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Conversion of forest to agricultural land (agroforestry and monoculture) has a negative impact on soil macrofauna diversity. Soil macrofauna have a key role in maintaining soil fertility through decomposition and supporting the productive capacity of ecosystems. This study aimed at determining the soil macrofauna diversity and the litter decomposition rate in agroforestry and monoculture and investigating the correlation between soil macrofauna diversity and litter decomposition rate. This study involved field and laboratory activities. Litter traps were installed for soil macrofauna observation, macrofauna identification was carried out in the laboratory, and litter bags were used for decomposition rate observation. Data analysis was conducted to determine species diversity and similarity of soil macrofauna on agroforestry and monoculture plantations. The calculation of the diversity index (H’) shows that complex agroforestry and simple agroforestry have moderate, while candlenut monoculture has low diversity of soil macrofauna. The similarity of soil macrofauna in these sites is low (similarity index below 50%). The decomposition rate of litter is relatively high (0.01 g/day). The correlation between species diversity and the decomposition rate of litter in complex agroforestry and candlenut monoculture is very strong. Meanwhile, in simple agroforestry, the correlation is relatively low. more...

Cocoa farmers in Palolo sub-district conducted cocoa cultivation by implementing three cocoa cropping systems, including the cocoa cropping system without using shade trees (A1), using a number of permanent shade trees (A2), and using natural forests as the shade trees (A3). The aim of the study was to determine the diversity of arthropods and decreased seed weight in the three cocoa cultivation systems. The sampling of arthropods used pitfall traps, light trap, and Yellow Fan Trap. The found 2684 arthropod individuals represented 12 orders, 47 families and 106 species. Diversity index and abundance index were the highest for cocoa crop ecosystem A2 (2.9 and 13.1). The largest decrease in weight of cocoa seeds was found in the A1 locations (8.34%) and the lowest in the A3 locations (3.61%). We recommend that cocoa cultivation should use protective trees. more...

This dataset comprises 1,040,752 measurements, collated from 9,544 sampling locations in 46 countries and representing 10,635 species. The data was collated from 115 existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database was assembled as part of the PREDICTS project - Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems; https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/our-work/biodiversity/predicts.html This release is an addition to the data presented with The 2016 release of the PREDICTS database (available on the NHM Data Portal: https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/the-2016-release-of-the-predicts-database). more...

Pasaru F, Yunus M, Toana MH, Edy N, Anshary A, Saleh S. 2021. Incidence of banana leaf roller and diversity of it is parasitoids in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 5023-5029. Incidence of banana leaf roller and diversity of it is parasitoids in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Indonesia is still facing banana losses due to the leaf roller (Erionota thrax). Fortunately, it has several natural enemies potentially to control them. Therefore, a survey was done to measure the incidence of banana leaf roller (BLR) at different altitudes and banana cultivars as well as the diversity and parasitism of its parasitoids. The pra-imago stages of BLR were collected at different altitudes and banana cultivars in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, and transported to the laboratory for rearing and parasitism observation. The study revealed that the incidence of E. thrax in the surveyed locations varied from 28.6% to 85.8%, whereas the parasitism level of the BLR parasitoids was 0.0 to 22.1%. Incidence of E. thrax tended to be higher at a higher altitude while Kepok cultivar seemed to be less prone to BLR infestation compared with Raja and Mas cultivars. A total of nine parasitoids of BLR were recorded. They were Agiommatus sumatraensis, Pediobius erionotae, Ooencyrtus pallidipes, Brachymeria lasus, Brachymeria thracis, Cotesia erionatae, Xanthopimpla gampsura, Casinaria sp, and Palexorista solennis. Among them, B. lasus was the most abundant, widely distributed, and had the highest parasitism rate. Our study figured out that BLR infestation is a major problem in Central Sulawesi. Nevertheless, the presence of parasitoids recorded in this study may potentially be used as the biological control. more...

This research was aimed to analyze the effect of insecticide application on the population abundance and fluctuation, the attack percentage and the production of local Lembah Palu red onions, as well as the abundance of parasitoids Liriomyza spp. The work was conducted in the farmers’ fields. There were two treatments, namely abamectin insecticide and without abamectin insecticide. The intensity of Liriomyza spp. applied with Abamectin insecticide was lower (33.84%) compared with the non-treated one (62% on 6 weeks after planting). The effect of Abamectin insecticide lowered the attack percentage than non-treated. The non-treated plots had more population of H. varicornis (67.17%) and N. formosa (28.78%). The average production of red onion applied with insecticide was 9.61 tons per hectare it was higher in comparison with the non-treated one (8.20 tons per hectare). The application of Abamectin insecticide was effective in suppressing the growth of Liriomyza spp. population. more...

Pollinator populations respond to environmental changes operating on different spatial scales, but the contribution of scale-dependent habitat management to crop pollination and yield-gap reduction is little understood. Here, we analyze how bee abundance and their effects on cucumber production in tropical homegardens is driven by factors measured on three spatial scales; the (1) homegarden scale (flower cover of the focal homegarden); the (2) adjacent-habitat scale (amount of homegarden habitat within a 200 m radius around the focal homegarden); and the (3) landscape scale (distance of the focal homegarden to the nearest forest from 0 to 2200 m). We also evaluate bee responses according to functional traits such as body size. We found that bees were affected by factors on multiple spatial scales. On the homegarden scale, the percentage flower cover best predicted pollinator attraction, if, on the adjacent-habitat scale the percentage of surrounding homegardens was at least 20%. On the landscape scale, bee abundance, mainly of small species, increased when homegardens were closer to the forest. Increasing abundance of flower-visiting bees increased cucumber yield, with solitary bees being the most abundant flower visitors. We predicted that a 50% loss in bee abundance would translate into a 47% yield and associated income decline. Homegardens with a flower cover of 50%, being surrounded by a homegarden area of 50% and being established 1500 m). Our work suggests that farmers need to be aware of management practices not only at the local and landscape scale but also on the adjacent-habitat scale. Only then farmers can increase wild bee populations to reduce crop yield gaps through pollination services. more...

Avian ecosystem services such as the suppression of pests are considered to be of high ecological and economic importance in a range of ecosystems, especially in tropical agroforestry. However, how bird predation success is related to the diversity and composition of the bird community, as well as local and landscape factors, is poorly understood. We quantified arthropod predation in relation to the identity and diversity of insectivorous birds using experimental exposure of artificial, caterpillar-like prey in 15 smallholder cacao agroforestry systems differing in local shade-tree management and distance to primary forest. The bird community was assessed using both mist-netting (targeting active understorey insectivores) and point counts (higher completeness of species inventories). Bird predation was not related to local shade-tree management or overall bird species diversity, but to the activity of insectivorous bird species and the proximity to primary forest. Insectivore activity was best predicted by mist-netting-based data, not by point counts. We identified the abundant Indonesian endemic lemon-bellied white-eye Zosterops chloris as the main driver of predation on artificial prey.Synthesis and applications. The suppression of arthropods is a major ecosystem service provided by insectivorous birds in agricultural systems world-wide, potentially reducing herbivore damage on plants and increasing yields. Our results show that avian predation success can be driven by single and abundant insectivorous species, rather than by overall bird species richness. Forest proximity was important for enhancing the density of this key species, but did also promote bird species richness. Hence, our findings are both of economical as well as ecological interest because the conservation of nearby forest remnants will likely benefit human needs and biodiversity conservation alike. The suppression of arthropods is a major ecosystem service provided by insectivorous birds in agricultural systems world-wide, potentially reducing herbivore damage on plants and increasing yields. Our results show that avian predation success can be driven by single and abundant insectivorous species, rather than by overall bird species richness. Forest proximity was important for enhancing the density of this key species, but did also promote bird species richness. Hence, our findings are both of economical as well as ecological interest because the conservation of nearby forest remnants will likely benefit human needs and biodiversity conservation alike. (Less) more...

Trap cropping system has been widely used as a management strategy against various types of pests. However, the efficacy of this strategy varies and need to be increased by combining it with another additional control strategy. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of trap cropping system and insecticides against leafminers, an important pest of crops in the world including in shallot crop in Indonesia. The study was arranged in a randomized complete block design with 6 treatments, which were 1) without any treatments (control), 2) trap crops, 3) botanical insecticide (Agonal), 4) synthetic insecticide (Abamectin) 5) trap crops and Agonal, 6) trap crops and abamectin. The results showed that the trap cropping system has a stronger effect on reducing infestation than the population of leafminers. Trap crops reduced leafminer infestation by around 50% when combined with insecticides but only reduced by 32 % without insecticides. Agonal and abamectin insecticides had similar efficacy against leafminers. Trap crop application combined with insecticides had the highest parasitoid population compared with insecticides and control. This study revealed that trap crops were compatible with insecticides in controlling shallot leafminers and supports the integrated pest management of leafminers. more...

Assessing the overall biological diversity of tropical rain forests is a seemingly insurmountable task for ecologists. Therefore, researchers frequently sample selected taxa that they believe reflect general biodiversity patterns. Usually, these studies focus on the congruence of alpha diversity (the number of species found per sampling unit) between taxa rather than on beta diversity (turnover of species assemblages between sampling units). Such approaches ignore the potential role of habitat heterogeneity that, depending on the taxonomic group considered, can greatly enhance beta diversity at local and landscape scales. We compared alpha and beta diversity of four plant groups (trees, lianas, terrestrial herbs, epiphytic liverworts) and eight animal groups (birds, butterflies, lower canopy ants, lower canopy beetles, dung beetles, bees, wasps, and the parasitoids of the latter two) at 15 sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia, that represented natural rain forest and three types of cacao agroforests differing in management intensity. In total, we recorded 863 species. Patterns of species richness per study site varied strongly between taxonomic groups. Only 13-17% of the variance in species richness of one taxonomic group could be predicted from the species richness of another, and on average 12-18% of the variance of beta diversity of a given group was predicted by that in other groups, although some taxon pairs had higher values (up to 76% for wasps and their parasitoids). The degree of congruence of patterns of alpha diversity was not influenced by sampling completeness, whereas the indicator value for beta diversity improved when using a similarity index that accounts for incomplete sampling. The indication potential of alpha diversity for beta diversity and vice versa was limited within taxa (7-20%) and virtually nil between them (0-4%). We conclude that different taxa can have largely independent patterns of alpha diversity and that patterns of beta diversity can be more congruent. Thus, conservation plans on a landscape scale need to put more emphasis on the high heterogeneity of agroforests and the overarching role of beta diversity shaping overall diversity patterns. more...