Project: Assessment and valuation of pest suppression potential through biological control in European agricultural landscapes.
Biological pest control provided by natural enemies is an ecosystem service of immense economic value, threatened by agricultural intensification. It is a service for which great amounts of background information have been gathered and it is, therefore, an excellent study system for exploring generalities of delivery, stability and value of services in relation to land use, biodiversity, and society. APPEAL investigates a) the relationship between land use and biodiversity, b) biodiversity and the ecosystem service of biological control and c) provide a framework for estimating the value of biological control. As a model pest, APPEAL uses cereal aphids, which are among the economically most important insect pests in Europe. These aphids are attacked by a range of natural enemies such as lady beetles, ground beetles and spiders, and the biological control service provided by these species is known to be substantial. APPEAL uses historical records and current data to analyze how changes in the natural enemy fauna are influenced by land-use change. In order to achieve understanding on a mechanistic level, a food-web approach is used, employing molecular methods and field experiments. A valuation framework will be developed that can model biocontrol of cereal aphids across European landscapes.
| Acronym | APPEAL |
| Duration | 01/01/2012 - 31/12/2014 |
| Website | visit project website |
| Network | BiodivERsA2 |
| Call | BiodivERsA Call for proposals on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their valuation |
Project partner
| Number | Name | Role | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research | Germany | ||
| Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | Coordinator | Sweden | |
| University of Innsbruck | Austria |