Landscape Ecology of Insects
As summer approaches, here’s a preview of the our fieldwork projects… Pollinators in bioenergy landscapes: This project is trying to understand the impact pollinator conservation strips around switchgrass plantings have on native pollinator communities. Fieldwork will be conducted at study sites throughout Central Virginia working with partners in the biofuel industry as well as a groups …
Last week, members of the Gratton lab attended a Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) public meeting. The WPA project is a multi-scale collaboration between US Fish and Wildlife Service Leopold Management District and UW Madison and the goal of the project is to understand how harvesting grassland vegetation for habitat management and bioenergy production influences waterfowl, …
Insects live in virtually every freshwater habitat and can be extremely abundant, composing a large part of the animal biomass in lakes and rivers. Aquatic insects have important roles in food webs, acting as decomposers and consumers of aquatic plants. Many are in turn consumed by crayfish, fish, and other predators. But aquatic insects can …
[singlepic id=33 w=320 h=240 float=right]When are multiple species better than one? This question has intrigued ecologists for over a century, and has relevance both for conservation and agriculture. Recently, Ben Werling, Claudio Gratton and their coauthors published work examining the benefits of diversifying potato agroecosystems, both at the top and bottom of the food chain. …
At which scale should conservation of non-crop habitat take place to sustain such important ecosystem services as the control of crop pests? To help understanding the consequences of land-use decisions, Ben Werling and Claudio Gratton examined the impact of local and broad scale landscape structure on the predation of two insect pests of potatoes in …