Noncrop flowering plants restore top-down herbivore control in agricultural fields.

ABSTRACT: Herbivore populations are regulated by bottom-up control through food availability and quality and by top-down control through natural enemies. Intensive agricultural monocultures provide abundant food to specialized herbivores and at the same time negatively impact natural enemies because monocultures are depauperate in carbohydrate food sources required by many natural enemies. As a consequence, herbivores are released from both types of control. Diversifying intensive cropping systems with flowering plants that provide nutritional resources to natural enemies may enhance top-down control and contribute to natural herbivore regulation. We analyzed how noncrop flowering plants planted as "companion plants" inside cabbage (Brassica oleracea) fields and as margins along the fields affect th

SUBMITTER: Balmer O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3930038 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature