Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T20:29:36.612Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of vegetation management on the composition and diversity of the insect community at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2021

Shulan Zhao
Affiliation:
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal and Plant Resistance, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin300387, China
Zhifei Li
Affiliation:
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal and Plant Resistance, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin300387, China
Lian Duo*
Affiliation:
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal and Plant Resistance, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin300387, China
*
Author for correspondence: Lian Duo, Email: [email protected]

Abstract

The vegetation community affects the composition and diversity of the insect community in grasslands. To explore the effects of vegetation management on insect community abundance and diversity, regular mowing of the vegetation was conducted, and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne) were exclusively planted at Tianjin Binhai International Airport. A total of 1886 insects were collected, representing 8 orders, 23 families, and 29 species; Acrididae (Orthoptera), Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), and Chironomidae (Diptera) were the dominant taxa. The abundance and biomass of insects in the turf areas were significantly lower than those in the control area and were reduced by 45.8 and 48.5% in the ryegrass area, respectively. In all areas, insect abundance and biomass peaked in summer, and the abundance of individuals and taxa decreased as the temperature decreased. Greater diversity and richness were found in summer compared with the other two seasons, and the turf areas had lower diversity and richness indices than the control areas in spring and summer. Our results suggest that the abundance, biomass and diversity of insects can be effectively decreased by artificial regulation of grassland vegetation at the airport, the planting of a single turfgrass – specifically ryegrass had the greatest effect. The present study provides a theoretical basis for the ecological control of insects at the airport.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allan, J, Baxter, AT and Callaby, R (2016) The impact of variation in reporting practices on the validity of recommended birdstrike risk assessment processes for aerodromes. Journal of Air Transport Management 57, 101106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avanesyan, A and Culley, TM (2015) Herbivory of native and exotic North-American prairie grasses by nymph Melanoplus grasshoppers. Plant Ecology 216, 451464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brigitte, B, Lorenzo, M, Gheinrich, T and Bruno, B (2009) Effects of small-scale grassland fragmentation and frequent mowing on population density and species diversity of orthopterans: a long-term study. Ecological Entomology 34, 321329.Google Scholar
Bronstein, JL, Alarcon, R and Geber, M (2006) The evolution of plant-insect mutualisms. New Phytologist 172, 412428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cardoso, CO, Gomes, DDN, Santos, AGSD, Tavares, AA and Guzzi, A (2014) Bird strike risk analysis at the international airport of Parnaiba, Piaui, Brazil. Ornitologia Neotropical 25, 179193.Google Scholar
Evans, EW, Rogers, RA and Opermann, DJ (1983) Sampling grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) on burned and unburned tallgrass prairie: night trapping vs. sweeping. Environmental Entomology 12, 14491454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ge, F, Ouyang, F and Men, X (2017) Ecological effects of regional agricultural landscape on insect and its prospect. Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences 32, 830835.Google Scholar
Haddad, NM, Tilman, D, Haarstad, J, Ritchie, M and Knops, JMH (2001) Contrasting effects of plant richness and composition on insect communities: a field experiment. The American Naturalist 158, 1735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Han, Z, Ma, L, Cao, C, Zhang, J and Wang, B (2013) The structure and diversity of insect community in Taihu Wetland. Acta Ecologica Sinica 33, 43874397.Google Scholar
Hauptfleisch, ML and Dalton, C (2015) Arthropod phototaxis and its possible effect on bird strike risk at two Namibian airports. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 13, 957965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heard, MJ and Sax, DF (2013) Coexistence between native and exotic species is facilitated by asymmetries in competitive ability and susceptibility to herbivores. Ecology Letters 16, 206213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
House, APN, Ring, JG, Hill, MJ and Shaw, PP (2020) Insects and aviation safety: the case of the keyhole wasp Pachodynerus nasidens (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Australia. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 4, 100096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonas, JL, Whiles, MR and Charlton, RE (2002) Aboveground invertebrate responses to land management differences in a central Kansas grassland. Environmental Entomology 31, 11421152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirichenko, N and Kenis, M (2016) Using a botanical garden to assess factors influencing the colonization of exotic woody plants by phyllophagous insects. Oecologia 182, 243252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kruess, A and Tscharntke, T (2002) Contrasting responses of plant and insect diversity to variation in grazing intensity. Biological Conservation 106, 293302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kutschbach-Brohl, L, Washburn, BE, Bernhardt, GE, Chipman, RB and Francoeur, LC (2010) Arthropods of a semi-natural grassland in an urban environment: the John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York. Journal of Insect Conservation 14, 347358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, JA and Strauss, SY (2005) Insect herbivores drive important indirect effects of exotic plants on native communities. Ecology 86, 29902997.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Y, Li, D, Nie, C, Jiang, S and Zhao, Z (2017) Relationship between grassland fauna characters and insectivorous birds at Fuyang Airport. Chinese Journal of Ecology 36, 734739.Google Scholar
Liu, C and Zhou, S (2004) Cutting effects on the insect community structure and dynamics of alfalfa pasture. Acta Ecologica Sinica 24, 542546.Google Scholar
Noordijk, J, Schaffers, AP, Heijerman, T, Boer, P, Gleichman, M and Sýkora, KV (2010) Effects of vegetation management by mowing on ground-dwelling arthropods. Ecological Engineering 36, 740750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Servoss, W, Engeman, RM, Fairaizl, S, Cummings, JL and Groninger, NP (2000) Wildlife hazard assessment for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 45, 111127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soldatini, C, Georgalas, V, Torricelli, P and Albores-Barajas, YV (2010) An ecological approach to birdstrike risk analysis. European Journal of Wildlife Research 56, 623632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soldatini, C, Albores-Barajas, YV, Lovato, T, Andreon, A, Torricelli, P, Montemaggiori, A, Corsa, C and Georgalas, V (2011) Wildlife strike risk assessment in several Italian airports: lessons from BRI and a new methodology implementation. Plos One 6, 16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X, Hu, S, Liao, J and Yu, J (2013) The insect communities in the lawn ecosystem of Kunming (Wujiaba) International Airport. Journal of Anhui University (Natural Science Edition) 37, 103108.Google Scholar
Wenninger, EJ and Inouye, RS (2008) Insect community response to plant diversity and productivity in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. Journal of Arid Environment 72, 2433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Y, Tang, S, Wang, Q, Fan, Y, Zhao, Y and Yang, Z (2004) Relationship between soil and grassland fauna characters and the birds in Hongqiao airport grassland, Shanghai. Acta Ecologica Sinica 24, 12191224.Google Scholar
Zhao, Z, Reddy, GVP, Wei, S, Zhu, M, Zhang, K, Yu, H, Wang, Z, Jiang, Q and Zhang, R (2018) Plant cover associated with aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) mediates insect community composition in steppes of Northwest China. Journal of Asia-Pacific. Entomology 21, 361366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, H, Wang, D, Wang, L, Bai, Y, Fang, J and Liu, J (2012) The effects of large herbivore grazing on meadow steppe plant and insect diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology 49, 10751083.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, H, Wang, D, Wang, L, Fang, J, Sun, W and Ren, B (2014) Effects of altered precipitation on insect community composition and structure in a meadow steppe. Ecological Entomology 39, 453461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar