Natural enemies emerging in cereal fields in spring may contribute to biological control

In this study, we investigated how the overwintering process of natural enemies could play a key role in biological pest control in spring. To determine the consequences of the overwintering communities on biological control we used emergence traps and sentinel prey cards in 30 cereal fields selected along a landscape complexity gradient and we recorded farming practices. The data set is divided into 2 data subgroups depending on whether we interested in the complete season (6 sampling periods and 2 sessions of predation mesurements) or only the beginning (4 sampling periods and 1 session of predation mesurement). Both data subgroups are composed of 36 variables of ecological, landscape and farming practices measures related to the above-mentioned components.