Landscape composition shapes biological control by promoting off-season predator diversity
Data files
Oct 24, 2025 version files 13.77 KB
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landscape_data.csv
1.83 KB
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Predator_data.csv
2.82 KB
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README.md
2.27 KB
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Rice_stem_borer_data.csv
6.85 KB
Abstract
Landscape heterogeneity can enhance biodiversity, but its impacts are rarely disaggregated over time. Thus, off-season effects on ecosystem service providers, service delivery and underlying (ecological) determinants often remain occluded. We assessed how landscape structure affects predator biodiversity in subtropical rice systems during winter. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of resident predator populations on the adult abundance of the overwintering generation rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis. To study these dynamics, 32,396 insect predators belonging to 52 species (19 families) were systematically surveyed in 19 fallow rice fields over a span of three years. Landscape composition and configuration jointly defined overwintering predator diversity, with the former exhibiting the strongest impacts. Rice fields with winter crop cover embedded in complex landscapes harbored the most diverse predator populations. Field size and forest proximity increased abundance and richness of specific natural enemy taxa, i.e., carabid beetles and hunting spiders. This, in turn, shaped biological control: across sites and years, overwintering pest abundance was negatively correlated with predator richness. Synthesis and applications: Our work demonstrates how off-season crop management and landscape structure jointly support overwintering predator populations and sustain their biological control potential. Specifically, by enhancing winter ground cover and preserving small fields, local rice growers can enjoy cost-free pest biological control and avoid crop protection expenditures in the next cropping cycle.
This is the data from: Zhu, Y., Chong, H., Zou, Y., Lai, Q., Yang, Q., Wyckhuys, KAG., van der Werf, W., & Xiao, H. (2025) Landscape composition shapes biological control by promoting off-season predator diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology.
Creator
Haijun Xiao, School of grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China. email: [hjxiao@bjfu.edu.cn] (mailto:hjxiao@bjfu.edu.cn)
Description
The dataset contains 3 documents
- "
landscape_data.csv" is the landscape information of each study site; each of the column refers to the following:
- Site: Study site
- Scale(m): radius of landscape sector (500m and 1000m radii)
- Dis_Forest: shortest distance of the center of each field to the edge of forest habitat
- MFS (ha): The average area of all patches in the landscape type (mean field size)
- SNH: proportion of semi-natural habitat at 500m and 1000m radius
- Winter_crop: proportion of non-rice crops at 500m and 1000m radius
- Edge: proportion of edge cover at 500m and 1000m radius
- SHDI: landscape diversity (Shannon diversity index) at 500m and 1000m radius
- "
Predator_data.csv" is the predator diversity information of each study site; each of the column refers to the following:
- Year: Sampling year
- Site: Study site
- Trap_day: total number of days for the trap was conducted
- Spi_Abu: abundance of spiders
- Spi_Ric: richness of spiders
- Hunting_Abu: abundance of hunter spiders
- Hunting_Ric: richness of hunter spiders
- Web_Abu: abundance of web-builder spiders
- Web_Ric: richness of web-builder spiders
- Bee_Abu: abundance of overall carabids
- Bee_Ric: richness of overall carabids
- Non_Carn_Abu: abundance of non-carnivorous carabids
- Carn_Abu: abundance of carnivorous carabids
- Carn_Ric: richness of carnivorous carabids
- Rove_Abu: abundance of rove beetles (Staphylinidae)
- "
Rice_stem_borer_data.csv" is the collected sample for rice stem borer; each of the column refers to the following:
- Year: Sampling year
- Site: Study site
- Date: Sampling date
- Round: Sampling round
- RSB: number of rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis