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Cover cropping alters the diet of arthropods in a banana plantation: a metabarcoding approach.

ABSTRACT: Plant diversification using cover crops may promote natural regulation of agricultural pests by supporting alternative prey that enable the increase of arthropod predator densities. However, the changes in the specific composition of predator diet induced by cover cropping are poorly understood. Here, we hypothesized that the cover crop can significantly alter the diet of predators in agroecosystems. The cover crop Brachiaria decumbens is increasingly used in banana plantations to control weeds and improve physical soil properties. In this paper, we used a DNA metabarcoding approach for the molecular analysis of the gut contents of predators (based on mini-COI) to identify 1) the DNA sequences of their prey, 2) the predators of Cosmopolites sordidus (a major pest of banana crops), and 3) the difference in the specific composition of predator diets between a bare soil plot (BSP) and a cover cropped plot (CCP) in a banana plantation. The earwig Euborellia caraibea, the carpenter ant Camponotus sexguttatus, and the fire ant Solenopsis geminata were found to contain C. sordidus DNA at frequencies ranging from 1 to 7%. While the frequencies of predators positive for C. sordidus DNA did not significantly differ between BSP and CCP, the frequency at which E. caraibea was positive for Diptera was 26% in BSP and 80% in CCP; the frequency at which C. sexguttatus was positive for Jalysus spinosus was 14% in BSP and 0% in CCP; and the frequency at which S. geminata was positive for Polytus mellerborgi was 21% in BSP and 3% in CCP. E. caraibea, C. sexguttatus and S. geminata were identified as possible biological agents for the regulation of C. sordidus. The detection of the diet changes of these predators when a cover crop is planted indicates the possible negative effects on pest regulation if predators switch to forage on alternative prey.

SUBMITTER: Mollot G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3973587 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cover cropping alters the diet of arthropods in a banana plantation: a metabarcoding approach.

Mollot Gregory G Duyck Pierre-François PF Lefeuvre Pierre P Lescourret Françoise F Martin Jean-François JF Piry Sylvain S Canard Elsa E Tixier Philippe P

PloS one 20140402 4

Plant diversification using cover crops may promote natural regulation of agricultural pests by supporting alternative prey that enable the increase of arthropod predator densities. However, the changes in the specific composition of predator diet induced by cover cropping are poorly understood. Here, we hypothesized that the cover crop can significantly alter the diet of predators in agroecosystems. The cover crop Brachiaria decumbens is increasingly used in banana plantations to control weeds ...[more]

PMID: 24695585

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Project description:Cover crops can improve soil biological health and alter the composition of soil microbial communities in agricultural systems. However, the effects of diversified cover crops on soil microbial communities in continuous cropping systems are unclear. Here, using different soil biochemical analysis, quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we investigated the effects of cover crops, alone or in mixture, on soil physicochemical properties in 2019 and 2020, and soil bacterial communities in 2020 in a continuous pepper cropping system. A field trial was established before pepper planting and eight treatments were included: fallow (no cover crop; CK); three sole cover crop treatments: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; W), faba bean (Vicia faba L.; B), and wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia; R); and four mixed treatments: wheat + wild rocket (WR), wheat + faba bean (WB), wild rocket + faba bean (RB), and wheat + wild rocket + faba bean (WRB). The pepper yield was increased in the WR and WB in 2019 and 2020, and in the WRB in 2020. Cover crops increased the soil pH, but decreased the concentrations of NH4 + and available phosphorus. Bacterial abundance was increased by cover crop treatments, and community structure was altered in the W, WB, and WRB treatments. Moreover, we found that pH was the key factor associated with the changes in the abundance and structure of the bacterial community. Cover crop treatments altered the bacterial community structure with shifts in the dominant genera, which have plant-growth-promoting and/or pathogen-antagonistic potentials, e.g., increased the abundances of Streptomyces, Arthrobacter, and Bacillus spp. in the W and WRB, and Gaiella spp. in the WB. Overall, we found that cover crops altered the soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community, and these changes varied with species composition of the cover crops, with wheat and its combination with legumes as most effective treatments. These results suggest that the diversification within cover crops could provide better crop yield stimulatory affects by altering soil biochemical environment.

Dataset Information

Cover cropping alters the diet of arthropods in a banana plantation: a metabarcoding approach.

Publications

Cover cropping alters the diet of arthropods in a banana plantation: a metabarcoding approach.

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