Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

O_LIEffective pest control requires a better understanding of natural enemy ecology, particularly how their distribution responds to landscape structure and local management. Agricultural intensification has simplified landscapes, reducing biodiversity and constraining pest control. Landscape-scale surveys are therefore needed to identify strategies that support natural enemies in agricultural systems. C_LIO_LIFrom 2021 to 2022, over three seasons, we surveyed 25 clementine orchards across a gradient of landscape complexity in Corsica. We modelled the tree-level occurrence of four natural enemy species in relation to ecological context across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Site-level evenness, reflecting differences in species occurrence frequencies, was also estimated to assess how natural enemy assemblages vary across local management and landscape gradients. C_LIO_LIClimate and local management were the primary drivers of species occurrence, with additional contributions from landscape factors. Species displayed distinct responses, while model performance increased with the number of sampled trees, plateauing at around half of the sampling effort. C_LIO_LISite-level evenness was higher in organic orchards than in conventional orchards. In conventional orchards, it responded to landscape structure in a scale-dependent manner, increasing at the larger scale with the heterogeneity and spatial continuity of semi-natural habitats. C_LIO_LISynthesis and applications. Organic farming enhances natural enemy presence and diversity in Corsican citrus orchards, while the naturalness and complexity of surrounding landscape can mitigate species scarcity in conventional orchards. We recommend continued long-term monitoring of arthropod communities in these systems, prioritizing the number of sampling sites and years while reducing the number of trees sampled per site to optimize effort. C_LI

Recovery debt (RD) quantifies the interim deficit of biodiversity and function during the recovery process after disturbance. Unlike typical recovery indices derived from data on experimental-control comparisons, RD further considers the target (reference) biodiversity level, modelling the rate at which it is approached over time. However, the application of the RD approach to active restoration has not been explicitly implemented to date. Here, we extend the RD framework to evaluate active ecological restoration in agricultural systems, defining the onset of recovery as the shift from intensive to wildlife-friendly management. We applied this approach to assess short-term pollinator recovery in 14 olive groves across a gradient of farming intensification and landscape complexity in southern Spain. Restoration actions included adopting low-intensity ground cover management and actively restoring field margins. At one, three, and five years post-restoration, we assessed community responses by quantifying bee abundance, species richness, plant-bee network properties, and flower visitation rates. Reference systems were defined by olive groves in complex landscapes with low-intensity herb cover management and organic farming practices. Following restoration, the RD of bee abundance decreased from 71% to 55%. We found no significant effects of pre-intervention agricultural management on RD. Instead, across sites, the reduction of the RD (i.e., recovery) of bee abundance, richness, network connectance and flower visitation rate was strongly mediated by the availability of high-quality semi-natural areas in the surrounding landscape and by the ecological contrast created by restoration interventions at both the farm and floral patch levels. RD for other network metrics showed no significant pattern of variation. Our study demonstrates that wildlife-friendly management and targeted habitat restoration can rapidly reduce recovery debt for bee abundance and function in permanent agroecosystems. However, the recovery of more complex interaction-network properties likely requires longer timescales.

Agricultural intensification has reduced biodiversity and weakened ecosystem functions essential for sustainable crop production. Agroforestry has been proposed as a regenerative strategy to restore these functions through vegetation diversification, yet its ecological effects at the farm scale remain insufficiently documented, particularly in Mediterranean perennial systems. Here, adaptive field monitoring and soil shotgun metagenomics were combined to investigate ecological responses across a 10-year agroforestry transition gradient in a Mediterranean citrus and olive farm. Mature agroforestry plots supported higher insect richness and functional diversity while maintaining stable pollinator communities. Plant-insect interaction analyses suggested that potential pest activity was largely associated with spontaneous and supportive vegetation rather than crops. In contrast, soil communities showed limited changes in overall richness but substantial compositional and functional restructuring, including enrichment of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus and proteins with nutrient-cycling functions in advanced plots. Together, these findings suggest that agroforestry transition can promote functional diversification above and below ground and highlight the value of farmer-led regenerative transitions coupled with integrative ecological monitoring for the development of more resilient agricultural systems.

Pastureland provides critical resources for livestock production. Despite the growing knowledge on pest regulating services provided by insectivorous bats, their role in pastureland systems remains understudied. We analysed the diets of four Irish bat species, Plecotus auritus, Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Myotis nattereri, and Rhinolophus hipposideros, to identify and categorise agricultural pest species based on metabarcoding studies in the pastureland rich agro-ecosystems of Ireland. Pest richness varied among bat species, with P. auritus consuming 22 known pest species, 13 in P. pygmaeus, 9 in R. hipposideros, and 7 in M. nattereri. Pest occurrence frequency varied in overall diets: R. hipposideros exhibited the highest (83%), followed by P. auritus (71%), M. nattereri (59%), and P. pygmaeus (32%). Importantly, 26 of the 35 pest species (74%) were consumed by only one bat species. Key pastureland pests, Tipula oleracea and T. paludosa, were detected across all bat species, with frequency of occurrence reaching up to 100% at several roosts. Livestock-associated disease vectors (Culicoides scoticus and C. pulicaris) were also consumed. Differences in diet among species reflect complementary foraging strategies, activity patterns, and habitat use, highlighting the collective role of bat communities in pest regulation. These findings provide additional evidence that insectivorous bats contribute to ecosystem services in pasturelands, potentially supporting reductions in pesticide use and enhancing sustainable pastureland management. By demonstrating the functional importance of bats beyond biodiversity conservation, this study underscores their value in nature-based solutions for sustainable agriculture and informs conservation and policy strategies in Ireland. Highlights- Clear habitat bias in studies of ecosystem services by insectivorous bats. - Bat species forage on diverse agricultural pests in pastureland-dominated areas. - Bat foraging behaviour influences consumption of specific pest species. - Bats consume major pasture pests, Tipula oleracea and T. paludosa. - Different bat species target different pests, enhancing overall control.

O_LIOver the past decade, leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) have gained increasing attention as pests and vectors of phytoplasma diseases in Quebec. C_LIO_LIDrawing on historical and modern reports spanning 1868 to 2025, we investigate whether leafhopper pest status has been changing in the province, focusing on two leafhopper groups: those that overwinter in Quebec (local species) and those that do not (migratory species). C_LIO_LILocal species have been reported as pests since at least 1886 and have been considered of secondary significance. Migratory species, first mentioned in 1908, have been listed more frequently as economically important. C_LIO_LIEmpoasca fabae and Macrosteles quadrilineatus were associated with 10 crops, accounting for 11-88% of adult specimens in reported crop assemblages. On the other hand, local species, such as Erythroneura ssp. and Zonocyba (= Typhlocyba) pomaria, were reported mainly on grapevines and apples, respectively. C_LIO_LIWe found that the first field reports of leafhoppers from 1997 to 2025 are advancing in crops where migratory species are most frequently reported (e.g., potato and strawberry), whereas in crops where local species appear to predominate, no significant association was found (e.g., apple and grapevine). C_LIO_LIOur findings indicate that recent changes in leafhopper pest status in Quebec are likely due to migratory species, a group that has historically been a significant component of the leafhopper assemblage on agricultural crops. In Quebec agriculture, what was once loin des yeux, loin du cur (out of sight, out of mind) appears to be shifting toward pres des yeux, pres du cur (now visible and therefore important). C_LI GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT AND HIGHLIGHTS O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=185 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/727661v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (31K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c58d5forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c45e02org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f801ceorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13eb7e3_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG O_LIThe pest status of leafhoppers has changed in Quebec over recent decades, but whether local or migratory species are driving this shift remains unknown. C_LIO_LILocal species have been recognized as pests since at least 1886, and migratory species since 1908. However, migratory species were more frequently reported in historical documents. C_LIO_LIMigratory species (Empoasca fabae and Macrosteles quadrilineatus) appear to be driving the recent status change, as evidenced by earlier first reports and presence across multiple crops. C_LI

QuestionsEcological monitoring, repeated collection of ecological data, is essential to document how ecosystems respond to change. In grasslands, different vegetation monitoring protocols are used across disciplines, making it difficult to address multiple management objectives or research questions. We asked four questions about how three common vegetation monitoring protocols compare. (1) How do the protocols differ in how they collect data? (2) How do the protocols differ in their utility? (3) In what ways do vegetation measurements quantitatively differ across protocols? (4) What are each protocols strengths? LocationThis study was conducted on working ranches in the Southern Great Plains with vegetation consisting mainly of native forbs and grasses. MethodsWe implemented three protocols at each site: (1) the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP), (2) the Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) protocol, and (3) a typical pollinator ecology survey protocol. We qualitatively compared each protocols utility and quantitatively compared cover measurements that each produced. ResultsAll three protocols displayed positive associations within cover categories, but differed in actual cover measurements. The RAP protocol, which uses remote sensing, measured the highest total vegetation cover. The GEM protocol, a line-point intercept method, had more capability to capture fine-scale cover patterns. The GEM protocol measured the most bare ground while the Pollinator protocol measured more forb coverage. ConclusionFine-scale methods like the GEM protocol are most appropriate to address objectives that require capturing small patterns that would otherwise be overlooked with methods like quadrats or remote sensing. Remote sensing is advantageous when monitoring large areas or inaccessible land, but may over-estimate cover. The Pollinator protocol is best equipped to address questions regarding flower abundance and richness. Similarities among protocols can facilitate synergy across disciplines for more effective monitoring. We emphasize the importance of denoting a clear scale and scope of monitoring objectives before selecting methods.

The persistence of specialised survival spores produced by microbial pathogens represents a primary bottleneck in the management of plant diseases. In oomycetes, these spores (known as oospores) are largely impervious to chemical control, allowing them to persist in soil and initiate new infection cycles over many years. A prominent example is the soil-borne pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida, the causal agent of kauri dieback disease, where long-lived oospores hinder conservation efforts in native forests. The resilience of oospores is attributed to their thick wall composed of complex {beta}-glucan layers that render the oospores impermeable to most conventional biocides. Here we have investigated an enzyme-based approach for weakening the oospore cell wall. We searched enzyme databases to select {beta}-glucanases targeting a variety of linkages found in Phytophthora oospore walls. Eight of these {beta}-glucanases were successfully purified and tested for their digestive activity against intact oospores in vitro using a phenol-sulfuric acid assay. We showed that combining these enzymes was crucial to achieve significant digestion through synergies and additive effects. The optimal combination, comprising 1,3-, 1,6-, and 1,3(4)-{beta}-glucanases, was evaluated for its ability to permeabilise oospores to five biocides typically effective only on other, more sensitive lifecycle stages of the pathogen. Using a live/dead fluorescence assay, we observed that the effects of the membrane-targeting biocides were potentiated in oospores that were pre-treated with the {beta}-glucanase mixture. Our results highlight enzymatic cell wall permeabilisation as a promising strategy toward improved management of oospore persistence in kauri forest soils and against broader oomycete threats. KeypointsO_LIOur phenol-sulfuric acid assay can be used to screen for oospore-degrading enzymes. C_LIO_LISynergistic enzyme combinations are essential for effective oospore wall digestion. C_LIO_LIEnzyme pre-treatment sensitises oospores to membrane-targeting biocides. C_LI

IntroductionThe environmental impacts of pesticides have raised increasing concern, prompting the development of indicators to assess associated risks across ecosystems. Two main categories are generally distinguished: score-based indicators, which aggregate variables into scores, and risk-based indicators, grounded in the definition of risk as the product of hazard and exposure. Although more data-intensive and more complex to implement, risk-based indicators are recognized to better preserve proportionality with actual risk levels. ObjectivesThis study presents Phytorisque, a model based on the exposure-toxicity ratio to monitor risks associated with pesticide use in Walloon agriculture, from farm to regional scales, and to identify the most contributing active substances in support of risk-reduction policies MethodPhytorisque is a hybrid model that combines mechanistic, empirical, and statistical approaches, integrating quantities of active substances, their ecotoxicological characteristics, and their mobility, persistence, and bioaccumulation properties to generate indices specific to different environmental compartments. ResultsThe indices obtained enable comparison across substances, agricultural sectors, years, and management scenarios. The Phytorisque model provides an integrated assessment of risk across environmental compartments. It can monitor risk evolution over the years for policy impacts evaluation, diagnose the most problematic substances and prospect environmental risks associated with the use of chemical phytoproducts. ConclusionsPhytorisque provides an integrated risk assessment approach adapted to temporal monitoring, diagnosis, and forecasting. It is a relevant operational tool for supporting regional strategies aimed at reducing pesticide-related risks. The model is also transferable to other regions through the adaptation of parameters to local conditions and context.

Modern agriculture is characterized by substantial fertilizer nitrogen (N) losses from soils, resulting in low crop N-use efficiency. Biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) are studied as a strategy to improve N retention in soils by suppressing nitrification. However, the impacts of applying exogenous BNIs to crops with unknown intrinsic BNI capacity remain poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of adding three BNIs (methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acrylate [MHPA], 6-methoxy-2(3H)-benzoxazolone [MBOA], and limonene), their mixture, and the synthetic nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) growth, plant and soil N dynamics, and soil microbial communities. Using a rhizobox system with planted and bare-soil compartments, combined with 15N isotope tracing and molecular microbial community analyses, we assessed the spatio-temporal dynamics of N transformations, losses, plant N uptake, and microbial community responses in an alkaline agricultural soil. Independent of inhibitor application, the applied fertilizer N was lost primarily through NO- leaching (3-9% of the applied N). In contrast, N2O emissions represented only 0.001-0.028% of the applied N and varied with inhibitor type. MHPA increased dissolved inorganic N soil pools without affecting plant biomass or 15N uptake or strongly shifting microbial community composition. MBOA reduced NO3- concentrations in soil pore water without influencing plant growth or N uptake but shifted soil microbial community composition. In contrast, limonene reduced plant growth and 15N uptake and most significantly altered microbial community composition, without significantly changing N availability. Applying a BNI mixture, as well as limonene alone, was detrimental to plant growth and 15N uptake. DMPP showed only minor effects on N pools, plant growth, plant N uptake and microbial community composition. Overall, our results reveal both the potential and limitations of exogenous BNI application for improving N retention in crop systems.

Over recent decades, numerous studies have compared agricultural productivity across different management systems and environments, with increasing attention to the stability of crop yields. Yield stability is a key component of agroecosystem resilience under global change, yet it remains unclear whether some cropping systems are more stable than others. The debate over organic farming is particularly heated, as some evidence indicates that organic systems are less stable, while other evidence suggests the opposite. Here, we develop a conceptual and statistical framework for comparing crop yield stability across agricultural systems that explicitly accounts for a parametric function relating inter-annual yield standard deviation to mean yield value. Using a new global dataset of long-term field experiments spanning multiple crop species and environments, we show that the fitted functions relating yield standard deviation and mean yield value obtained for organic and conventional cropping systems share several important similarities. For both systems, the yield coefficient of variation (CV) significantly decreases with mean yield, and most of the difference in yield stability between conventional and organic systems is explained by differences in mean productivity. As a consequence, the CV of the two systems becomes similar as the difference in average efficiency narrows. Our framework reconciles apparently conflicting results in the literature and provides a more robust basis for comparing stability across cropping systems.

Understanding how management alters species biodiversity and interactions is critical for sustainable agriculture. This can be especially important for rangelands, grasslands used for livestock grazing that cover 30% of land worldwide. In rangelands, ranchers need to maximize livestock production while supporting healthy ecosystems. Grazing management can alter the impact of livestock by varying grazing timing and intensity, but its ecological impacts remain poorly understood. One critical function that may be supported in these systems is pollination; how rangeland management may alter this ecosystem service is unknown. We investigated how rotational stocking, where livestock are rotated among pastures, affected plant and pollinator communities and plant-pollinator interactions using working ranches in the Southern Great Plains. Sites were managed through continuous stocking or rotation with low or high frequency. We found that high-frequency livestock rotation supported greater flower abundance, and consequently greater pollinator abundance. Pollinator orders varied in their responses to management with Hymenoptera directly responding to management, and Coleoptera and Lepidoptera responding indirectly via changes in flower abundance. Community-level changes produced more specialized interaction networks that likely support more stable communities and higher interaction diversity. These community changes, and resulting species turnover, led to high interaction turnover across rangeland sites. This suggests that a mosaic of management strategies likely diversifies habitat and helps support plant and pollinator biodiversity at the landscape scale. This study demonstrates that rangelands can support plants, pollinators, and their interactions, particularly when managed with high-frequency rotational stocking.

The use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to meet global food demands is expected to continue rising. However, up to 70% of N applied to agricultural soils is lost through microbially mediated processes such as nitrification. Inhibiting nitrification is thus a key strategy to reduce N losses and improve fertilizer N use efficiency. Various plant-derived compounds, termed biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs), have been shown to reduce accumulation of nitrification products, intermediates, and byproducts (nitrite, nitrate, nitric and nitrous oxides). However, the mechanisms by which BNIs affect nitrifiers, along with their specificity and persistence in soil are not well understood. Here, we evaluated the effects of three BNIs: methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acrylate (MHPA), 6-methoxy-2(3H)-benzoxazolone (MBOA), and limonene, on ammonia-oxidizing, total microbial, and fungal communities in two soils with contrasting pH. Their persistence in each soil was also evaluated. Although ammonia-oxidizing archaea initially dominated nitrifier communities in both soils, their bacterial counterparts significantly increased after mineral N addition but also were more sensitive to BNI application. Limonene and the synthetic inhibitor DMPP stimulated ammonium immobilization, as total soil mineral N was significantly reduced. Limonene and MHPA had the strongest off-target effects, increasing the relative abundance of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and potential fungal pathogens, respectively. In contrast, MBOA inhibited nitrification with minimal off-target effects. Among the tested BNIs, MBOA was also the most persistent in the high-pH, high-nitrification-rate soil. Our results show that MBOA is a promising biological inhibitor and highlight the importance of understanding BNIs ecological effects to develop targeted and sustainable N management strategies.

Commercial inoculants based on associative diazotrophs and methylotrophic bacteria, and bios-timulant programs, are marketed for broad use in cereal and fiber production, yet most field deployment occurs over already adequate mineral fertilization, where their marginal value is poorly quantified. We reanalyzed three randomized complete-block trials conducted at commercial scale in the Brazilian Cerrado (Sao Desiderio, Bahia) under full conventional fertilization: corn (seven treatments, four blocks; 2023/24), cotton (five treatments, four blocks; 2024/25), and soybean (four treatments, six blocks; 2024/25). Treatments evaluated Azospirillum brasilense, Methylobacterium symbioticum, Bradyrhizobium spp., a Bacillus phosphorus solubilizer, and biostimulants, applied via seed and foliar routes. Beyond conventional analysis of variance, we fit mixed models with block as a random effect, quantified effect sizes and coefficients of variation, computed the minimum detectable difference at 80% power, and applied two one-sided equivalence tests (TOST) against the untreated control at margins of plus or minus 10% and 15% of control yield. No treatment produced a statistically significant yield gain in any crop (all p greater than 0.8; fixed and mixed models concordant). In cotton, the best-powered trial (coefficient of variation 6%), all treatments were statistically equivalent to the untreated control within a 10% margin, an affirmative negative result. In corn and soybean the trials were underpowered (minimum detectable difference 21 to 26% of control), so non-significance is not equivalence; corn showed non-significant numerical gains up to 8.9% with phosphorus-solubilizer and methylotroph combinations that could not be excluded. Foliar nutrient concentrations (single composite per treatment, descriptive) showed no enrichment in inoculated treatments. Under standard fertilization, these commercial inputs delivered no detectable agronomic value where the data were adequately powered to test it. The results clarify the low empirical bar that current associative-fixation products meet in the field and, by extension, the agronomic threshold that engineered, plant-controlled nitrogen fixation must exceed to be useful.

O_LIPlants take up nutrients from the soil while investing in absorptive root surface or mycorrhizal partners. Root hairs - a major structure for nutrient uptake and cheap to build - increase the absorptive root surface. As such they are an important component of plant resource economics but largely neglected in root economic concepts so far. C_LIO_LIThis is mainly due to data scarcity, which we set out to overcome by measuring root-hair traits on 82 European grassland species in a greenhouse experiment. Using fluorescence and light microscopy, root-hair length and incidence was measured along with mycorrhizal colonization. C_LIO_LIWe found a phylogenetically conserved trade-off between plant investment into root hairs and mycorrhiza. A similar trade-off between root-hair incidence and mycorrhiza occurred at the intraspecific level, while patterns were heterogeneous among species. Plant species with high colonization rates showed the highest variability in root-hair incidence. C_LIO_LIWe conclude that plants vary along a gradient ranging from investment into root hairs as part of a "do-it-yourself" strategy to collaboration with mycorrhizal fungi while showing intraspecific variation in root-hair incidence. These findings demonstrate that root hairs play a fundamental role in fine-root trait variation and need to be considered when studying belowground plant economic strategies. C_LI

Wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes are undergoing significant changes due to the combined effects of land-use transitions and climate change. In particular, land abandonment increased fuel availability, the expansion of the wildland-urban interface increased ignition frequency, while climate change increases the chances of fire-weather conditions and reduces vegetation recovery capacity. This study presents a modelling framework to investigate the coupled dynamics of fire and vegetation under different fire regimes scenarios, using a case study in central Italy (Monte Pisano). The approach integrates two cellular automata models for vegetation dynamics (Batllori et al., 2017) and for fire-spread (PROPAGATOR; Trucchia et al., 2020). The vegetation model represents succession among six functional classes, including grasslands, shrubs, and trees with different fire-response strategies (seeders and resprouters), while explicitly accounting for post-fire recovery processes. The model was calibrated for the area using historical fire perimeters and vegetation maps over 40 years. Fire spread is simulated probabilistically using PROPAGATOR, driven by fuel types, topography, and weather conditions. A stochastic coupling was implemented by sampling fuel classes from vegetation composition, and by feeding simulated burned areas back into the vegetation model, thus enabling dynamic fire-vegetation feedback. Future wildfire scenarios are constructed by linking ignition probability to fire-weather conditions derived from historical reanalysis data (1981-2023). Extreme fire events are defined based on thresholds of wind speed and fuel moisture, and their probability of occurrence is varied across scenarios to represent increasing climate-driven risk. Simulations are performed over a 100-year horizon starting from current vegetation conditions. Results show that, in the absence of fire, vegetation dynamics lead to dominance of late-successional, fire-resilient species (resprouters). This is particularly evident for low probabilities of extreme fire events, with fire impacts diminishing over time as landscapes become less flammable. However, increasing the frequency of extreme fire conditions resulted in persistent disturbance, maintaining higher proportions of shrubs and early successional vegetation, and sustaining elevated burned areas over time. Overall, the study shows that coupling fire spread and vegetation dynamics provides a useful framework for exploring long-term ecosystem trajectories under climate change. The results highlight the critical role of extreme fire events in shaping landscape resilience and suggest that future management strategies should account for fire-vegetation feedbacks to support more stable and less fire-prone ecosystems.

Maximising ecosystem service (ES) benefits while minimising ecosystem disservices (EDS) is essential for ecological intensification in annual crop systems. Yet ecosystem disservices are often underreported in the scientific literature, potentially biasing how agroecosystem functioning is understood. To test this, we built a predicted network of plausible links between ecosystem service providers (taxa or functional groups that can deliver ecosystem services or disservices), and the ES or EDS they may provide. We then compared this with a realised network based on systematic Scopus searches of annual crop literature. The predicted network contained 47 nodes and 103 links, whereas the realised network contained 33 nodes and 58 links, representing declines of 29.8% in nodes and 43.7% in links. Overall connectivity declined, especially for highly connected nodes, and four of the nine predicted disservice nodes were absent from the literature. ES links were more likely to be documented than EDS links, and EDS links were three times more likely to be absent. Across all links, ES were reported in 6.6 times more papers than EDS. Projected networks, which map indirect connections by linking ES directly to EDS if they share common providers, showed that these bundled interactions were strongly reduced, obscuring multifunctionality and trade-offs. This systematic underrepresentation of EDS, reflecting a cognitive bias, can inflate perceived benefits, distort the evaluation of key taxa and interactions, and create unrealistic expectations about intervention outcomes in biological crop protection. Addressing EDS alongside ES is therefore essential for more balanced assessments of crop-system management and better-informed decisions.

Established invasive alien plant species require ongoing, costly management to reduce harm to agricultural and environmental values. Heterogeneous landscapes are often under threat from multiple long-established invasive plants, whose simultaneous management presents strategic and tactical challenges. Systematic monitoring of weed populations enables more strategic management by providing more detailed insights into invasion threats than the more readily available presence-only data. We leveraged six years of weed density monitoring and high-resolution environmental data to model habitat suitability for four high-priority weeds across the Australian Capital Territory. We developed habitat suitability maps for African lovegrass, Chilean needle grass, serrated tussock grass and St Johns wort. Maps were then standardised and combined to derive potential multi-species invasion hotspots at different management thresholds and explore patterns of secondary invasion threat. While some species shared environmental drivers such as elevation, each responded to distinct combinations and interactions among environmental drivers. Overall, we found approximately 71% of land had suitability for multiple weeds at various densities, but only 11% is suitable for two or more species to reach high densities. Areas suitable for most weeds often had St Johns wort as the next most suitable invader. These findings could improve management efficiency and reduce intervention challenges by focussing integrated control across species in a small number of priority areas. These findings support spatially explicit, multi-species decision-support tools for surveillance, prioritisation and strategic landscape-scale control.

Although biostimulants have attracted attention for sustainable agricultural systems, their efficacy remains poorly understood. In this study, we evaluated the effects of fermented botanical product (FBP) produced by fermenting and aging 41 types of fruits, grains, seaweed, and root vegetables with brown sugar for more than three years. Three crops, tomato, rice, and komatsuna (Brassica rapa), were cultivated with the application of 5,000- or 10,000-fold diluted FBP in greenhouses or fields. Application of diluted FBP promoted plant growth, as indicated by increased fresh weights of shoots, leaves, and roots, fruit production in tomato, and rice husk yield. As diluted FBP contained low nutrient levels, an indirect mechanism of plant growth promotion was suggested. Bacterial community structure analysis indicated changes in alpha diversity, beta diversity, and the predominant phyla in FBP-applied soils without plants and in soils cultivated with tomato, rice, and komatsuna. In addition, the abundance of plant-growth-promoting bacteria, such as Arthrobacter, Pseudomonas, Paraburkholderia, and Planifilum, increased in soils treated with diluted FBP. Furthermore, ammonium formation activity was observed in komatsuna cultivation soils treated with diluted FBP, whereas phosphate-solubilizing activity was enhanced in soils from all three crop cultivation systems treated with diluted FBP. These results suggest that diluted FBP influences bacterial communities and promotes crop growth through indirect effects, including increases in plant-growth-promoting bacteria, ammonium production, and phosphate solubilization. Alternatively, FBP may directly stimulate plant growth. Therefore, FBP may be a useful biostimulant for sustainable agricultural systems. HighlightsO_LIDiluted FBP promoted the growth of tomato, rice, and komatsuna (Brassica rapa). C_LIO_LIDiluted FBP altered the bacterial community structure in cultivated soils. C_LIO_LIFBP increased the abundance of plant-growth-promoting bacteria in cultivated soils. C_LIO_LIFBP stimulated ammonium formation and phosphate solubilization in cultivated soils. C_LIO_LIFBP may be a useful biostimulant for sustainable agricultural systems. C_LI Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=112 SRC="FIGDIR/small/728655v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (36K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4772dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12c40e8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@594513org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c5e5a6_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

Metabarcoding is a powerful tool for biodiversity comparisons, where standard-size DNA barcodes (>500 bases) offer better taxonomic resolution than shorter ones. Still, the choice of sequencing platforms and bioinformatics pipelines may strongly affect inferred diversity due to various technical biases. We assessed the relative performance of Illumina MiSeq i100 (2x500 paired-end), PacBio Revio and Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing and bioinformatics pipelines, using full-length ITS amplicon sequencing datasets from a 103-species mock community and 45 composite soil samples. Despite numerous low-quality reads, PacBio yielded the lowest overall error rate and highest number of taxa. Illumina revealed the highest proportion of chimeric and index-switched reads, along with a strong bias towards shorter amplicons. MinION data analysed using PRONAME and Minovar - a bioinformatics pipeline presented here - had the largest proportion of low-quality data, and rare taxa were lost during data filtering and read polishing steps. Although Minovar enabled amplicon sequence variant (ASV) level precision for common taxa, we recommend clustering ASVs into OTUs. For PacBio, standard filtering approaches outperformed the ASV approach because they retained rare taxa. For Illumina, a stringent ASV approach or removal of rare OTUs would limit artefacts. Across all platforms, excess PCR cycles promoted chimeric and low-quality reads and lost quantitativity in biodiversity assessments. With moderate differences in effect sizes, all analytical approaches supported the conclusion that sampling design determines how we see soil biodiversity responses to land use. For biodiversity surveys based on the full-length ITS metabarcoding, we recommend using PacBio sequencing with standard, non-ASV pipelines.

Identifying the sensory cues that enable insects to find host plants, and understanding the neurobiology underlying their selection, provide solid foundations for developing state-of-the-art pest management strategies. Our work was aimed at identifying the main sensory cues attracting the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex ambiguus to alternative host plants in commercial willow plantations in the Lower Delta of the Parana River (Argentina), with a focus on native plant species. Eight plant species were selected and evaluated as potential hosts under field and laboratory conditions, allowing the establishment of a robust hierarchy of preference based on individual and collective behaviour. As a result, Senna corymbosa emerged as the most preferred species, whereas Blepharocalyx salicifolius was the least preferred. Video analyses of ant foraging in controlled indoor nests revealed a sequential decision-making process underlying plant preference and consumption. This included an initial approach driven by olfactory cues, followed by a second step involving contact-dependent cues that elicited leaf-cutting and carrying the leaf fragments to the nest. Volatile compounds and leaf cuticular components potentially involved in plant preference were identified. In addition, physicochemical analysis of both plant species - including total sugars, organic matter, polyphenols, leaf hardness, total proteins and lignin-revealed differences, particularly in polyphenol content, which may contribute to preference patterns. These findings provide insights into the sensory ecology of host preference and inform management strategies based on the reintroduction of native plants as alternative resources in willow plantations, potentially reducing pesticide use and promoting environmental sustainability. Summary statementThis work shows how leaf-cutting-ants rely on olfactory and contact cues, sequentially, for foraging decision-making of plant species. Thus, revealing how sensory cues shape their foraging decisions.