@misc{BirkhoferDjoudiSchnerchetal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Djoudi, El Aziz and Schnerch, Benjamin and Michalko, Radek}, title = {Climatic conditions and functional traits affect spider diets in agricultural and non-agricultural habitats worldwide}, series = {Ecography}, journal = {Ecography}, number = {3}, issn = {1600-0587}, doi = {10.1111/ecog.06090}, pages = {12}, abstract = {Spiders are dominant predators in terrestrial ecosystems and feed on prey from the herbivore and detritivore subsystem (dual subsystem omnivory) as well as on other predators (intraguild predation). Little is known about how global change potentially affects the importance of different prey groups in predator diets. In this meta-analysis we identify the impact of climatic conditions, land-use types and functional traits of spider species on the relative importance of Hemiptera, Araneae and Collembola prey in spider diets. We use a dataset including 78 publications with 149 observational records of the diet composition of 96 spider species in agricultural and non-agricultural habitats in 24 countries worldwide. The importance of Hemiptera prey was not affected by climatic conditions and was particularily high in smaller spider species in agricultural habitats. Araneae prey was most important for actively hunting, larger spider species in non-agricultural habitats. Collembola prey was most important for small, actively hunting spider species in regions with higher temperature seasonality. Spider species with a higher importance of Araneae prey for their diet also had higher importances of Collembola and lower importances of Hemiptera prey. Future increases of temperature seasonality predicted for several regions worldwide may go along with an increasing importance of Collembola prey which also related to a higher importance of intraguild prey here. Two global change drivers predicted for many regions of the world (increasing climatic seasonality and ongoing conversion of non-agricultural to agricultural land) both hold the potential to increase the importance of Collembola prey in spider diets. The importance of Hemiptera and Araneae prey may however show contrasting responses to these two drivers. These complex potential effects of global change components and their impact on functional traits in spider communities highlight the importance to simultaneously consider multiple drivers of global change to better understand future predator-prey interactions.}, language = {en} } @misc{DampteyOpuniFrimpongAyineNsoretal., author = {Damptey, Frederick Gyasi and Opuni-Frimpong, Emmanuel and Ayine Nsor, Collins and Addai, James and Kwame Debrah, Daniel and Schnerch, Benjamin and Bentsi-Enchill, Felicity and Korjus, Henn}, title = {Taxonomic and community composition of epigeal arthropods in monoculture and mixed tree species plantations in a deciduous forest of Ghana}, series = {Journal of Forestry Research}, volume = {34}, journal = {Journal of Forestry Research}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1007/s11676-022-01508-y}, pages = {641 -- 653}, abstract = {Tropical forests provide several ecosystem services and functions and support approximately two-thirds of the world's biodiversity but are seriously threatened by deforestation. Approaches to counteract this menace have revolved around aforestation with several or a single tree species. We thus investigated how plantation forests with either a single or several tree species infuenced arthropod taxonomic and community composition using pitfall traps to sample selected groups of epigeal arthropods (Araneae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera) and with environmental variables assessed simultaneously. Our results revealed 54 taxonomic groups with signifcantly higher taxonomic richness, activity density, and diversity in the mixed stands than in the monoculture stands. The significant differences in community composition were mainly driven by families including Lycosidae, Formicidae, Staphylinidae, Scotylidae, Hydrophilidae, Gryllidae and Scarabaeidae and were explained by distinct habitat characteristics (canopy openness, litter depth, deadwood volume, and tree height). While the diverse tree communities and heterogeneous vegetation structure ofered food and habitat resources for diverse arthropod groups, the allelopathic nature coupled with homogenous stand characteristics of the Tectona grandis stands in the monoculture suppressed the growth of understorey vegetation that could otherwise serve as food and habitat resources for arthropods, which might have led to limited activities and diversity of arthropods in the monoculture plantation stands. The fndings thus highlight the need to promote mixed tree plantations in degraded tropical areas, especially when restoring biodiversity is the prime management focus.}, language = {en} } @misc{KocsisdeGrootvanBeersumetal., author = {Kocsis, Timea and de Groot, Arjen and van Beersum, Femke and Boer, Jolinka and Dimmers, Wim and Laros, Ivo and Lammertsma, Dennis and Polling, Marcel and Schnerch, Benjamin}, title = {Mixed plant and arthropod biodiversity responses to solar park establishment on former agricultural lands}, series = {Journal of applied ecology}, journal = {Journal of applied ecology}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken, NJ}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2664.70170}, pages = {1 -- 14}, abstract = {Ground-mounted solar parks in Europe are often implemented in agricultural landscapes on fields with agricultural history. The subsequent decrease in management intensity presents opportunities for biodiversity development, which might especially be interesting for arthropods and their resources, given their ongoing biodiversity losses in agricultural landscapes. While several studies suggest that solar parks have the potential to enhance pollinator biodiversity, impacts on other arthropods remain unclear and there is limited knowledge on how these shifts compare to pre-conversion biodiversity and the potential of solar parks to contribute to biodiversity conservation. In this study, we used field surveys and insect trapping to compare flower resources, vascular plant diversity, pollinator diversity and soil-emergent arthropod diversity in Dutch solar parks to previous land use (i.e. intensive agricultural grasslands) and semi-natural conditions (i.e. extensively managed grasslands). Flower and nectar plant availability, wild bee and hoverfly abundance, but not butterfly abundance, were significantly higher in solar parks than in intensive grasslands. Vascular plant diversity was similar in solar parks and extensive grasslands, and higher than in intensive grasslands. Overall soil-emergent arthropod richness was similar across all habitat types, yet biomass and abundance were lower in solar parks than in the other habitats. Community composition differed between habitat types across all studied arthropod groups. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that while biodiversity can increase in solar parks post-conversion compared to previous land use, not all taxonomic groups benefit from the land use change. Potential benefits for certain groups (particularly for butterflies and soil-emergent arthropods) are likely lost due to disturbance during land conversion and solar panel presence. As a result, our study indicates that solar parks have the potential to combine biodiversity conservation on the surfaces not covered by solar panels, but that more insight is needed in the solar park design (e.g. conversion process and row width) and management, particularly to improve butterfly and soil-emergent arthropod biodiversity.}, language = {en} } @misc{KocsisSchnerch, author = {Kocsis, Timea and Schnerch, Benjamin}, title = {First record of Diplocephalus graecus (O. Pickard- Cambridge, 1873) in the Netherlands (Araneae, Linyphiidae)}, series = {Nieuwsbrief spined}, volume = {41}, journal = {Nieuwsbrief spined}, publisher = {European Invertebrate Survey}, address = {Leiden}, issn = {0926-0781}, pages = {7 -- 9}, abstract = {The sheet weaver Diplocephalus graecus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1873 is a common species in the holomediterranean region, but has been extending its northward distribution in the recent two decades. Our recording of the species marks the northernmost distribution of the species as of yet. With our recording, the number of species belonging to the Linyphiidae family in the Netherlands has been raised to 238.}, 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{BapfubusaNiyibiziSchnerchDjoudietal., author = {Bapfubusa Niyibizi, Ingrid Aline and Schnerch, Benjamin and Djoudi, El Aziz and Birkhofer, Klaus}, title = {Aphid proliferation in orchard alleys and canopy predator aggregation in eastern German apple orchards}, series = {Agricultural and forest entomology}, volume = {27}, journal = {Agricultural and forest entomology}, number = {4}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken, NJ}, issn = {1461-9563}, doi = {10.1111/afe.12699}, pages = {742 -- 754}, abstract = {1. European apple (Malus domestica) orchards face persistent threats from aphid infestations, which can severely compromise fruit yields. 2. In this study, we compared aphid communities in two microhabitats (tree canopy and orchard alley) in commercial apple orchards under organic and integrated pest management (IPM), in relation to aphidophagous predator abundance at three stages of the growing season: early fruit development, fruit maturity and post-harvest. 3. We sampled eight organic and eight IPM apple orchards in eastern Germany using standardised canopy beating of apple trees and suction sampling in the orchard alleys. 4. Our results indicate no significant differences in aphid infestation between organic and IPM orchards, regardless of the sampled microhabitat. However, aphid communities in the tree canopy of organic orchards exhibited greater evenness across species than those of IPM orchards. Eriosoma lanigerum consistently dominated canopy aphid communities across both management systems, highlighting the need for targeted management practices for this pest. Additionally, aphidophagous predator abundance in the tree canopy increased over time and showed a positive association with aphid abundance. Aphid community structure varied significantly across sampling periods and microhabitats. Differences between organic and IPM orchards were observed during the early fruit development phase in orchard alleys, with higher levels of infestation in organic orchards. Aphid taxa such as Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Dysaphis spp., Aphis spiraecola and Rhopalosiphum insertum contributed to these differences. 5. Our findings provide a better understanding of the temporal dynamics of aphid communities in apple orchards in eastern Germany, highlighting the importance of microhabitats and host plant phenology.}, language = {en} }