A multi-taxa approach reveals contrasting responses of arthropod communities and related ecosystem services to field margin proximity and crop type

• Published in: Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2024-07, Vol.368, p.109010, Article 109010
• Main Authors: Venturo, Alfredo, González, Ezequiel, Štrobl, Martin, Tajovský, Karel, Skuhrovec, Jiří, Benda, Daniel, Seidl, Miroslav, Dvořák, Tomáš, Kadlec, Tomáš, Knapp, Michal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arable land; Beneficial arthropods; Distance decay; Edge effect; Herbivores; Insects
• ISSN: 0167-8809
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109010

Agricultural intensification and landscape simplification are among the major drivers of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. Increasing field edges might be a key solution for enhancing biodiversity and related ecosystem services within arable fields. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of nine arthropod groups and weed seed and pest predation rates across different distances from field edges and crop types. Furthermore, we tested the relationship between local carabid abundance and species richness and directly measured weed seed and pest predation rates. Most of the investigated taxa were not affected by field margin proximity, except for carabid species richness and the abundance of bees and wasps, hoverflies, and myriapods, which were high near the edge. We found a higher abundance of carabids and herbivores in oilseed rape compared to other crops, while hoverflies, bees and wasps were more abundant in cereal. True bug abundance was significantly higher in oilseed rape interiors compared to edges. Weed seed predation and pest predation by small mammals were the highest at 36 m from the field margin, probably due to small mammal distribution, while pest predation by arthropods did not show any significant pattern. Both weed seed predation rate and arthropod pest predation were positively related to carabid abundance and negatively to species richness. Contrasting responses across nine investigated arthropod taxa indicate that re-designing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity across taxa will be challenging, and further studies are needed to fully understand the spatial distribution of arthropods and related ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. •The spatial distribution of nine arthropod groups and two ecosystem services was investigated.•The abundance of bees and wasps, hoverflies, and myriapods was higher near field edges than in field interiors.•Weed seed predation and pest predation were the highest at 36 m from field edges.•The crop type had stronger effects on arthropod communities than proximity to the field edges.•Ecosystem services were positively related to carabid abundance and negatively to species richness.