Search

The exploration of ground-dwelling nocturnal fauna represents a significant challenge due to its broad implications across various sectors, including pesticide management, crop yield forecasting, and plant disease identification. This paper unveils an annotated dataset, BioAuxdataset, aimed at facilitating the recognition of such fauna through field images gathered across multiple years. Culled from a collection exceeding 100,000 raw field images over a span of four years, this meticulously curated dataset features seven prevalent species of nocturnal ground-dwelling fauna: carabid, mouse, opilion, slug, shrew, small-slug, and worm. In instances of underrepresented species within the dataset, we have implemented straightforward yet potent image augmentation techniques to enhance data quality. BioAuxdataset stands as a valuable resource for the detection and identification of these organisms, leveraging the power of deep learning algorithms to unlock new potentials in ecological research and beyond. This dataset not only enriches the academic discourse but also opens up avenues for practical applications in agriculture, environmental science, and biodiversity conservation.

Redesigning cropping systems to promote natural pest control requires a sound understanding of the regulation potential of natural enemies. Sentinel preys are useful to quantify biological control, but the use of aphid cards (aphids glued to a sandpaper card) is controversial for their lack of realism. The objectives here were: (1) to compare aphid cards to non-fixed beetle larvae resembling coleopteran pests, with respect to the consumers attracted; and (2) to ascertain whether predation on coleopteran prey larvae responds to different invertebrates communities.We used cameras to identify the consumers of two types of sentinel prey on the ground, and compared aphid cards to an original sentinel prey, bruchid beetle larvae. Aphids glued to predation cards attracted opportunistic consumers and scavengers with very long handling times, and even scavengers, including harvestmen (33% of consumption events), spiders and slugs, and a very few carabid beetles. Unattached bruchid beetle larvae were consumed largely by carabids (64%), and secondarily by rove beetles, ants and chilopods. As the sentinel prey were not consumed by the same organisms, these findings demonstrate the importance of the choice of organisms exposed to estimate pest predation.Knowing the identity of the bruchid larvae consumers from the images, we investigated whether the assemblages of epigeic arthropods could explain their predation rates under contrasting field conditions. Accounting for all the expected consumers, sentinel prey disappearance rates could be explained statistically with a satisfactory goodness-of-fit. Slugs and ants contributed more strongly to the disappearance of sentinel prey than carnivorous carabids and chilopods. Finally, alternative prey (especially Collembola) reduced consumption by diverting consumers from their usual prey. Camera observations were valuable to assess the relevance of two different sentinel preys and of the consumers involved. With this knowledge, it is possible to estimate the pest control potential from the ground-dwelling communities present.

Sowing of wildflower strips has been integrated in agri-environment schemes of several European countries. Their beneficial effects on natural enemies of pest insects are well documented but (1) the desired spill-over into crop fields has not always been demonstrated, and (2) the need to adapt sown mixtures to regional climatic differences has been rarely addressed.We set up a multi-site experiment in different French climatic regions to compare effects of a wildflower strip with a grass mixture and spontaneous vegetation. The design included five regions, three to five fields per region and the three strip treatments being repeated in each field. We tested strip treatment effects on vegetation (plant species richness, plant and flower cover) and on natural enemies (hoverflies, ladybirds, aphid predation). In a subset, we further analysed the spill-over into winter wheat fields including natural enemies and pest insects (cereal aphids, leaf beetles).The wildflower strip mixture developed well in all regions and increased plant species richness and flower cover compared with grass strips and spontaneous vegetation. We found a corresponding higher hoverfly abundance and aphid predation in wildflower strips that were consistent in all regions, whereas ladybird abundance was not affected. A significantly higher hoverfly abundance, aphid predation and aphid parasitism in wheat fields close to wildflower strips indicated a spill-over. No corresponding margin treatment effects were observed for aphid and leaf beetle abundance in the field. A multivariate analysis comparing the influence of climate and vegetation parameters showed that floral cover better explained variation in natural enemy abundance and predation than climate. Our results demonstrated that similar mixtures of native plants can be used over large climatic gradients to improve biocontrol. Further research is needed to improve spill-over into crop fields and to obtain consistently strong effects in different climate zones.

L’effondrement de la biodiversité en milieu agricole, ainsi que les résistances accrues aux produits phytosanitaires obligent à repenser les systèmes agricoles. Pour cela, redonner de la place aux zones d’habitats et de ressources pour une biodiversité fonctionnelle, comme par l’implantation de bandes fleuries, est nécessaire. Les travaux présentés étudient les synergies et antagonismes entre services rendus par ces bandes sur la multifonctionnalité des systèmes agricoles à travers le suivi d’un réseau de parcelles chez une trentaine d’agriculteurs par une équipe pluridisciplinaire constituée d’acteurs de la recherche, du développement et du conseil agricole. Composées de 42 espèces différentes, les bandes s’implantent lentement et leur composition commence à se stabiliser au bout de trois ans, les espèces vivaces succèdent aux annuelles et offrent une floraison de mars à octobre. L’abondance de pollinisateurs fréquentant le couvert est corrélée positivement à l’abondance florale. Les réseaux d’interactions plantes-pollinisateurs mettent en évidence l’adaptation des visites des groupes de pollinisateurs à la ressource disponible. Les effets des bandes fleuries sur la biodiversité dépendent du mode de production dans lequel elles sont implantées et de l’organisme considéré : les effets sont positifs sur les pollinisateurs et sur les araignées en agriculture biologique. La présence d’une bande fleurie permet de doubler l’abondance des oiseaux nicheurs dans les parcelles conventionnelles, et dans l’ensemble de parcelles pour les chiroptères. En termes de régulation, la présence d’une bande double le taux de parasitisme des méligèthes dans les parcelles sans insecticide, et ce parasitisme des ravageurs du colza augmente avec les ressources en nectar fournies par les adventices des parcelles. En cultures de féveroles, les ressources en nectar fournies par les fleurs augmentent les prédateurs de pucerons, mais cela ne se traduit pas pour autant par une meilleure régulation des pucerons. La détermination des effets des bandes et des modes de production est limitée par de nombreux effets confondants, des variabilités interannuelles et un temps d’étude trop court par rapport au délai de réponse de la biodiversité. L'étude nécessiterait donc d’être poursuivie sur le plus long terme.

Abstract In agroecosystems, species‐rich habitats, such as linear field margins and flower strips, are beneficial to the overall biodiversity and contribute to pest control. Their effects are thought to be mediated by plant species composition and diversity. However, the management of plant communities with targeted levels of functional diversity has been little investigated. In an open field landscape, we compared the effects of the sown species richness (9, 14, and 29 species) and functional diversity (high vs. low) of eight different seed mixtures, sown in flower strips, on the 4‐year temporal dynamics of their functional diversity. There was a good agreement between the expected and realized species richness and functional diversity at the start of the experiment. All plant assemblages progressively lost species over time, but this decline was lower for assemblages sown with a high initial functional diversity, in which species evenness was maintained at higher levels. Species‐rich assemblages had a higher degree of functional redundancy, and their functional diversity remained higher over time than less rich assemblages. A possible explanation for this is that functional redundancy would have enabled the compensation for the loss of species by functionally equivalent species. The realized functional diversity of the sown species also limited the establishment of spontaneous species, perhaps due to a higher degree of niche occupancy. This study provides useful insight into the creation of functionally diversified plant communities. A high level of initial species and functional diversity is required to guarantee a greater temporal persistence of the communities.

Agriculture is a key driver of the dynamics and transformation of rural landscapes in Western Europe. However, little is known about the influence of cropping techniques on visual perceptions of the aesthetic and ecological value of agricultural fields. We used an online survey to investigate the preferences of French residents for fields of contrasting appearances due to different cropping systems. Participants were shown photographs taken at four periods of field management (i.e., fallow period, seedbed preparation, recommencement of plant growth after winter, and end of the cycle crop), either alone or in combination with temporal sequences typical of organic, conservation, and conventional cropping systems. The perception of flower strips across the seasons was also evaluated according to three levels of diversity and two management options (with and without summer mowing). Agricultural fields with high degrees of soil cover (e.g., presence of a cover crop, narrow inter-rows) and diversified vegetation (e.g., intercrop, weeds) were perceived as more aesthetic and favorable for biodiversity. The temporal sequences reflecting visual appearances of cropped fields under conservation agriculture were considered more aesthetically appealing and favorable to biodiversity than those for organic or conventional agriculture. Participants ranked wildflower strip sequences in descending order of plant species diversity. Within diversity levels, strips not mown in summer were preferred over those mown in summer for both aesthetic and biodiversity preservation value. These results could provide the basis of a design for payments for environmental services, including the socio-cultural services provided by agroecological cropping systems.