@misc{GuelUenlueObryckiMenzeletal., author = {G{\"u}l {\"U}nl{\"u}, Ayse and Obrycki, John J. and Menzel, Florian and Bucher, Roman}, title = {The role of chemical cue similarity in interactions between ants and native versus non-native lady beetles in North America}, series = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {203}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, issn = {0003-3472}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.06.005}, pages = {21 -- 28}, language = {en} } @misc{UlrichBataryBaudryetal., author = {Ulrich, Werner and Bat{\´a}ry, P{\´e}ter and Baudry, Julia and Beaumelle, L{\´e}a and Bucher, Roman and Čerevkov{\´a}, Andrea and Garcia de la Riva, Enrique and Felipe-Lucia, Maria R. and Gall{\´e}, Robert and Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle and Rembiałkowska, Ewa and Rusch, Adrien and Stanley, Dara A. and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {From biodiversity to health: Quantifying the impact of diverse ecosystems on human well-being}, series = {People and Nature}, volume = {5}, journal = {People and Nature}, number = {1}, issn = {2575-8314}, doi = {10.1002/pan3.10421}, pages = {69 -- 83}, language = {en} } @misc{GarciadelaRivaUlrichBataryetal., author = {Garcia de la Riva, Enrique and Ulrich, Werner and Bat{\´a}ry, P{\´e}ter and Baudry, Julia and Beaumelle, L{\´e}a and Bucher, Roman and Čerevkov{\´a}, Andrea and Felipe-Lucia, Maria R. and Gall{\´e}, Robert and Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle and Rembiałkowska, Ewa and Rusch, Adrien and Seufert, Verena and Stanley, Dara A. and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {From functional diversity to human well-being: A conceptual framework for agroecosystem sustainability}, series = {Agricultural Systems}, volume = {208}, journal = {Agricultural Systems}, issn = {1873-2267}, doi = {10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103659}, pages = {16}, language = {en} } @misc{BucherBataryBaudryetal., author = {Bucher, Roman and Batary, Peter and Baudry, Julia and Beaumelle, Lea and Cerevkova, Andrea and Garcia de la Riva, Enrique and Djoudi, El Aziz and Dirilgen, Tara and Galle, Robert and Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle and O´Reilly, Alison and Rembialkowska, Ewa and Rusch, Adrien and Smith, Henrik G. and Stanley, Dara A. and Roberts, Stuart P.M. and Ulrich, Werner and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {Land-use impacts on crop yield : direct and indirect roles of arthropods and associated ecosystem services in European farmland}, series = {Landscape ecology}, volume = {40}, journal = {Landscape ecology}, number = {97}, publisher = {Springer Science + Business Media B.V}, issn = {1572-9761}, doi = {10.1007/s10980-025-02117-w}, pages = {1 -- 19}, abstract = {Context Land-use intensification to increase yields is often detrimental to biodiversity undermining the provision of ecosystem services. However, it is questionable if ecosystem service providers contribute to ecological intensification by achieving the same or higher yields than conventional high-intensity agriculture. Objectives In this study, we aimed to disentangle the effects of local and landscape-scale land-use intensification on arthropod communities and their contribution to ecosystem services and crop yield. A set of meta-analytic structural equation models allowed us to assess direct and indirect relationships in the cascade from land use to yield. Methods We selected 37 datasets containing information on land use, community composition, levels of pollination and natural pest control services, and crop yield. We quantified functional diversity of communities by collecting trait information for three exemplary groups of service-providers: bees, ground beetles, and spiders. Results Local land-use intensification reduced the abundance of all arthropod groups. Spiders were the only group whose species richness was negatively related to a higher percentage of arable land in the landscape. High abundance of bees related positively to oilseed rape pollination and crop yields. In the models for the two predator groups, crop yield was strongly determined by land use, independent of the pest control services provided by natural enemies. Conclusions Our results suggest a potential for ecological intensification mediated by land-use change in crops where pollination benefits yield, but suggest more nuanced effects for pest control. Our study also calls for experiments on multiple taxonomic groups and ecosystem services that apply comparable methods at similar scales.}, language = {en} } @misc{BucherBataryBaudryetal., author = {Bucher, Roman and Batary, P{\´e}ter and Baudry, Julia and Beaumelle, L{\´e}a and Čerevkov{\´a}, Andrea and Garcia de la Riva, Enrique and Dirilgen, Tara and Gall{\´e}, Robert and Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle and Rembiałkowska, Ewa and Rusch, Adrien and Stanley, Dara A. and Ulrich, Werner and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {Functional diversity of ground beetles improved aphid control but did not increase crop yields on European farms}, series = {Ecological Applications}, volume = {2024}, journal = {Ecological Applications}, issn = {1051-0761}, doi = {10.1002/eap.3035}, pages = {16}, abstract = {Land-use intensification is often associated with a decline in functional diversity, potentially undermining the provision of ecosystem services. However, how changes in traits affect ecosystem processes remains poorly understood. Variation in trait values among species in a community may drive ecosystem processes. Alternatively, the mass ratio hypothesis proposes that trait values of the dominant species in a local community are related to ecosystem processes. Using data from 159 farms in six European countries, we quantified the impact of local and landscape-level land-use intensity on ground beetles as pest control agents. We then assessed the extent to which functional diversity and community-weighted mean trait values relate to pest control and cereal yield. In addition, we assessed how the responses to land use and the effects of different species on pest control and yield varied with their traits to compare the relative impact of the traits studied. Functional diversity of ground beetles improved aphid removal, but did not translate into higher crop yields. Pest control of aphids was enhanced by a higher proportion of smaller, mobile ground beetles with a preference for the vegetation layer. Smaller, predatory ground beetles in communities improved crop yield. The magnitude of responses to land-use intensification and the effects on pest control and yield were more strongly influenced by body size than other traits. Our study provides evidence that reduced management intensity can improve pest control by supporting small-sized, macropterous ground beetles. In contrast to the claims of ecological intensification, our joint analysis of the direct effects of land use on yield and indirect effects via functional diversity of ground beetles and pest control suggests that ecosystem services by ground beetles cannot compensate for the yield gap due to a reduction in land-use intensity.}, language = {en} } @misc{SchnerchBucherDjoudietal., author = {Schnerch, Benjamin and Bucher, Roman and Djoudi, El Aziz and Hossain, Mohammad and Bapfubusa Niyibizi, Ingrid Aline and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {Growth stage, management and habitat influence the taxonomic and functional composition of arthropod communities in apple orchards}, series = {Agriculture, ecosystems \& environment}, volume = {394}, journal = {Agriculture, ecosystems \& environment}, publisher = {Elsevier BV}, address = {Amsterdam}, doi = {10.1016/j.agee.2025.109901}, pages = {1 -- 13}, abstract = {Apples are the most cultivated fruits in temperate regions, and their production relies on heavy use of synthetic pesticides, causing major environmental problems and the loss of biodiversity. Pests in tree canopies are commonly controlled by the use of synthetic pesticides, but habitat manipulations in orchard alleys are an alternative practice to promote natural pest control services. Integrated pest management (IPM) and organic production methods are considered to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly than conventional production, but the knowledge of the differences between arthropod communities in IPM and organic apple orchards differ from each other is limited. Therefore, we sampled alley and canopy arthropod communities in eight orchards under IPM and eight organic apple orchards, respectively, during three sampling dates in the apple growing season. Our results show that seasonal effects predominantly shape the taxonomic composition and abundance of arthropod community, especially within canopy habitats, while management effects are context-dependent for several taxonomic groups. The species composition of spider communities in canopy habitats differed significantly between management systems depending on dates, with some common species being more abundant in IPM than in organic orchards later in the season. The functional diversity of spider communities was significantly lower in the orchard alleys than in tree canopies, and increased in alley, but decreased in canopy habitats over time. Communities in IPM orchards had a higher proportion of spiders with ballooning ability, indicating that aerial dispersal is more common for spiders in IPM compared to organic orchards. The results of this study highlight the context dependency of management effects on the taxonomic and functional composition of arthropod communities, as these are likely to be most pronounced at certain times of the growing season and in certain habitats. Functional diversity and trait composition were more sensitive to management differences than taxonomic composition. Our results therefore emphasise the need to consider both taxonomic and functional metrics, and to incorporate seasonal and habitat considerations, when assessing the effects of sustainable management practices on arthropod communities in the future}, language = {en} } @misc{BucherMasson, author = {Bucher, Roman and Masson, Aline M.}, title = {Black garden ants reduce aphid predation by native and invasive ladybirds}, series = {Ecological entomology}, journal = {Ecological entomology}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken, NJ}, issn = {1365-2311}, doi = {10.1111/een.70033}, pages = {1 -- 4}, abstract = {1. Intraguild interference between predators can hamper top-down regulation. For example, aphid-tending ants often defend their mutualistic partners against antagonists. Greater ant aggression against native ladybirds compared to non-native ladybirds might benefit the non-native predator, due to predator-predator na{\"i}vet{\´e}. As a consequence, non-native ladybirds are expected to consume more aphids and might thus outcompete native ladybirds. 2. We established microcosms with a bean plant (Vicia faba) infested with black bean aphids (Aphis fabae). The microcosms were divided into the following treatments: no ants, aphids tended by common red ants (Myrmica rubra) and aphids tended by black garden ants (Lasius niger). We added either a native ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) or an invasive ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) to the microcosms. We compared deterrence of ladybirds from plant-based aphids by ants and the number of aphids remaining at the end of the experiment. 3. Our results indicate that L. niger, but not M. rubra, deterred ladybirds from the plant and strongly increased the number of remaining aphids in the presence of both ladybird species. In contrast to our expectation, more aphids tended to remain in the presence of H. axyridis and M. rubra compared to the C. septempunctata and M. rubra combination. 4. We conclude that intraguild interference can weaken top-down control and depends on the aggressiveness and potentially prey consumption of competing species. However, we found no support for the predator-predator na{\"i}vet{\´e} hypothesis suggesting that non-native predators would be released from intraguild interference and thus consume more prey.}, language = {en} }