Long Term Dynamics of Arthropods in Agricultural Landscapes

The National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addresses ecological questions that cannot be resolved with short-term observations or experiments. The Kellogg Biological Station’s (KBS) LTER is one of 26 sites in the network, and is the only site to study agricultural systems. Current work is focusing on:

Long-term dynamics of coccinellid beetles in agricultural landscapes.
Lady beetles (Coccinellidae) are generalist predators of aphids and other soft bodied insects and provide significant pest suppression services in row crops. Since 1989 we’ve documented the spatial and temporal occurrence of lady beetles across the KBS LTER and surrounding natural habitats. These studies have also documented the invasion of multiple exotic lady beetles and their impacts on pest suppression services.

Increasing biodiversity and resilience in agricultural landscapes.
Beginning in 2019 we initiated a new experiment aimed at increasing biodiversity and ecosystem services in annual row crops by inclusion of prairie strips within our conservation-oriented treatments. Prairie strips contain a mixture of native grasses and forbs that bloom throughout the growing season to provide resources to a variety of organisms. Research will determine how prairie strips influence recruitment and community assembly as well as spillover effects and pest suppression services in surrounding crop habitats.