，生物防治取决于农业景观中栖息地的可用性。农田的集约化管理实践（例如清除植被以扩大田地）以及干旱等气候压力因素，有可能通过消除或扰乱农作物害虫天敌的栖息地来影响这种生态系统服务。我的研究项目通过研究天敌对不断变化的景观条件（例如植被清除和干旱）的反应，并探索天敌可能对害虫调节和作物产量产生的影响，调查害虫调节生态系统服务的风险。我的团队由 13 名学员（7 名本科生、4 名硕士和 2 名博士）组成，他们将使用一种专注于这些捕食者特征（即它们的形态、行为或生理特征）的方法。我们将收集代表当前景观条件的农田数据，这些农田在未来可能会变得更加（或更少）常见。利用这些数据，学员将测试将当前条件（例如田间非农作物植被或水分的可用性）与天敌及其特征联系起来的假设，并模拟害虫调控对这些条件变化的敏感性。在此过程中，学员将培养景观生态学、群落生态学、昆虫学、遥感和高级统计方法方面的可转移技能。在全球快速变化的时代，我的研究项目探讨了生物多样性与面临破坏风险的生态系统功能之间的关键联系。通过关注田野中存在的生物体的特征，而不是物种本身，我们的研究结果将可以跨种植系统和各大洲进行转化，从而有助于就全球变化下生态系统服务的风险开展国际对话。我们将通过测量害虫防治对作物产量的影响、使用从收割设备收集的精准农业数据来进一步创新，我们将开发一种新方法来建模性状及其与服务的关系。这项工作是长期景观生态研究计划的一部分，旨在了解农田的环境条件如何影响多种生态系统服务。