Landscapes with higher crop diversity have lower aphid species richness but higher plant virus prevalence

Diversifying agricultural systems by growing more than one crop species in an area can decrease pest and disease pressure and increase crop yields. However, there is a lack of information on how crop diversity at larger spatial scales influences pest and disease pressure. Here, we investigated how landscape-scale crop diversity affects aphid vector communities and prevalence of non-persistently transmitted potato virus Y (PVY). To test the influence of landscape-scale crop diversity on PVY prevalence and aphid communities, we conducted a field study during the 2020 and 2021 field seasons in the San Luis Valley, Colorado where we quantified aphid communities and PVY incidence at multiple sites. We then determined the association of aphid species richness and abundance and PVY incidence with landscape variables (crop diversity metrics and percentage cover of crop species) within 1, 2 and 3 km buffers from study sites. Higher crop diversity (measured as Shannon diversity index) led to decr..., A two-year field study (during the years 2020 and 2021) was conducted in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, a major potato producing region in the United States. Potato fields were sampled and tested for the presence of PVY biweekly (i.e., once every two weeks) at 17 fields (eight fields in 2020 and nine fields in 2021) using TAS-ELISA, and aphid communities were sampled weekly, using yellow pan traps, at 10 sites during both years. Potato fields were pivot-irrigated and most fields were either ~24-25 hectares or ~49-54 hectares in area. The mean distance from sampled potato plants to corresponding aphid traps was 567.4 m. Each sampling site, for both aphids and PVY, was at least 1.5 km away from the next closest sampling site. In 2020, one field (“6N6E”) was sampled which did not have corresponding aphid traps; this site was included for tests of PVY-landscape associations but not PVY-aphid abundance or species richness associations. Also in 2020, one field (“RS-1”) was composed of the PVY..., , # Data from: Landscapes with higher crop diversity have lower aphid species richness but higher plant virus prevalence

**Overview of data**

This dataset contains weekly values of abundance and species composition of aphids from yellow pan traps at each trapping site, results from biweekly sampling and testing for PVY incidence in potato fields, and values of landscape composition surrounding aphid and PVY sampling sites, obtained from landscape composition data provided by the Rio Grande Water Conservation District. This study was conducted from May – September in 2020 and 2021. Associations between PVY incidence and aphid communities were determined using binomial (logit) generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMM). Associations between PVY incidence and landscape composition were determined using logistic regression models. Associations between aphid communities and landscape composition were determined using linear regression models. Further details on statistical analyses can ...