TY - JOUR

T1 - From the laboratory to the field

T2 - contrasting effects of multi-trophic interactions and agroforestry management on coffee pest densities

AU - Teodoro, Adenir V.

AU - Tscharntke, Teja

AU - Klein, Alexandra-Maria

PY - 2009/5

Y1 - 2009/5

N2 - Only few factors influencing pest populations can be studied in the laboratory, but many populationdriving factors interact in the field. Therefore, complementary laboratory and field approaches are required for reliable predictions of real-world patterns and processes. Laboratory and fieldexperiments with the red spider mite, Oligonychus ilicis McGregor (Acari: Tetranychidae), and the coffee leaf miner, Leucoptera coffeella Guérin-Méneville (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), on coffee plants, Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), were combined to study the relative importance of biotic interactions, including resource preferences and natural-enemy impact, and habitat factors, such as agroforestry type and management intensity, on coffee pest densities. In the laboratory, leaf discs cut from undamaged coffee plants were significantly preferred by red spider mites over those from plants infested withconspecific mites, leaf rust pathogens [Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley & Broome (Uredinales)], or coffee leaf miners, resulting in higher reproductive success. Similarly, undamaged plants were preferred by coffee leaf miners over red spider mite-infested plants. However, in the field, red spider mite densitieswere positively correlated with coffee leaf miner and leaf rust densities, thereby contrasting with laboratory predictions. Hence, our study suggests that the importance of resource preferences and fitness expected based on laboratory experiments was suppressed by environmental conditions in the field, though other unassessed biotic interactions could also have played a role. Furthermore,intensified agroforestry was characterized by higher red spider mite densities, whereas densities of its major natural enemy, the predatory mite Amblyseius herbicolus Chant (Acari: Phytoseiidae), were not related to agroforestry management. Densities of coffee leaf miner and its main natural enemy,a eulophid parasitoid (Hymenoptera), were not affected by management practices. In conclusion, patterns found in the laboratory did not hold for the field, emphasizing the difficulties of extrapolating small-scale experiments to larger spatial scales and the need to combine both approaches.

AB - Only few factors influencing pest populations can be studied in the laboratory, but many populationdriving factors interact in the field. Therefore, complementary laboratory and field approaches are required for reliable predictions of real-world patterns and processes. Laboratory and fieldexperiments with the red spider mite, Oligonychus ilicis McGregor (Acari: Tetranychidae), and the coffee leaf miner, Leucoptera coffeella Guérin-Méneville (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae), on coffee plants, Coffea arabica L. (Rubiaceae), were combined to study the relative importance of biotic interactions, including resource preferences and natural-enemy impact, and habitat factors, such as agroforestry type and management intensity, on coffee pest densities. In the laboratory, leaf discs cut from undamaged coffee plants were significantly preferred by red spider mites over those from plants infested withconspecific mites, leaf rust pathogens [Hemileia vastatrix Berkeley & Broome (Uredinales)], or coffee leaf miners, resulting in higher reproductive success. Similarly, undamaged plants were preferred by coffee leaf miners over red spider mite-infested plants. However, in the field, red spider mite densitieswere positively correlated with coffee leaf miner and leaf rust densities, thereby contrasting with laboratory predictions. Hence, our study suggests that the importance of resource preferences and fitness expected based on laboratory experiments was suppressed by environmental conditions in the field, though other unassessed biotic interactions could also have played a role. Furthermore,intensified agroforestry was characterized by higher red spider mite densities, whereas densities of its major natural enemy, the predatory mite Amblyseius herbicolus Chant (Acari: Phytoseiidae), were not related to agroforestry management. Densities of coffee leaf miner and its main natural enemy,a eulophid parasitoid (Hymenoptera), were not affected by management practices. In conclusion, patterns found in the laboratory did not hold for the field, emphasizing the difficulties of extrapolating small-scale experiments to larger spatial scales and the need to combine both approaches.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - competition

KW - land-use management

KW - coffee leaf miners

KW - rust pathogens

KW - red spider mites

KW - Oligonychus ilicis

KW - Tetranychidae

KW - Leucoptera coffeella

KW - Lyonetiidae

KW - Acari

KW - Lepidoptera

KW - Coffea arabica

KW - Hemileia vastatrix

KW - Uredinales

KW - Schlagwörter:competition

KW - land-use management

KW - coffee leaf miners

KW - rust pathogens

KW - red spider mites

KW - Oligonychus ilicis

KW - Tetranychidae

KW - Leucoptera coffeella

KW - Lyonetiidae

KW - Acari

KW - Lepidoptera

KW - Coffea arabica

KW - Hemileia vastatrix

KW - Uredinales

KW - Biology

KW - Didactics of sciences education

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=64549102530&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2009.00840.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.2009.00840.x

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 131

SP - 121

EP - 129

JO - Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata

JF - Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata

SN - 0013-8703

IS - 2

ER -