TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil-targeted interventions could alleviate locust and grasshopper pest pressure in West Africa
AU - Word, Mira L.
AU - Hall, Sharon
AU - Robinson, Brian E.
AU - Manneh, Balanding
AU - Beye, Alioune
AU - Cease, Arianne
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank La Direction de la Protection des Végétaux (DPV), Senegal for their collaboration and assistance on this project, in particular Emile Victor Coly, Ousmane Diene, Elhadji Omar Dieng, Aliou Badji, and Ansou Kamara and the Nganda DPV Phytosanitary base: Mamadou Diallo, Idrissa Biaye, Sidy Kaerou Badiane, Ismaela Thiow, Ibrahim Sadio, Makam Cisse, Manga, and Papa Ndiaye; Mamour Touré for advice working on O . senegalensis and field equipment support; Souleymane Beye, Elhadji Mamadou Kante, Ruth Farington, and Wesley Groves for field and laboratory assistance; Jennifer Learned, Marion Le Gall, Hannah Heavenrich, Ariel Rivers, and Rick Overson for helpful discussion of experimental design, results, and laboratory trainings; Scott Cloutier for interview question support; and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, United States [ DEB-1313693 and CHE-1313958 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - Agricultural land use has intended and unintended consequences for human livelihoods through feedbacks within coupled human and natural systems. In Senegal, West Africa, soils are a vital resource for livelihoods and food security in smallholder farming communities. In this study, we explored the connections among land use, soil conditions, plant nutrient content, and the abundance of several locust and grasshopper species. We worked in two rural farming villages in the Kaffrine region of Senegal. Oedaleus senegalensis was least abundant in groundnut areas where plant N was highest and abundance was negatively correlated with plant N across land use types. Overall, grasshoppers were most numerous in grazing and fallow areas. There was little variation in soil properties across land use types and soil organic matter (SOM) and inorganic soil N content were low throughout. SOM was positively correlated with soil inorganic N concentration, which in turn was positively correlated with plant N content. Of the management practices we surveyed, fallowing fields was important for soil N and SOM replenishment. These results corroborate other research indicating that land use, management practices, soil and plant nutrients, and insect herbivore abundance are mechanistically coupled. Although further research is needed, improving soil fertility could be used as an alternative to pesticides to keep locusts at bay and improve crop yields.
AB - Agricultural land use has intended and unintended consequences for human livelihoods through feedbacks within coupled human and natural systems. In Senegal, West Africa, soils are a vital resource for livelihoods and food security in smallholder farming communities. In this study, we explored the connections among land use, soil conditions, plant nutrient content, and the abundance of several locust and grasshopper species. We worked in two rural farming villages in the Kaffrine region of Senegal. Oedaleus senegalensis was least abundant in groundnut areas where plant N was highest and abundance was negatively correlated with plant N across land use types. Overall, grasshoppers were most numerous in grazing and fallow areas. There was little variation in soil properties across land use types and soil organic matter (SOM) and inorganic soil N content were low throughout. SOM was positively correlated with soil inorganic N concentration, which in turn was positively correlated with plant N content. Of the management practices we surveyed, fallowing fields was important for soil N and SOM replenishment. These results corroborate other research indicating that land use, management practices, soil and plant nutrients, and insect herbivore abundance are mechanistically coupled. Although further research is needed, improving soil fertility could be used as an alternative to pesticides to keep locusts at bay and improve crop yields.
KW - Integrated pest management
KW - Plant-insect interactions
KW - Senegal
KW - Social-ecological systems
KW - Soil fertility
KW - West Africa
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U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.313
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.313
M3 - Article
C2 - 30731409
AN - SCOPUS:85060953341
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 663
SP - 632
EP - 643
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
ER -