Pub Date : 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110271
Tatyana A. Rand, Erika S. Peirce
Studies examining the importance of landscape complexity for conservation biological control have traditionally focused on the benefits of semi-natural habitats. However, a growing body of recent work demonstrates that spatiotemporal variation in the composition of cropped areas can additionally exert strong influences that are less commonly considered. We carried out a stratified sampling study to investigate the relative influences of different crop and semi-natural resource habitats on Cephus cinctus, a major pest of wheat, and its parasitoids from local to landscape scales. Insects were sampled in a single growing season across 48 sites that spanned a dominant wheat growing region of the northern Great Plains in Montana, United States of America. The pest and its parasitoids were common in semi-natural grasslands (rangeland and set-asides), but densities were significantly (4–7 fold) higher in wheat, and pest densities were significantly (3 fold) higher in winter wheat relative to spring wheat. Neither proximity to, nor landscape cover of, semi-natural grasslands were important predictors of pest infestation or parasitism in wheat. Instead, winter wheat cover in the previous year was the strongest landscape predictor of infestation, while spring wheat cover in the previous year was the strongest predictor of parasitism. The study highlights that the cover of specific host crops can be important landscape drivers, even for habitat generalists, that pests and parasitoids can respond differently to host crop types, and that crop cover from the previous year can be more influential in predicting pest pressure and parasitism than the within-year cover. Thus, carefully dissecting the influences of different crops, in addition to semi-natural habitats, and considering the temporal dimension of shifting host crop resources will be critical to improving the prediction of insect responses to landscape complexity and developing pest suppressive landscapes.
{"title":"Landscape-scale cover of different crop hosts, rather than semi-natural grasslands, predict crop infestation and parasitism of a generalist insect pest in wheat","authors":"Tatyana A. Rand, Erika S. Peirce","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110271","url":null,"abstract":"Studies examining the importance of landscape complexity for conservation biological control have traditionally focused on the benefits of semi-natural habitats. However, a growing body of recent work demonstrates that spatiotemporal variation in the composition of cropped areas can additionally exert strong influences that are less commonly considered. We carried out a stratified sampling study to investigate the relative influences of different crop and semi-natural resource habitats on <ce:italic>Cephus cinctus</ce:italic>, a major pest of wheat, and its parasitoids from local to landscape scales. Insects were sampled in a single growing season across 48 sites that spanned a dominant wheat growing region of the northern Great Plains in Montana, United States of America. The pest and its parasitoids were common in semi-natural grasslands (rangeland and set-asides), but densities were significantly (4–7 fold) higher in wheat, and pest densities were significantly (3 fold) higher in winter wheat relative to spring wheat. Neither proximity to, nor landscape cover of, semi-natural grasslands were important predictors of pest infestation or parasitism in wheat. Instead, winter wheat cover in the previous year was the strongest landscape predictor of infestation, while spring wheat cover in the previous year was the strongest predictor of parasitism. The study highlights that the cover of specific host crops can be important landscape drivers, even for habitat generalists, that pests and parasitoids can respond differently to host crop types, and that crop cover from the previous year can be more influential in predicting pest pressure and parasitism than the within-year cover. Thus, carefully dissecting the influences of different crops, in addition to semi-natural habitats, and considering the temporal dimension of shifting host crop resources will be critical to improving the prediction of insect responses to landscape complexity and developing pest suppressive landscapes.","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110273
Meihui Tian, Sihua Zhu, Bin Liu, Jitao Lv, Shanyi Tian, Rong Huang, Xiaohong Zuo, Meichun Duan, Yongguang Yin, Tao Jiang, Dingyong Wang, Xinping Chen
Soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics driven by cropland management are critical for carbon sequestration in agricultural ecosystems. The stability of SOM in paddy soils under different management regimes has been widely studied, yet the mechanisms by which winter-fallow practices regulate SOM, while simultaneously accounting for microbial processes, carbon composition, and mineral protection, remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the effects of fully flooded (FF), flooded-to-moist (FM), and fully drained (FD) management on SOM stability in paddy soils during the fallow period by assessing SOM composition, carbon sources, microbial community dynamics, and SOM mineralization with a particular focus on temperature sensitivity (Q10). Soil organic carbon (SOC) contents were significantly higher under FF and FM than under FD. However, FF primarily promoted the accumulation of labile carbon fractions, including particulate organic matter (POM), while the absence of strong mineral protection leads to higher Q10 values, indicating that SOM in these soils is more vulnerable to warming. In contrast, FM increased microbial diversity and promoted the formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM), thereby stabilizing SOM and facilitating the accumulation of more stable carbon pools. Soils under FM and FD, with higher MAOM, exhibited significantly lower Q10 values compared with FF, underscoring the role of MAOM in buffering carbon loss under elevated temperatures. Overall, FM emerged as a more sustainable and resilient management strategy for maintaining SOM stability in paddy soils. These results emphasize the need to account for multiple interacting processes in land management strategies to improve SOM stability and promote long-term carbon storage under changing climatic conditions.
{"title":"Influence of winter-fallow management strategies on the stability of soil organic matter in a typical rice paddy region of southwestern China","authors":"Meihui Tian, Sihua Zhu, Bin Liu, Jitao Lv, Shanyi Tian, Rong Huang, Xiaohong Zuo, Meichun Duan, Yongguang Yin, Tao Jiang, Dingyong Wang, Xinping Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110273","url":null,"abstract":"Soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics driven by cropland management are critical for carbon sequestration in agricultural ecosystems. The stability of SOM in paddy soils under different management regimes has been widely studied, yet the mechanisms by which winter-fallow practices regulate SOM, while simultaneously accounting for microbial processes, carbon composition, and mineral protection, remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the effects of fully flooded (FF), flooded-to-moist (FM), and fully drained (FD) management on SOM stability in paddy soils during the fallow period by assessing SOM composition, carbon sources, microbial community dynamics, and SOM mineralization with a particular focus on temperature sensitivity (Q<ce:inf loc=\"post\">10</ce:inf>). Soil organic carbon (SOC) contents were significantly higher under FF and FM than under FD. However, FF primarily promoted the accumulation of labile carbon fractions, including particulate organic matter (POM), while the absence of strong mineral protection leads to higher Q<ce:inf loc=\"post\">10</ce:inf> values, indicating that SOM in these soils is more vulnerable to warming. In contrast, FM increased microbial diversity and promoted the formation of mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM), thereby stabilizing SOM and facilitating the accumulation of more stable carbon pools. Soils under FM and FD, with higher MAOM, exhibited significantly lower Q<ce:inf loc=\"post\">10</ce:inf> values compared with FF, underscoring the role of MAOM in buffering carbon loss under elevated temperatures. Overall, FM emerged as a more sustainable and resilient management strategy for maintaining SOM stability in paddy soils. These results emphasize the need to account for multiple interacting processes in land management strategies to improve SOM stability and promote long-term carbon storage under changing climatic conditions.","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"111 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110281
Anina Knauer, Chiara Durrer, Denis Michez, Ahlam Sentil, Matthias Albrecht
The ongoing biodiversity crisis and increasing land pressure call for efficient strategies that promote biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services while minimizing trade-offs with agricultural production. Here, we examine how the concurrent implementation of two agri-environmental interventions—flower strips and extensively managed meadows—can synergistically enhance wild bees in agricultural landscapes through three nonexclusive mechanisms: (i) habitat heterogeneity, (ii) resource complementarity, and (iii) resource continuity. We sampled plant-bee interaction networks and nest-site availability across all major habitat types in 28 Central European agricultural landscapes to assess landscape-level bee community composition and the spatiotemporal distribution of resources. Landscapes combining both intervention types showed a synergistic increase in wild bee abundance, including key crop pollinators. Consistent with habitat heterogeneity effects, bee species turnover was higher between different intervention types than between patches of the same type, resulting in increased species richness in landscapes with both interventions. Bee communities in landscapes with flower strips were dominated by smaller and more oligolectic species, whereas higher proportions of extensively managed meadows were associated with lower functional specialization and a more balanced bee community composition, likely reflecting alleviated environmental filtering. Extensively managed meadows provided suitable nesting habitat for ground-nesting bees and both interventions independently increased bees’ foraging generality toward a broadened diet, indicating resource complementarity. The bees’ extinction risk from agricultural landscapes was also reduced by both interventions, likely through measured staggered flowering periods that increased resource continuity. Overall, our findings demonstrate that combining complementary agri-environmental interventions can increase land-use efficiency and enhance ecosystem services by more effectively promoting wild pollinators, thereby reducing trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and agricultural production.
{"title":"Synergistic enhancement of wild bee abundance at the landscape scale through multiple types of agri-environmental interventions","authors":"Anina Knauer, Chiara Durrer, Denis Michez, Ahlam Sentil, Matthias Albrecht","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110281","url":null,"abstract":"The ongoing biodiversity crisis and increasing land pressure call for efficient strategies that promote biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services while minimizing trade-offs with agricultural production. Here, we examine how the concurrent implementation of two agri-environmental interventions—flower strips and extensively managed meadows—can synergistically enhance wild bees in agricultural landscapes through three nonexclusive mechanisms: (i) habitat heterogeneity, (ii) resource complementarity, and (iii) resource continuity. We sampled plant-bee interaction networks and nest-site availability across all major habitat types in 28 Central European agricultural landscapes to assess landscape-level bee community composition and the spatiotemporal distribution of resources. Landscapes combining both intervention types showed a synergistic increase in wild bee abundance, including key crop pollinators. Consistent with habitat heterogeneity effects, bee species turnover was higher between different intervention types than between patches of the same type, resulting in increased species richness in landscapes with both interventions. Bee communities in landscapes with flower strips were dominated by smaller and more oligolectic species, whereas higher proportions of extensively managed meadows were associated with lower functional specialization and a more balanced bee community composition, likely reflecting alleviated environmental filtering. Extensively managed meadows provided suitable nesting habitat for ground-nesting bees and both interventions independently increased bees’ foraging generality toward a broadened diet, indicating resource complementarity. The bees’ extinction risk from agricultural landscapes was also reduced by both interventions, likely through measured staggered flowering periods that increased resource continuity. Overall, our findings demonstrate that combining complementary agri-environmental interventions can increase land-use efficiency and enhance ecosystem services by more effectively promoting wild pollinators, thereby reducing trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and agricultural production.","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-06DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110293
Felipe Cabrera, Patricia Inés Araujo, Lucía Vivanco
{"title":"Photodegradation and microbial decomposition of soybean and maize crop residues before and after harvest","authors":"Felipe Cabrera, Patricia Inés Araujo, Lucía Vivanco","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110293","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146134419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110277
Falk-Rudhard Schreiner, Norbert Hölzel, Ute Hamer, Judith Hinderling, Veronika Irmscher, Nahid Rasouli Paeenroudposhti, Luis Daniel Prada-Salcedo, Daniel Prati, Selma Vieira, Lena Neuenkamp
{"title":"Slow and context-dependent: Responses to grassland extensification across a comprehensive set of ecosystem attributes","authors":"Falk-Rudhard Schreiner, Norbert Hölzel, Ute Hamer, Judith Hinderling, Veronika Irmscher, Nahid Rasouli Paeenroudposhti, Luis Daniel Prada-Salcedo, Daniel Prati, Selma Vieira, Lena Neuenkamp","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110277","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-03DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2026.110294
Gerrit Angst, Lisa Hinkelthein, Qun Liu, Alfred Lochner, Ondřej Mudrák, Travis Meador, Martin Schädler, Stefan Scheu, Marie Sünnemann, Rui Yin, Šárka Angst, Nico Eisenhauer
{"title":"Soil mesofauna promote mineral-associated organic matter formation under ambient and future climates","authors":"Gerrit Angst, Lisa Hinkelthein, Qun Liu, Alfred Lochner, Ondřej Mudrák, Travis Meador, Martin Schädler, Stefan Scheu, Marie Sünnemann, Rui Yin, Šárka Angst, Nico Eisenhauer","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2026.110294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2026.110294","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"86 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146110596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}