Predation of potential insect pests in oil palm plantations, rubber tree plantations and fruit orchards

In human-modified landscapes, important ecological functions such as predation are negatively affected by anthropogenic activities, including the use of pesticides and habitat degradation. Predation of insect pests is an indicator of healthy ecosystem functioning, which provides important ecosystem services, especially for agricultural systems. In this study, we compare predation attempts from arthropods, mammals, and birds on artificial caterpillars in the understory, between three tropical agricultural land-use types: oil palm plantations, rubber tree plantations, and fruit orchards. We collected a range of local and landscape-scale data including: undergrowth vegetation structure; elevation; proximity to forest; and canopy cover in order to understand how environmental variables can affect predation. In all three land-use types, our results showed that arthropods and mammals were important predators of artificial caterpillars and there was little predation by birds. We did not find a...在人为干预的景观中，诸如捕食作用（predation）这类重要的生态功能会受到人类活动的负面影响，其中包括农药使用与栖息地退化。害虫捕食作用是生态系统功能健康的指示指标，能够提供关键的生态系统服务，对农业系统而言尤为重要。本研究针对三类热带农业土地利用类型——油棕种植园、橡胶树种植园与果园——中的林下区域，对比了节肢动物（arthropods）、哺乳动物（mammals）与鸟类（birds）对人工模拟毛虫的捕食尝试情况。为探究环境变量如何影响捕食作用，我们收集了一系列本地与景观尺度的数据，涵盖林下植被结构、海拔、距森林的距离以及冠层覆盖率等指标。三类土地利用类型的研究结果均显示，节肢动物与哺乳动物是人工模拟毛虫的主要捕食类群，鸟类的捕食作用则极为微弱。本研究尚未发现……