The effect of crop diversification in small fields on the community of natural enemies on the ground: A strip cropping experiment with white cabbage in the Netherlands

Agricultural development has contributed significantly to the decline in biodiversity over the last century. Crop diversification is promoted as a strategy to mitigate this ongoing catastrophe. This study investigates the effects of strip cropping as a means of crop diversification on the activity density of ground dwelling natural enemies and the composition of ground beetles. Natural enemies were captured by placing pitfall traps in a cabbage crop over the course of three years. Although several studies have shown a positive effect of crop diversification on biodiversity and the abundance of... Mehr ...