Insect community composition and functional roles along a tropical agricultural production gradient

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Ecology
• Entomology

Background:

• Intensive agriculture threatens ecosystem services and biodiversity.
• Farm management practices significantly impact on-farm insect communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of different banana farm management systems on insect diversity in Costa Rica.
• To compare insect community composition and diversity across high-input conventional, low-input conventional, and organic farming systems.

Main Methods:

• Insect sampling using pitfall and yellow bowl traps across various farm locations and adjacent forest.
• Classification of 39,091 individual insects to family and morphospecies level.
• Multivariate statistical analysis including ordination and Monte Carlo permutation testing.

Main Results:

• Insect diversity significantly decreased with increased management intensity.
• Management systems showed significant differences in insect community composition for both trap types.
• Organic farms exhibited insect species composition similar to adjacent forests, unlike more intensively managed farms.

Conclusions:

• Organic farming has minimal impact on insect biodiversity.
• Reducing agricultural management intensity positively impacts on-farm insect biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
• Farm management practices are critical for supporting insect diversity and essential ecosystem services.