Flower margins: attractiveness over time for different pollinator groups

Supporting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is key from both a conservation and ecosystem services perspective. Planting flower margins along crop field edges is one of the most established approaches to try and improve habitat and resources for insect pollinators on farms. Whilst there is growing evidence that these margins can result in increased pollinator abundance and diversity on farms in the short-term, there is little data looking at how these margins perform over longer periods. This study looked at the utilization of pollinator-friendly margins over time in an agricultural landscape in Hungary. ‘Operation Pollinator’ seed mixes with 12 species, were used at 96 farms in Hungary from 2010 to 2018. Insect pollinators were recorded on the sown flower margins and control margins (with naturally occurring vegetation) using walked transects. Repeated sampling of the margins was done over several years so that data was collected on margins from 0 (planted that season) to 7 years old. The abundance of pollinators in the Operation Pollinator flower margins was greater than in control margins for all groups recorded (honey bees, bumble bees, mining bees, trap-nesting bees, hoverflies and Lepidoptera). The biggest relative increase in abundance was in honey bees (768% increase in average abundance in the flower margin compared to the control across all observations), with mining (566%) and bumble bees (414%) showing the next largest increases. The abundance of bumble bees, trap-nesting bees and Lepidoptera in the margins did not vary with the age of the margin. Honey bees, mining bees and hoverflies all decreased in abundance with increasing margin age, as did flower abundance. The results suggest that for some pollinator groups, regardless of age, flower margins provide important resources in the agricultural landscape. However, this is not universally true and for certain pollinator groups, some re-sowing of the margins may be needed to sustain longer-term benefits

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

An investigation of weed seedbank population dynamics under various tillage and herbicide regimes in a rotational sequence of industrial crops in northern Greece

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

On-farm evaluation of inundative biological control of Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) by Trichogramma brassicae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in three European maize-producing regions

BACKGROUND: A 2 year study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of biological control with optimally timed Trichogramma brassicae releases as an integrated pest management tool against the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), in on-farm experiments (i.e. real field conditions) in three European regions with dissimilar geoclimatic conditions and ECB pressure and conventional management (i.e. insecticide treated and untreated). RESULTS: Biological control with Trichogramma (1) provided ECB protection comparable with conventional management, (2) in all cases maintained mycotoxin levels below the EU threshold for maize raw materials destined for food products, (3) was economically sustainable in southern France and northern Italy, but not in Slovenia where it resulted in a significant decrease in gross margin, mainly owing to the cost of Trichogramma product, and (4) enabled avoidance of detrimental environmental effects of lambda-cyhalothrin use in northern Italy. CONCLUSION: Optimally timed mass release of T. brassicae could be considered a sustainable tool for IPM programmes against ECB in southern France and northern Italy. Better involvement of regional advisory services is needed for the successful dissemination and implementation of biological control. Subsidy schemes could also motivate farmers to adopt this IPM tool and compensate for high costs of Trichogramma product

Risk assessment of soil-pest damage to grain maize in Europe within the framework of Integrated Pest Management

The management of soil-pests relies largely on conventional insecticides. Within the framework of the EU's PURE project, data were collected to assess the risk of soil-pest damage to grain maize in Europe in order to implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of soil-pests in a more practical and sustainable manner, thus optimizing the use of soil insecticides (in-furrow or as seed-dressing) at sowing. Plant density and soil-pest damage to maize seeds and/or plants during the growing season were determined in fields with no or some risk factors. Risk assessment on a sample of sixteen experimental sites (a total of 109.95 ha of maize) located in five European countries (Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and the Netherlands) from 2011 to 2014 showed a low risk of soil-pest damage to maize. In all fields, wireworms (Agriotes spp. larvae) caused 99.5%-100% of the plant damage, meaning that damage by other soil-pests was negligible. The fields studied were divided into two groups: those with no risk and those with risk factors. According to previous research, the risk factors were . Agriotes brevis Candeze and . Agriotes sordidus Illiger as prevalent damaging species, soil Organic Matter content over 5%, rotation including meadows and/or double crops, as well as surrounding landscape being mainly meadows, uncultivated grass and double crops, cover crops, and poor drainage. In the fields with no risk factors, wireworm plant damage (mainly holes in the collar causing central leaf wilting) never exceeded 15%, a threshold value for potential yield reduction. Furthermore, plant damage was much lower or even negligible in the vast majority of the fields (i.e. over 90% of fields had less than 5% wireworm damage to maize plants). Risk factors, such as rotation including meadows and/or double crops, led to the percentage of cultivated land with significant wireworm plant damage being even lower than predicted (8.7% instead of 14.7%) and almost 50% of that predicted for the whole sample (2.7% instead of 4.9%). In the few cases where plant damage was higher than 15%, yield was not affected when untreated strips were compared with strips treated with soil insecticides. In all trials, the soil insecticide Tefluthrin did not significantly increase the density of healthy maize plants or grain yield. In more than 99% of cases, no economic damage to maize by soil-pests was recorded. These results demonstrate that the occurrence of risk factors may increase the risk of wireworm damage to maize crops, while the probability of damage to a field with no risk factors is always very low (less than 1%). This highlights the importance of integrating risk assessment of soil-pest damage to maize into IPM strategies, which would include: i) an "area-wide" risk assessment evaluating the possible presence of risk factors, including click beetle population monitoring with pheromone traps, and ii) "complementary field monitoring" with bait traps where risk assessment has identified the presence of risk factors. In fields with no risk factors, treating maize with soil insecticides was found to be pointless. Therefore, IPM strategies in maize that include risk assessment of soil-pest damage may lead to a significant reduction in soil insecticides use and, consequently, to a reduction in environmental impact