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Crop diversification often promotes farm sustainability. However, proper management of newly introduced crops is difficult when pests are unknown. Characterizing herbivore dynamics on new crops, and how they respond to agronomic factors, is crucial for integrated pest management. Here we explored factors affecting Lygus spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae) herbivores in quinoa crops of Washington State. Quinoa is a newly introduced crop for North America that has multiple varieties and a range of agronomic practices used for cultivation. Through arthropod surveys and discussions with growers, we determined that Lygus spp. was the most abundant insect herbivore and likely contributed to low quinoa yields in previous seasons. We assessed how different varieties (Pison and QQ74), irrigation regimes (present and not), and planting methods (direct-seeded and transplanted) affected Lygus population dynamics. Lygus phenology was correlated with timing of quinoa seed-set in July and August, corresponding to a period when quinoa is most susceptible to Lygus. Both irrigation and planting manipulations had significant effects on Lygus abundance. Irrigation reduced Lygus abundance compared with nonirrigated plots in 2018. Planting method had a significant effect on Lygus populations in both 2017 and 2018, but effects differed among years. Variety had a significant effect on Lygus abundance, but only in nonirrigated plots. Overall, our study shows that Lygus is a common insect herbivore in quinoa, and careful selection of variety, planting method, and irrigation regime may be key components of effective control in seasons where Lygus abundance is high.

The abundance and diversity of pollinator populations are in global decline. Managed pollinator species, like honey bees, and wild species are key ecosystem service providers in both natural and managed agroecosystems. However, relatively few studies have exhaustively characterized pollinator populations in diverse agroecosystems over multiple years, while also thoroughly documenting plant-pollinator interactions. Yet, such studies are needed to fulfill the national pollinator protection plans that have been released by the United States and other nations. Our research is among the first studies to respond to these directives by systematically documenting bee and plant biodiversity, bee-plant interactions, and bee-mediated pollen movement in farming systems of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Our data provides insight into the processes mediating pollinator and plant community assembly, persistence, and resilience across landscapes with variable crop and landscape diversity and agroecosystem management practices. These data will also contribute to the development of a United States pollinator database, supporting the United States' plan to promote pollinators. With few publicly available data sets that systematically take account of agroecosystem practices, plant populations, and pollinators, our research will provide future users the means to conduct synesthetic studies of pollinators and ecosystem function in a period of rapid and global pollinator declines. There are no copyright or proprietary restrictions for research or teaching purposes. Usage of the data set must be cited.

Grasslands are globally imperiled ecosystems due to widespread conversion to agriculture, and there is a concerted effort to catalogue arthropod diversity in grasslands to guide conservation decisions. The Palouse Prairie is one such endangered grassland; a mid-elevation habitat found in Washington and Idaho, United States. Ants (Formicidae) are useful indicators of biodiversity and historical ecological disturbance, but there has been no structured sampling of ants in the Palouse Prairie. To fill this gap, we employed a rapid inventory sampling approach using pitfall traps to capture peak ant activity in five habitat fragments. We complemented our survey with a systemic review of field studies for the ant species found in Palouse Prairie. Our field inventory yielded 17 ant species across 10 genera, and our models estimate the total ant species pool to be 27. The highest ant diversity was found in an actively managed ecological trust in Latah County, Idaho, suggesting that restoration efforts may increase biodiversity. We also report two rarely collected ants in the Pacific Northwest, and a microgyne that may represent an undescribed species related to Brachymyrmex depilis. Our score-counting review revealed that grassland ants in Palouse prairie have rarely been studied previously, and that more ant surveys in temperate grasslands have lagged behind sampling efforts of other global biomes.