Pennycress double-cropping does not negatively impact spider diversity
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Pennycress double-cropping does not negatively impact spider diversity. / Groeneveld, Janna H.; Lührs, Hans P.; Klein, Alexandra Maria.
In: Agricultural and Forest Entomology, Vol. 17, No. 3, 08.2015, p. 247-257.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Pennycress double-cropping does not negatively impact spider diversity
AU - Groeneveld, Janna H.
AU - Lührs, Hans P.
AU - Klein, Alexandra Maria
PY - 2015/8
Y1 - 2015/8
N2 - Pennycress has been suggested as an alternative feedstock for bioenergy. Especially, its cultivation in a double-cropping system with corn appears to be promising for a sustainable production. As an aspect of its sustainability, we studied the effect of a pennycress-corn double-cropping system on spider diversity. We used a randomized block design with 60 pitfall traps to compare the system's spider diversity with that of three commonly applied corn rotations: mustard-corn, green fallow-corn and bare fallow-corn. We sampled from 13 March to 26 June 2012, which included the corresponding cultivation changes to corn. The pennycress-corn system harboured a higher spider species richness and diversity (Shannon index) than the other three systems, driven by web-building spiders. Abundance only differed between the pennycress- and bare fallow-corn system. However, separated into foraging guilds, hunting spiders were most abundant in the mustard-corn system, whereas web-building spiders were more abundant in the pennycress-corn than in the mustard- and bare fallow-corn system. The results obtained in the present study suggest that cultivation of pennycress as a biofuel feedstock in a double-cropping system has positive (and not negative) effects on the spider diversity compared with other commonly used cultivation systems.
AB - Pennycress has been suggested as an alternative feedstock for bioenergy. Especially, its cultivation in a double-cropping system with corn appears to be promising for a sustainable production. As an aspect of its sustainability, we studied the effect of a pennycress-corn double-cropping system on spider diversity. We used a randomized block design with 60 pitfall traps to compare the system's spider diversity with that of three commonly applied corn rotations: mustard-corn, green fallow-corn and bare fallow-corn. We sampled from 13 March to 26 June 2012, which included the corresponding cultivation changes to corn. The pennycress-corn system harboured a higher spider species richness and diversity (Shannon index) than the other three systems, driven by web-building spiders. Abundance only differed between the pennycress- and bare fallow-corn system. However, separated into foraging guilds, hunting spiders were most abundant in the mustard-corn system, whereas web-building spiders were more abundant in the pennycress-corn than in the mustard- and bare fallow-corn system. The results obtained in the present study suggest that cultivation of pennycress as a biofuel feedstock in a double-cropping system has positive (and not negative) effects on the spider diversity compared with other commonly used cultivation systems.
KW - Araneae
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Biofuels
KW - Brassicaceae
KW - Hunting spiders
KW - Thlaspi arvense
KW - Web-building spiders
KW - Ecosystems Research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84935101101&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/afe.12100
DO - 10.1111/afe.12100
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:84935101101
VL - 17
SP - 247
EP - 257
JO - Agricultural and Forest Entomology
JF - Agricultural and Forest Entomology
SN - 1461-9555
IS - 3
ER -