Predators control pests and increase yield across crop types and climates: a meta-analysis

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62156489%3A43410%2F24%3A43924968" target="_blank" >RIV/62156489:43410/24:43924968 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2522" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2522</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2522" target="_blank" >10.1098/rspb.2023.2522</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Predators control pests and increase yield across crop types and climates: a meta-analysis

Original language description

Pesticides have well-documented negative consequences to control crop pests, and natural predators are alternatives and can provide an ecosystem service as biological control agents. However, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding whether such biological control can be a widely applicable solution, especially given ongoing climatic variation and climate change. Here, we performed a meta-analysis focused on field studies with natural predators to explore broadly whether and how predators might control pests and in turn increase yield. We also contrasted across studies pest suppression by a single and multiple predators and how climate influence biological control. Predators reduced pest populations by 73% on average, and increased crop yield by 25% on average. Surprisingly, the impact of predators did not depend on whether there were many or a single predator species. Precipitation seasonality was a key climatic influence on biological control: as seasonality increased, the impact of predators on pest populations increased. Taken together, the positive contribution of predators in controlling pests and increasing yield, and the consistency of such responses in the face of precipitation variability, suggest that biocontrol has the potential to be an important part of pest management and increasing food supplies as the planet precipitation patterns become increasingly variable.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

40106 - Agronomy, plant breeding and plant protection; (Agricultural biotechnology to be 4.4)

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Proceedings of the Royal Society B

ISSN

0962-8452

e-ISSN

1471-2954

Volume of the periodical

291

Issue of the periodical within the volume

2018

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

20232522

UT code for WoS article

001178988500005

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85187198555