Dietary metabarcoding reveals the simplification of bird–pest interaction networks across a gradient of agricultural cover

Author:

da Silva Luis P.12ORCID,Mata Vanessa A.12ORCID,Lopes Pedro B.12,Pinho Catarina J.123,Chaves Catia12,Correia Edna4ORCID,Pinto Joana12,Heleno Ruben H.5,Timoteo Sergio5,Beja Pedro126ORCID

Affiliation:

1. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal

2. BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão Vairão Portugal

3. Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto Porto Portugal

4. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Centro de Estudos Do Ambiente e Do Mar Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal

5. Department of Life Sciences, Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA University of Coimbra Coimbra Portugal

6. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação Em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Institute of Agronomy University of Lisbon Lisbon Portugal

Abstract

AbstractAgriculture is vital for supporting human populations, but its intensification often leads to landscape homogenization and a decline in non‐provisioning ecosystem services. Ecological intensification and multifunctional landscapes are suggested as nature‐based alternatives to intensive agriculture, using ecological processes like natural pest regulation to maximize food production. Birds are recognized for their role in increasing crop yields by consuming invertebrate pests in several agroecosystems. However, the understanding of how bird species, their traits and agricultural land cover influence the structure of bird–pest interactions remains limited. We sampled bird–pest interactions monthly for 1 year, at four sites within a multifunctional landscape, following a gradient of increasing agricultural land cover. We analysed 2583 droppings of 55 bird species with DNA metabarcoding and detected 225 pest species in 1139 samples of 42 bird species. As expected, bird–pest interactions were highly variable across bird species. Dietary pest richness was lower in the fully agricultural site, while predation frequency remained consistent across the agricultural land cover gradient. Network analysis revealed a reduction in the complexity of bird–pest interactions as agricultural coverage increased. Bird species abundance affected the bird's contribution to the network structure more than any of the bird traits analysed (weight, phenology, invertebrate frequency in diet and foraging strata), with more common birds being more important to network structure. Overall, our results show that increasing agricultural land cover increases the homogenization of bird–pest interactions. This shows the importance of maintaining natural patches within agricultural landscapes for biodiversity conservation and enhanced biocontrol.

Funder

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Publisher

Wiley

Reference118 articles.

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