Browsing by Subject "Pest control"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

The potential of farnesene isomer mixtures to support the control of aphids in the cultivation of lettuce crops
(2025) Kuhn, Denise; Bauer, Philipp; Tolasch, Till; Petschenka, Georg; Steidle, Johannes L. M.
(E)-ß-farnesene (EBF) acts as an alarm pheromone of many aphid species and is also used as an aphid repellent by plants. Upon perception of EBF, aphids exhibit avoidance behavior. They walk away, stop feeding or drop from leaves. Moreover, EBF is an attractant for natural enemies of aphids. However, EBF is not used in pest management because it is expensive in its pure form. Therefore, we assessed the effect of a less expensive farnesene isomer mixture (FIM) on Myzus persicae (Sternorrhyncha: Aphidiae) on lettuce ( Lactuca sativa var. Ulmo) in the laboratory and under field conditions. First, we tested under laboratory conditions if FIM has the same effect on M. persicae as it is described for pure EBF. The aphids were influenced by EBF. They stopped feeding, withdrew their stylets, went away from the danger zone, or developed and reproduced more slowly. Therefore, we studied the behavioral response of the aphids after FIM application and aphid reproduction under permanent exposure of FIM. Second, we tested in the field the reaction to FIM either directly applied to lettuce or released by dispensers. In the lab experiments, we found that M. persicae reacts to FIM by walking away and that reproduction tends to be reduced in the presence of FIM. In the field, we found lower numbers of aphids in the treatments with FIM. In particular, dispenser application caused higher aphid reduction compared to spray application on lettuce. In addition, more natural enemies of aphids could be found in dispenser-treated plots. Taken together, these results indicate that the use of FIM could contribute to insecticide-free aphid control in lettuce, but possibly also in other crops.
Semi-natural habitats and their contribution to crop productivity through pollination and pest control: a systematic review
(2025) Alarcon-Segura, V.; Grass, I.; Feuerbacher, A.; Gonzales-Chavez, A.; Mupepele, A. -C.
Context: Semi-natural habitats (SNHs) play a vital role in delivering key ecosystem services, such as crop pollination and biological pest control, which are essential to support agricultural productivity. However, the evidence of the economic benefits of SNHs is scattered, and their impacts on productivity in agricultural landscapes are not well understood, limiting their adoption and integration into farming practices and agricultural policies. Objectives: In this study, we qualitatively assess the benefits of SNHs for pollination and biological pest control, as well as their translation into economic outcomes. Our objective is to determine whether the spatial scale of the study and the type of metrics used influence the relationship between SNHs and productivity. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and identified 68 peer-reviewed studies from which we extracted 355 relationships that evaluated the effects of SNHs on productivity. For each relationship, we identified the spatial scale (local or landscape) and the metrics used to measure productivity, pollination or pest control. We conducted a qualitative analysis of the relationships and categorized them as positive, negative, or no evidence for a relationship based on the results reported in the primary studies. Results: We found that SNHs typically enhance pollination and pest control, with 70% of studies reporting a benefit for diversity of pollinators, flower visitation rates and pest predation. However, the link between SNHs and ecosystem services did not consistently translate into increased productivity. Increase in pollination supply translated into higher productivity when indirect metrics (e.g., flower visitation rate) were measured. In contrast, pest control benefits were largely confined to reductions in pest pressure, with limited evidence of increases in productivity. Importantly, the economic benefits and costs of reallocating land for SNHs remain underexplored, with only 15% of relationships addressing these aspects. Conclusions: Understanding ecosystem service provision and productivity is challenged by the variability in measures used, mismatches in scale across studies that limit the comparability, and a limited availability of economic data. Advancing this field will require the development of standardized measures that effectively connect biodiversity enhancements with economic outcomes, facilitating quantitative analysis to improve policymaking and the integration of SNHs into sustainable agricultural practices.