Field defects in oilseed rape: a promising alternative for insect conservation in arable fields?

GONZÁLEZ, EZEQUIEL; STROBL, MARTIN; KADLEC, TOMÁS; SEIDL, MIROSLAV; KNAPP, MICHAL

Praga

Congreso; 6th European Congress of Conservation Biology-ECCB Prague; 2022

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague - Society for Conservation Biology

Biodiversity has decreased globally and agricultural intensification is one of the main causes. Therefore, conservation measures in agroecosystems are urgently necessary. Over the last years, we investigated natural and artificially-created temporary patches of non-crop habitats (field defects) in oilseed rape fields in the Czech Republic and assessed their effect on arthropod communities and ecosystem services. Natural field defects supported fewer species of carabid beetles than oilseed rape controls, whereas pest and weed seed predation levels were similar or slightly lower in defects compared to controls. In artificial defects, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera were more abundant and diverse than in controls, while the abundance of spiders showed the same trend. On the contrary, carabids and staphylinids presented more individuals and species in the controls, and the richness of myriapods showed the same pattern. In both natural and artificial field defects, abundance and richness increased during oilseed senescence, when field defects seem to become suitable refuges for several groups. These temporary patches may represent a simple tool to benefit some groups of arthropods, although future studies are needed to better understand their importance in terms of ecosystem services and how they will perform when established in low-yield areas of cultivated fields.