Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T04:03:35.938Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cursorial spiders retard initial aphid population growth at low densities in winter wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2008

K. Birkhofer ,
E. Gavish-Regev ,
K. Endlweber ,
Y.D. Lubin ,
K. von Berg ,
D.H. Wise  and
S. Scheu
K. Birkhofer*
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
E. Gavish-Regev
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
K. Endlweber
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
Y.D. Lubin
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
K. von Berg
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
D.H. Wise
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7060USA
S. Scheu
Affiliation:
Zoological Institute, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
*
*Author for correspondence: Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Institut für Tierökologie, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26–32, 35392 Giessen, Germany Fax: (+61) 3 6226 2745 E-mail: Birkhofer@uni-giessen.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Generalist predators contribute to pest suppression in agroecosystems. Spider communities, which form a substantial fraction of the generalist predator fauna in arable land, are characterized by two functional groups: web-building and cursorial (non-web-building) species. We investigated the relative impact of these two functional groups on a common pest (Sitobion avenae, Aphididae) in wheat by combining a molecular technique that revealed species-specific aphid consumption rates with a factorial field experiment that analyzed the impact, separately and together, of equal densities of these two spider functional groups on aphid population growth. Only cursorial spiders retarded aphid population growth in our cage experiment, but this effect was limited to the initial aphid-population growth period and low-to-intermediate aphid densities. The molecular analysis, which used aphid-specific primers to detect aphid DNA in predator species, detected the highest proportion of aphid-consuming individuals in two cursorial spiders: the foliage-dwelling Xysticus cristatus (Thomisidae) and the ground-active Pardosa palustris (Lycosidae). The results suggest that manipulating the community composition in favour of pest-consuming functional groups may be more important for improving biological control than fostering predator biodiversity per se. Agricultural management practices that specifically foster effective species or functional groups (e.g. mulching for cursorial spiders) should receive more attention in low-pesticide farming systems.

Keywords

aphidsAraneaebiological controlgeneralist predatorsfunctional group diversityDNA-based gut content analysisnatural enemiesSitobion avenae
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 98 , Issue 3 , June 2008 , pp. 249 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acreman, S.J. & Dixon, A.F.G. (1989) The effect of temperature and host quality on the rate of increase of the grain aphid (Sitobion avenae) on wheat. Annals of Applied Biology 115, 3–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Admassu, B., Juen, A. & Traugott, M. (2006) Earthworm primers for DNA-based gut content analysis and their cross-reactivity in a multi-species system. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 1308–1315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, M.J. (2001) A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology 26, 32–46.Google Scholar
Birkhofer, K., Scheu, S. & Wise, D.H. (2007) Small-scale spatial pattern of web-building spiders (Araneae) in alfalfa: Relationship to disturbance from cutting, prey availability, and intraguild interaction. Environmental Entomology 36, 801–810.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birkhofer, K., Wise, D.H. & Scheu, S. (in press) Subsidy from the detrital food web, but not microhabitat complexity, affects the role of generalist predators in an aboveground herbivore food web. Oikos DOI: 10.1111/j.2007.0030-1299.16361.xGoogle Scholar
Birkhofer, K., Fließbach, A., Wise, D.H. & Scheu, S. (submitted) Generalist predators in long-term organically and conventionally managed grass-clover fields: implications for conservation biological control. Annals of Applied Biology.Google Scholar
Bogya, S. & Marko, V. (1999) Effect of pest management systems on ground-dwelling spider assemblages in an apple orchard in Hungary. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 73, 7–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M.J. & Elliott, N.C. (2004) Biological control of cereal aphids in North America and mediating effects of host plant and habitat manipulations. Annual Review of Entomology 49, 219–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chambers, R.J., Sunderland, K.D., Stacey, L.D. & Wyatt, I.J. (1986) Control of cereal aphids in winter wheat by natural enemies: aphid specific predators, parasitoids and pathogenic fungi. Annals of Applied Biology 108, 219–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiverton, P.A. (1986) Predator density manipulation and its effects on populations of Rhopalosiphum padi (Hom, Aphididae) in spring barley. Annals of Applied Biology 109, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, C.A., Sunderland, K.D. & George, K.S. (1979) Studies on polyphagous predators of cereal aphids. Journal of Applied Ecology 16, 811–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harwood, J.D., Sunderland, K.D. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2004) Prey selection by linyphiid spiders: Molecular tracking of the effects of alternative prey on rates of aphid consumption in the field. Molecular Ecology 13, 3549–3560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harwood, J.D., Sunderland, K.D. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2005) Monoclonal antibodies reveal the potential of the tetragnathid spider Pachygnatha degeeri (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) as an aphid predator. Bulletin of Entomological Research 95, 161–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hole, D.G., Perkins, A.J., Wilson, J.D., Alexander, I.H., Grice, F. & Evans, A.D. (2005) Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biological Conservation 122, 113–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, J.M. & Thomas, S.R. (1997a) Assessing the role of beneficial invertebrates in conventional and integrated farming systems during an outbreak of Sitobion avenae. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture 15, 73–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, J.M. & Thomas, S.R. (1997b) Quantifying the impact of polyphagous invertebrate predators in controlling cereal aphids and in preventing wheat yield and quality reductions. Annals of Applied Biology 131, 375–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juen, A. & Traugott, M. (2005) Detecting predation and scavenging by DNA gut-content analysis: a case study using a soil insect predator-prey system. Oecologia 142, 344–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, A. (2003) Intraguild interference and biocontrol effects of generalist predators in a winter wheat field. Oecologia 134, 144–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, A., Filser, J. & Henschel, J.R. (1999) Predation by ground beetles and wolf spiders on herbivorous insects in a maize crop. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 72, 189–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsson, H. (2005) A crop loss model and economic thresholds for the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (F.), in winter wheat in southern Sweden. Crop Protection 24, 397–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J.A., Tatchell, G.M., Dupuch, M.J., Harrington, R., Clark, S.J. & McCartney, H.A. (1996) Movement of apterous Sitobion avenae (Homoptera: Aphididae) in response to leaf disturbances caused by wind and rain. Annals of Applied Biology 126, 417–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McArdle, B.H. & Anderson, M.J. (2001) Fitting multivariate models to community data: a comment on distance based redundancy analysis. Ecology 82, 290–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyffeler, M. & Benz, G. (1979) Studies on the ecological importance of spider populations for the vegetation of cereal and rape fields. Journal of Applied Entomology 87, 348–376.Google Scholar
Nyffeler, M. & Benz, G. (1988) Feeding ecology and predatory importance of wolf spiders (Pardosa spp.) (Araneae, Lycosidae) in winter-wheat fields. Journal of Applied Entomology 106, 123–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyffeler, M. & Breene, R.G. (1990) Spiders associated with selected European hay meadows, and the effects of habitat disturbance, with the predation ecology of the crab spiders, Xysticus spp. (Araneae, Thomisidae). Journal of Applied Entomology 110, 149–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyffeler, M. & Breene, R.G. (1992) Dominant insectivorous polyphagous predators in winter-wheat – high colonization power, spatial-dispersion patterns, and probable importance of the soil surface spiders (Araneae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 39, 177–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyffeler, M. & Sunderland, K.D. (2003) Composition, abundance and pest control potential of spider communities in agroecosystems: A comparison of European and US studies. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 95, 579–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Östman, O. (2002) Distribution of bird cherry-oat aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi (L.)) in relation to landscape and farming practices. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 93, 67–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Östman, O., Ekbom, B. & Bengtsson, J. (2003) Yield increase attributable to aphid predation by ground-living polyphagous natural enemies in spring barley in Sweden. Ecological Economics 45, 149–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rypstra, A.L., Carter, P.E., Balfour, R.A. & Marshall, S.D. (1999) Architectural features of agricultural habitats and their impact on the spider inhabitants. Journal of Arachnology 27, 371–377.Google Scholar
Scheu, S. (2001) Plants and generalist predators as links between the belowground and aboveground system. Basic and Applied Ecology 2, 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, M.H., Lauer, A., Purtauf, T., Thies, C., Schaefer, M. & Tscharntke, T. (2003) Relative importance of predators and parasitoids for cereal aphid control. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences 270, 1905–1909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, M.H., Thewes, U., Thies, C. & Tscharntke, T. (2004) Aphid suppression by natural enemies in mulched cereals. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 113, 87–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, M.H., Roschewitz, I., Thies, C. & Tscharntke, T. (2005) Differential effects of landscape and management on diversity and density of ground-dwelling farmland spiders. Journal of Applied Ecology 42, 281–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheppard, S.K., Bell, J., Sunderland, K.D., Fenlon, J., Skervin, D. & Symondson, W.O.C. (2005) Detection of secondary predation by PCR analyses of the gut contents of invertebrate generalist predators. Molecular Ecology 14, 4461–4468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sunderland, K.D., Fraser, A.M. & Dixon, A.F.G. (1986) Field and laboratory studies on money spiders (Linyphiidae) as predators of cereal aphids. Journal of Applied Ecology 23, 433–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Symondson, W.O.C., Sunderland, K.D. & Greenstone, M.H. (2002) Can generalist predators be effective biocontrol agents? Annual Review of Entomology 47, 561–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thorbek, P. & Bilde, T. (2004) Reduced numbers of generalist arthropod predators after crop management. Journal of Applied Ecology 41, 526–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toft, S. (2005) The quality of aphids as food for generalist predators: Implications for natural control of aphids. European Journal of Entomology 102, 371–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uetz, G.W., Halaj, J. & Cady, A.B. (1999) Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27, 270–280.Google Scholar
von Berg, K., Traugott, M., Symondson, W.O.C. & Scheu, S. (2008) The effects of temperature on detection of prey DNA in two species of carabid beetle. Bulletin of Entomological Research, this issue: 263–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Winder, L. (1990) Predation of the cereal aphid Sitobion avenae by polyphagous predators on the ground. Ecological Entomology 15, 105–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wise, D.H. (1993) Spiders in ecological webs. 342 pp. New York, USA, Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wise, D.H. (2006) Cannibalism, food limitation, intraspecific competition and the regulation of spider populations. Annual Review of Entomology 51, 441–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zehnder, G., Gurr, G.M., Kühne, S., Wade, M.R., Wratten, S.D. & Wyss, E. (2007) Arthropod pest management in organic crops. Annual Review of Entomology 52, 57–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed