Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
Organic Farming (OF) has been expanding recently in response to growing consumer demand and as a response to environmental concerns. The area under OF is expected to further increase in the future. The effect of OF expansion on pest densities in organic and conventional crops remains difficult to pr...
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| Format: | Article |
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2023-03-01
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| Series: | Peer Community Journal |
| Online Access: | https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.251/ |
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| author | Delattre, Thomas Memah, Mohamed-Mahmoud Franck, Pierre Valsesia, Pierre Lavigne, Claire |
| author_facet | Delattre, Thomas Memah, Mohamed-Mahmoud Franck, Pierre Valsesia, Pierre Lavigne, Claire |
| author_sort | Delattre, Thomas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Organic Farming (OF) has been expanding recently in response to growing consumer demand and as a response to environmental concerns. The area under OF is expected to further increase in the future. The effect of OF expansion on pest densities in organic and conventional crops remains difficult to predict because OF expansion impacts Conservation Biological Control (CBC), which depends on the surrounding landscape (i.e. both the crop mosaic and semi-natural habitats). In order to understand and forecast how pests and their biological control may vary during OF expansion, we modeled the effect of spatial changes in farming practices on population dynamics of a pest and its natural enemy. We investigated the impact on pest density and on predator to pest ratio of three contrasted scenarios aiming at 50% organic fields through the progressive conversion of conventional fields. Scenarios were 1) conversion of Isolated conventional fields first (IP), 2) conversion of conventional fields within Groups of conventional fields first (GP), and 3) Random conversion of conventional field (RD). We coupled a neutral spatially explicit landscape model to a predator-prey model to simulate pest dynamics in interaction with natural enemy predators. The three OF expansion scenarios were applied to nine landscape contexts differing in their proportion and fragmentation of semi-natural habitat. We further investigated if the ranking of scenarios was robust to pest control methods in OF fields and pest and predator dispersal abilities. We found that organic farming expansion affected more predator densities than pest densities for most combinations of landscape contexts and OF expansion scenarios. The impact of OF expansion on final pest and predator densities was also stronger in organic than conventional fields and in landscapes with large proportions of highly fragmented semi-natural habitats. Based on pest densities and the predator to pest ratio, our results suggest that a progressive organic conversion with a focus on isolated conventional fields (scenario IP) could help promote CBC. Careful landscape planning of OF expansion appeared most necessary when pest management was substantially less efficient in organic than in conventional crops, and in landscapes with low proportion of semi-natural habitats.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c0250b1c196046a68f758c0c59858733 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2804-3871 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Peer Community In |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Peer Community Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-c0250b1c196046a68f758c0c598587332025-02-07T10:16:49ZengPeer Community InPeer Community Journal2804-38712023-03-01310.24072/pcjournal.25110.24072/pcjournal.251Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach Delattre, Thomas0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2674-3542Memah, Mohamed-Mahmoud1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3850-0134Franck, Pierre2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1904-8325Valsesia, Pierre3Lavigne, Claire4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2869-5177INRAE, Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Avignon, FranceINRAE, Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Avignon, FranceINRAE, Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Avignon, FranceINRAE, Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Avignon, FranceINRAE, Plantes et Systèmes de culture Horticoles, Avignon, FranceOrganic Farming (OF) has been expanding recently in response to growing consumer demand and as a response to environmental concerns. The area under OF is expected to further increase in the future. The effect of OF expansion on pest densities in organic and conventional crops remains difficult to predict because OF expansion impacts Conservation Biological Control (CBC), which depends on the surrounding landscape (i.e. both the crop mosaic and semi-natural habitats). In order to understand and forecast how pests and their biological control may vary during OF expansion, we modeled the effect of spatial changes in farming practices on population dynamics of a pest and its natural enemy. We investigated the impact on pest density and on predator to pest ratio of three contrasted scenarios aiming at 50% organic fields through the progressive conversion of conventional fields. Scenarios were 1) conversion of Isolated conventional fields first (IP), 2) conversion of conventional fields within Groups of conventional fields first (GP), and 3) Random conversion of conventional field (RD). We coupled a neutral spatially explicit landscape model to a predator-prey model to simulate pest dynamics in interaction with natural enemy predators. The three OF expansion scenarios were applied to nine landscape contexts differing in their proportion and fragmentation of semi-natural habitat. We further investigated if the ranking of scenarios was robust to pest control methods in OF fields and pest and predator dispersal abilities. We found that organic farming expansion affected more predator densities than pest densities for most combinations of landscape contexts and OF expansion scenarios. The impact of OF expansion on final pest and predator densities was also stronger in organic than conventional fields and in landscapes with large proportions of highly fragmented semi-natural habitats. Based on pest densities and the predator to pest ratio, our results suggest that a progressive organic conversion with a focus on isolated conventional fields (scenario IP) could help promote CBC. Careful landscape planning of OF expansion appeared most necessary when pest management was substantially less efficient in organic than in conventional crops, and in landscapes with low proportion of semi-natural habitats. https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.251/ |
| spellingShingle | Delattre, Thomas Memah, Mohamed-Mahmoud Franck, Pierre Valsesia, Pierre Lavigne, Claire Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach Peer Community Journal |
| title | Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
|
| title_full | Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
|
| title_fullStr | Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
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| title_full_unstemmed | Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
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| title_short | Best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control: a modeling approach
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| title_sort | best organic farming expansion scenarios for pest control a modeling approach |
| url | https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.251/ |
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