Modelling the effect of herbicide application on plant-pollinator networks in agroecosystems

TAVELLA, JULIA; MONASTEROLO, MAROS ; PALACIOS, TANIA P.; ROTHER, DÉBORA C.; WINDSOR, FREDRIC M.; GUIMARAES JR., PAULO R.; EVANS, DARREN M.; DEVOTO, MARIANO

Palma

Simposio; V Symposium on Ecological Networks 2021; 2021

The maintenance of natural or semi-natural vegetation on field margins, in the form of hedgerows orflower strips, is essential for the conservation of biodiversity and its emerging ecosystem services in agroecosystems. In regions of intensive agricultural production, herbicides are widely used to control the spontaneous vegetation of cropped fields and their margins. Plant responses to herbicides range from vulnerable to tolerant, and may even develop resistance. As a result, herbicide application triggers changes in the structure and dynamics of plant communities in field margins. These changes may affect non-target organisms associated with them. We present the outline of a study that will explore how herbicide application affects plant communities in agroecosystems and, indirectly, the pollinators that depend on them. We will link an herbicide-plant network with a plant-pollinator network in the crop margins of agroecosystems in the intensively-cropped Pampean region of Argentina. We will analyze changes in a plant-pollinator network structure by simulating herbicide-induced changes in the plant community of field margins and their knock-on effect on pollinators. We will consider contrasting scenarios of herbicide application, herbicide characteristics (site of action), plant traits, and the rewiring of interactions in plant-pollination networks. The information generated will help to develop an ?ecological thinking? in the management programs of weeds, which is critical to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production.