The Future of Agricultural Landscapes, Part I

Dave Bohan is an agricultural ecologist with an interest in predator-prey regulation interactions. Dave uses a model system of a carabid beetle predator and two agriculturally important prey; slugs and weed seeds. He has shown that carabids find and consume slug prey, within fields, and that this leads to regulation of slug populations and interesting spatial 'waves' in slug and carabid density. The carabids also intercept weed seeds shed by weed plants before they enter the soil, and thus carabids can regulate the long-term store of seeds in the seedbank on national scales. What is interesting about this system is that it contains two important regulation ecosystem services delivered by one group of service providers, the carabids. This system therefore integrates, in miniature, many of the problems of interaction between services.
Dave has most recently begun to work with networks. He developed, with colleagues, a learning methodology to build networks from sample date. Thishas produced the largest, replicated network in agriculture. One of his particular interests is how behaviours and dynamics at the species level, as studied using the carabid-slug-weed system, build across species and their interactions to the dynamics of networks at the ecosystem level.

1. Landscape-scale expansion of agroecology to enhance natural pest control: A systematic review Sandrine Petit, Lucile Muneret, Benjamin Carbonne, Mourad Hannachi, Benoit Ricci, Adrien Rusch and Claire Lavigne 2. Invasive bees and their impact on agriculture Marcelo A. Aizen, Marina P. Arbetman, Natacha P. Chacoff, Vanina R. Chalcoff, Peter Feinsinger, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Lawrence D. Harder, Carolina L. Morales, Agustín Sáez and Adam J. Vanbergen 3. Detecting landscape scale consequences of insecticide use on invertebrate communities F. Mancini, B.A. Woodcock, J. Redhead, D.J. Spurgeon, S.G. Jarvis, R.F. Pywell, R.F. Shore, A.C. Johnson and N.J.B. Isaac 4. Integrating biodiversity conservation in wider landscape management: Necessity, implementation and evaluation David Kleijn, Koos J.C. Biesmeijer, Raymond H.G. Klaassen, Natasja Oerlemans, Ivo Raemakers, Jeroen Scheper and Louise E.M. Vet 5. Conceptualizing pathways to sustainable agricultural intensification Julian Helfenstein, Vasco Diogo, Matthias Bürgi, Peter Verburg, Rebecca Swart, Franziska Mohr, Niels Debonne, Christian Levers and Felix Herzog 6. Transformation of agricultural landscapes in the Anthropocene: Nature's contributions to people, agriculture and food security Adam J. Vanbergen, Marcelo A. Aizen, Stephane Cordeau, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Michael P.D. Garratt, Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki, Lou Lecuyer, Hien T. Ngo, Simon G. Potts, Josef Settele, Eirini Skrimizea and Juliette C. Young 7. Sustainable agriculture: Recognizing the potential of conflict as a positive driver for transformative change Eirini Skrimizea, Lou Lecuyer, Nils Bunnefeld, James R.A. Butler, Thomas Fickel, Isla Hodgson, Carolin Holtkamp, Mariella Marzano, Constanza Parra, Laura Pereira, Sandrine Petit, Diana Pound, Iokine Rodríguez, Paul Ryan, Jutta Staffler, Adam J. Vanbergen, Pieter Van den Broeck, Heidi Wittmer and Juliette C. Young