Untangling the effects of local and landscape structure on pest predation by natural enemies in an intensive crop agroecosystem

EAGESTAD INRA; In agricultural crops, the use of biological control to reduce pest damages thanks to predation by natural enemies is an important ecosystem service. Unfortunately, the numerous mechanisms driving the efficiency of the predation function in agroecosystems are and often confounding. In this study, we investigated how local covariates and farming landscape structure affect predation rates of crop pest species in an intensive agricultural landscape in mid-west France. In 2016, predation rates of aphid and weed seeds of one species were quantified in a total of 120 fields, comprising four different types of crops as well as grasslands, selected along two landscape gradients: prop…