INTA EEA Concordia, Estación Yuqueri s/n, Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
INTA EEA Marcos Juárez, Ruta 12 km. 3, Marcos Juárez, Córdoba, Argentina.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 12;13(1):13130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-40426-9.
Pest responses to landscape complexity show variable patterns globally, primarily related to species traits and specific managed habitats. Leaf-cutting ants (LCAs) are native insects and important pests of plantation forests in South America. We evaluated the responses of LCA nests in young Eucalyptus plantations to different spatial contexts: land uses, interfaces (adjacent land use pairs), agroecosystems, and landscapes. We selected 30 sites in the littoral region of Argentina representing three types of land uses neighboring Eucalyptus plantations: adult eucalypt plantations, citrus plantations, and semi-natural habitats. At each site, we quantified and identified LCA nests and characterized landscape composition and configuration in circles of 250 m radius. LCA nest abundance and presence were similar across different land uses, interfaces, and agroecosystems. Nest presence decreased in landscapes with increasing mean perimeter/area ratio and citrus coverage, whereas LCA abundance showed a similar trend. This indicates that heterogeneous landscapes and those with greater citrus plantation coverage were less likely to have LCA nests. Our findings suggest that landscape configuration was the main predictor of the LCA presence. Understanding the dynamics of LCAs populations and their complex associations with landscape components will contribute to developing successful environmental pest management strategies for plantation forests.
全球范围内，昆虫对景观复杂性的响应模式具有变异性，主要与物种特征和特定管理生境有关。切叶蚁是原产于南美的昆虫，也是人工林的重要害虫。我们评估了不同空间背景下（土地利用类型、生境交界、农业生态系统和景观），年轻桉树人工林里切叶蚁蚁巢的响应。我们在阿根廷滨海地区选择了 30 个代表桉树人工林相邻土地利用类型的地点：成年桉树人工林、柑橘园和半自然生境。在每个地点，我们在 250 米半径的圆内量化和识别切叶蚁蚁巢，并对景观组成和格局进行特征描述。不同土地利用类型、生境交界和农业生态系统中切叶蚁蚁巢的丰富度和存在率相似。随着平均周长/面积比和柑橘种植面积的增加，蚁巢的存在率下降，而切叶蚁的丰度则呈现出类似的趋势。这表明，生境异质性和柑橘种植面积较大的生境更不容易有切叶蚁蚁巢。我们的研究结果表明，景观格局是切叶蚁存在的主要预测因子。了解切叶蚁种群的动态及其与景观组成部分的复杂关系，将有助于为人工林制定成功的环境害虫管理策略。
