Quantifying the value of native plants for
improving pollination and biological
control in agroecosystems
Tammy Winfield
Bioresource Research
Dr. John G. Lambrinos
Horticulture
Introduction

Conservation Biological Control
Increase on farm habitat
Increase biodiversity
Increase pest control and pollination services

Added plants offer additional food and shelter

Agroecosystems




High disturbance
Fragmentation
Monoculture/low diversity
Habitat loss and fragmentation lead to lowered
biodiversity and reductions in associated
ecosystem services like pollination and
biological pest control (Wade et al. 2007).

Natural Enemies

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Parasites or predators of pest insects
A regulating ecosystem service



Crop protection
Increased pest control with decreased pesticides
Copyright © 2004 Tom Murrey
Save farmers billions of dollars/yr (Naylor and Ehrlich
1997)
Pollinators


Native bees
Provide pollination of crops

Copyright © 2008 Tom Bentley
Native pollinators value estimated to be in billions of
dollars/yr in U.S. (Daily et al. 1997)
Copyright © 2005 Steve Scott

Copyright © 2007 Cheryl Moorhead

Beneficial insects need access to



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Adult and larval food resources
Over wintering habitats
Appropriate microclimates
Alternate host/ food sources


Doutt & Nakata (1973), The principal parasitoid of
the grape leafhopper in California grape vineyards
required an alternate host for over wintering.
Basic knowledge still lacking


Resource requirements and preferences of beneficials
Insect communities supported by plant species
Objectives
Quantify the abundance and type of
arthropods attracted to native Oregon
plants.
 Quantify the degree to which native
plants vary in their relative attractiveness
to specific beneficial arthropods.


Parasitic wasps and flies, predatory flies and
wasps, and native bees
Native Plants

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
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



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Achillea millefolium
Artemisia ludoviciana
Eriophyllum lanatum
Erigeron decumbens
Eriogonum umbellatum
Eriogonum nudum
Potentilla gracilis
Holodiscus discolor
Grindelia integrifolia
Aster halliana
© 2003 George W. Hartwell (CalPhotos)
Methods

Field sites

National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Plant
Material Center (PMC)


Gathering Together Farm (GTF)


3415 NE Granger Ave, Corvallis
25159 Grange Hall Rd.
Philomath
Heavenly Harvest (HH)

5757 HWY 20, Corvallis
 On farm plants: Achillea millefolium, Erigeron decumbens, and
Eriophyllum lanatum
 Assess insect associates in an agricultural environment vs. PMC

Sampling methods

Arthropod

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Three randomly selected 1 m2 section/block
Vacuum
 Craftsman leaf blower/vac
 10 sec/section

Pan traps
 White/ fluorescent blue / fluorescent yellow
 One of each color 5m apart/block
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Plant phenology
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Phenology is the study of the annual cycles of plants and animals and
how they respond to seasonal changes in their environment
Count open flowers
Three permanent 1 m2 section/block
Outcomes

Quantitative information on native
Oregon plants that might be good choices
for conservation biological control and
increased pollination services.

Plant material that is currently being
developed for broad conservation and
restoration use by the PMC.
Phenology Results
June
Week
3
4
July
1 2
August
3 4
Artemisia ludoviciana
■ ▌
■ ▬▬▬
Eriophyllum lanatum
■ ▌
■ ▬▬▬
Potentilla gracilis
■ ▌
▬▬▬
Holodiscus discolor
▬■
▌■ ▬▬
Eriogonum umbellatum
▬■
▌■ ▬▬
Eriogonum nudum
▬■
▌■ ■
Erigeron decumbans
▬■
▌▬▬▬
Achillea millefolium
▬■
▌■ ■ ▬
1
2
3
September
4
1
2
3
4
▬▬▬▬▬
■
▬▬▬▬▬
▬▬
▬▬▬▬
Grindelia integrifolia
▬
■ ■
■
■
■ ▌
Aster halliana
▬
▬▬▬ ■
■
■▌
▌Peak bloom= date of maximum
bloom
■Full Bloom= weeks either side
of peak bloom date with 50% or
more of peak bloom
▬In Bloom= Weeks either side of
full bloom with less than 50% of
peak bloom
Arthropod Collection Results
Approximately 200 vials full
of insects to ID yet!
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ille
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.i
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eg i
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A.
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Mean Arthropods
Plans for data analysis
A Hypothetical example
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Natural enemies
Pests
Pollinators
Plant Species
Table 1.
Proportion of total natural enemies collected at all
flowering plants by order and family
Order
Family
Number
Percent
Total
Hemiptera
Anthrocoridae
Nabidae
?
?
Coleoptera
Carabidae
?
?
Hymentoptera
Braconidae
Chalcidoidea
vespidae
?
?
Diptera
Bombylidae
Syrphidae
?
?
Thysanoptera
Aeolothirpidae
?
?
Future Research Directions

Project continuation

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
Start earlier in growing season
Add more plants
Possible projects on habitat patch size and
diversity

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Plots of various sizes and species compositions
Optimum spacing of patches


How far will arthropods move from a patch into the crop to
pollinate or find hosts/prey
Biocontrol with small patch size?

Yards and gardens
Acknowledgments
The Ernest and Pauline Jaworski Fund
 URISC
 Dr. John Lambrinos
 HHMI summer program
 Dr. Kevin Ahern
 Gwendolyn Ellen Integrated Plant Protection Center
 Heavenly Harvest Farm
 Gathering Together Farm
 Amy Bartow and Joe Williams National

Resource Conservation Service Plant Material Center
THANK YOU!
http://www.ipmnet.org/Beneficial_Insects_Draft5.pdf