Award details

Functional biodiversity: mechanisms by which plant and invertebrate communities function in the arable ecosystem

Reference	BBS/E/C/00004970
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Juliet Osborne
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Rothamsted Research
Department	Rothamsted Research Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,375,822
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2008
End date	31/03/2012
Duration	48 months

Abstract

Aim: To establish the mechanisms by which plant and invertebrate communities function in the arable ecosystem to maintain a) productivity of crops and b) survival and resilience of non-cropped biodiversity. Approach: Research in this project will test the hypothesis that trait-based, genetic and behavioural mechanisms can be used to predict evolutionary and functional responses to changes in land management, habitat diversity and spatial and temporal resource availability. The project brings together Rothamsted's work on the role of arable plants, pollinators, herbivores and their natural enemies (pathogens, predators and parasitoids) in the ecological functioning of arable landscapes, building primarily on Rothamsted's strength in studying multi-trophic interactions at a variety of spatial scales. Objectives: 1. Use a functional trait approach to predict the response of arable plant communities to changes in land use and management and the resulting effect on the ecosystem functions they perform including support of beneficial biodiversity. 2. Examine strategies of resource exploration and exploitation by pests and beneficial organisms (pollinators and natural enemies) within farmland, to predict patchy resource utilisation over space and time. 3. Measure how pollination and the spatial dynamics of pollen flow in crops and wild plants are affected directly by landscape context and management; and indirectly by the effects of these drivers on pollinator abundance and behaviour. 4. Test whether the stability of natural enemy communities is increased by habitat diversity (allowing co-existence by niche differentiation) and if the distribution of pests and their natural enemies can be predictably manipulated by habitat management to enhance pest control.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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