Distance functions of carabids in crop fields depend on functional traits, crop type and adjacent habitat: a synthesis.

ABSTRACT: Natural pest and weed regulation are essential for agricultural production, but the spatial distribution of natural enemies within crop fields and its drivers are mostly unknown. Using 28 datasets comprising 1204 study sites across eight Western and Central European countries, we performed a quantitative synthesis of carabid richness, activity densities and functional traits in relation to field edges (i.e. distance functions). We show that distance functions of carabids strongly depend on carabid functional traits, crop type and, to a lesser extent, adjacent non-crop habitats. Richness of both carnivores and granivores, and activity densities of small and granivorous species decreased towards field interiors, whereas the densities of large species increased. We found strong distance decay

SUBMITTER: Boetzl FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10777163 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature