Native plants and ecosystem services

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Native plants and ecosystem services
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The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersi
necology.org
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Ecosystem services

• Processes by which the environment produces
  resources
• timber
• clean water
• habitat for fisheries
• pollination of native and agricultural plants
• AMES
• Arthropod mediated ecosystem services
• US annual value 8 billion dollars (Losey and
  Vaughn 2006)

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Beneficial insects

• Pollinators and Parasitoids
• Natural enemies of insect pests
• gt 100,000 invertebrate species worldwide
• E.g. bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, flies,
  wasps
• Require nectar and/or pollen from flowers
• Specific habitat and foraging needs
• Most flowering plants require pollinators.
• Significant role in gt150 food crops in the US
• E.g. almonds, apples, alfalfa, melons, plums,
  squash
• Almost all fruit and grain crops

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Challenges to survival of bees, predators, and
parasitoids in farmland
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Changes in farmland

• Farmland being sold for development
• More invasive plant species
• The focus on bio-fuels

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Farmland being sold for development

• More farmland is being sold for development. This
  is reducing land that native plant species grow
  on. Bees, predators, and parasitoids require
  these plant species for survival.

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More invasive plant species

• There are more invasive plants today than there
  were 25 years ago. Invasive plants are taking
  over land used for pasture or crops. This leads
  to less plants that beneficial insects need to
  survive.

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The focus on bio-fuels

• As the demand for bio-fuels increase, the amount
  of land planted in corn has increased. This means
  less landscape diversity and also intensifies
  pesticide use. When pesticide use is increased
  both target and non-target insect and plant
  populations are reduced. This means beneficial
  plants and insects will be dramatically reduced.
  

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Rebuilding Habitat for beneficial arthropods into
farm landscapes
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• Almost all beneficial insects require food in the
  form of nectar and/or pollen from flowers
• This promotes optimal survival and high levels
  of reproduction
• Success should be measured as an increase in
  biodiversity as well as crop production

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Beneficial insects on native Midwest prairie
plant flowers

• Syrphid fly
• Adults feed on pollen and nectar
• Larval stage feed on aphids and other insects

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• Soldier Beetle
• Adults feed on grasshopper
  eggs as well as aphids and other insects
• Supplement diet with pollen and nectar

• When primary hosts or prey are
• not available, these predators require alternate
• hosts or prey to complete their lifecycles
• Ecosystem must be in balance for long term AMES,
  survival or predator and prey important

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• Leafcutter bee
• Very efficient pollinators
• Only gather small amounts of pollen per trip
  to the flower which results in frequent trips,
  distributing pollen each instance

• To maximize reproduction, bee species require
  flowers within their foraging range throughout
  the season
• Must have enough plants in the area to support
  bees even after the crops are harvested

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Key questions about rebuilding habitat for
beneficial arthropods

• What types plants should be introduced or
  conserved in order to attract beneficial
  arthropods?
• Increase beneficial insects
• Minimize introduction of new harmful species
• How should the insects or plants be
  distributed/introduced?
• Slowly/quickly
• Near/far from crops

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• Habitat management efforts to support
  beneficial insects are based on the establishment
  of flowering plants to provide pollen/nectar
  through the majority of the year
• Which landscape will be most likely to
  conserve beneficial insects and provide pest
  control and pollination services?

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• Low complexity impoverished/depleted insect
  populations
• High complexity high insect population that
  is not easily increased
• Medium complexity - the addition of flowering
  plants provide resources that can be
  exploited by organisms to increase their
  populations

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Native Plants to Support AMES
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Native Plants to Support AMES

• Research mostly on a few species
• Native perennials are a good alternative
• Local Adaptation
• Habitat Permanency
• Increased Native Plant Diversity
• Minimize Recurring Costs

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Potential Drawbacks to Native Plants

• Long establishment period
• Availability of seed
• More research needed
• Collaboration needed

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Screening Native Plants
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Screening Native Plants

• Screening native plants involves evaluating
  plants based on the number of beneficial
  arthropods on and around plants.
• Specific species are recommended based on bloom
  period and the relative adaptation to the
  environment.
• Native plants are important in agricultural
  landscape because they outcompete non-native
  plants

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Screening Native Plants

• In 2004 and 2005 plants were screened that were
  native to Michigan.
• A total of 48 species were screened, with 43
  being native and 5 being non-native to the area.
  
• Of these 48 plants, 26 were considered highly
  ranked when evaluated during the blooming season.
• Ranking was based on the number of predators,
  parasitiods, and native bees found on or near
  each plant.

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Screening Native Plants
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Screening Native Plants

• These plants provide an overlapping sequence of
  blooms during growing season.
• The native plants frequently had more beneficial
  arthropods on or around them than the non-native
  plants.
• More insects responded better to larger flowers
  as compared to plants with smaller flowers.
• This means that large floral displays should be
  considered when screening for native plants

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Screening Native Plants

• These screenings suggest that targeted planting
  can contribute to natural pest control and crop
  pollination
• Native flowering can also provide food and
  shelter for other wildlife, including threatened
  birds, mammals, and butterflies.
• The planting of large areas of native flowers can
  also increase biodiversity in the ecodystem.

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Landscape context and arthropod conservation
plantings

• Landscape context-is the aspect of a land
  characteristic of a particular region
• Arthropod conservation plantings-programs aimed
  at enhancing an area to sustain a high population
  of beneficial arthropods

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Benefit of arthropods?

• They act as pollinators
• They help with biological control
• Pest control which reduces use of pesticides on
  farmland thereby reducing waste runoff which
  harms the environment

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Landscape variables that support beneficial
arthropods

• Habitat complexity
• Simplified, Intermediate or Highly complex
• Quality-how beneficial the native plants are to
  arthropods
• Patchiness-multiple small patches of conservation
  land are better than one huge patch

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Crop fields are ephemeral habitats

• Ephemeral-means lasting a short time
• Anthropogenic disturbances-disturbances caused my
  man
• Tillage of land
• Pesticide application
• Harvesting
• These habitats require frequent recolonization
  and surrounding conservation areas can house the
  beneficial arthropods during this disturbance

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There are many levels of landscape complexity
within the U.S.

• Landscape context is a primary driver of the
  ability of conservation efforts to deliver
  intended benefits
• Three levels with two extremes
• Simplified-these lack infrastructure needed for
  some species
• Highly complex-these wont benefit from
  conservation plantings
• Intermediate-this is the level that benefits most
  from conservation plantings

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Landscape-ecosystem service hypothesis

• This states that Arthropod Mediated Ecosystem
  Services (AMES) are unlikely to be enhanced by
  adding resources in highly simplified landscapes,
  because species pools are too impoverished to
  respond
• Additional resources will increase AMES in
  landscapes of intermediate complexity, where the
  ecosystem will have a positive response to
  management

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Conclusions
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Conclusions

• Landscape Changes
• Agriculture
• Profit Maximization
• Yield
• Production practices
• Pesticides
• Herbicides
• Pesticides
• Urban
• Expansion

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Conclusions
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Conclusions

• Conservation Programs
• FSA
• State Acres for Wildlife (SAFE)
• NRCS
• NRCS-managed Conservation Security Program
• Plant Species
• Native
• Large flowers
• Perennial

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Conclusions

• Beneficiaries
• Ag producers
• Crop yield
• quality
• Society
• Environmental concerns

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