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    Supporting Beneficial Insects for Agricultural Sustainability: The Role of Livestock-Integrated Organic and Cover Cropping to Enhance Ground Beetle (Carabidae) Communities
    (2020-08) Adhikari, Subodh; Menalled, Fabian D.
    Ground beetles (Carabidae) are beneficial insects providing ecosystem services by regulating insect pests and weed seeds. Despite several studies conducted on ground beetles worldwide, there is a lack of knowledge on how these insects are affected by differently managed organic systems (e.g., tillage-based versus grazed-based) compared to that of chemical-based no-tillage conventional cropping systems. In a 5-year (2013–2017) study, we assessed the ground beetle communities in cover crops and winter wheat (Triticum aestivium L.) in Montana, USA, with three contrasting cropping systems: a chemically managed no-tillage, a tillage-based organic, and a livestock-integrated organic with reduced tillage. The first three years (i.e., 2013–2015) corresponded to the transition to organic period, while the last two (i.e., 2016–2017) were conducted in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic-certified tillage-based and livestock-integrated organic systems. The experiment was designed with three management systems across three blocks as the whole plot variable and 5-year rotation of crop phases as the subplot variable. Using pitfall traps, we sampled ground beetles across all cover crop and winter wheat subplots for five years (n = 450). The data were analyzed using mixed effects models and PERMANOVA and visualized with non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination. Our study indicated that organically managed farms, whether tilled or grazed, enhance activity density, species richness, diversity, and evenness of ground beetles in the dryland row crop productions. Also, irrespective of farming system, cover crops supported higher species richness, diversity, and evenness of ground beetles than winter wheat. The ground beetle communities were mostly similar during the transition to organic period. However, during the established organic phase, cropping systems acted as contrasting ecological filters and beetle communities became dissimilar. Cover cropping affected ground beetle communities positively not only in organically managed systems but also in chemical-based conventional systems. Our study provides evidence supporting the adoption of ecologically-based cropping systems such as crop-livestock integration, organic farming, and cover cropping to enhance beneficial insects and their pest-regulation services.
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    Dryland Organic Farming Partially Offsets Negative Effects of Highly Simplified Agricultural Landscapes on Forbs, Bees, and Bee-Flower Networks
    (2019-08-19) Adhikari, Subodh; Burkle, Laura A.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Delphia, Casey M.; Weaver, David K.; Menalled, Fabian D.
    Industrialized farming practices result in simplified agricultural landscapes, reduced biodiversity, and degraded species-interaction networks. Thus far, most research assessing the combined effects of farming systems and landscape complexity on beneficial insects has been conducted in relatively diversified and mesic systems and may not represent the large-scale, monoculture-based dryland agriculture that dominates many regions worldwide. Specifically, the effects of farming systems on forbs, bees, and their interactions are poorly understood in highly simplified dryland landscapes such as those in the Northern Great Plains, United States, an area globally important for conventional and organic small grain, pulse, forage, and oilseed production. During a 3-yr (2013-2015) study, we assessed 1) the effects of dryland no-till conventional and tilled organic farming on forbs, bees, and bee-flower networks and 2) the relationship between natural habitat and bee abundance. Flower density and richness were greater in tilled organic fields than in no-till conventional fields, and forb community composition differed between farming systems. We observed high bee diversity (109 taxa) in this highly simplified landscape, and bee abundance, richness, and community composition were similar between systems. Compared with tilled organic fields, bee-flower interactions in no-till conventional fields were poorly connected, suggesting these systems maintain relatively impoverished plant-pollinator networks. Natural habitat (11% of the landscape) did not affect small-bodied bee abundance in either farming system but positively affected large-bodied bees within 2,000 m of crop-field centers. In highly simplified agricultural landscapes, dryland organic farming and no-till conventional farming together support relatively high bee diversity, presumably because dryland organic farming enhances floral resources and bee-flower networks, and no-till management in conventional farming provides undisturbed ground-nesting habitats for wild bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).
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    Impacts of dryland farming systems on biodiversity, plant-insect interactions, and ecosystem services
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2018) Adhikari, Subodh; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Fabian D. Menalled; Laura Burkle (co-chair)
    Farming system impacts the structure and functioning of associated biodiversity and plant-insect interactions. However, the extent of these impacts is largely unknown in drylands of the Northern Great Plains, an important region for cereal, pulse, oilseed, and forage production. Using three complementary studies, I compared the impacts of conventional and organic systems on associated biodiversity (weeds, bees, insect pests, and parasitoids), bee-flower networks, and bumblebee colony success. First, I assessed stem cuts by and parasitism on Cephus cinctus (wheat stem sawfly) in spring and winter wheat cultivars grown in conventional and organic fields. I found that organic fields had less C. cinctus infestation and more braconid parasitoids of C. cinctus, indicating an increased pest regulation in organic system. I compared C. cinctus preference and survival on Kamut with Gunnison and Reeder wheat cultivars and found the lowest C. cinctus oviposition and survival in Kamut, suggesting that Kamut is a potential genetic source for this pest. Second, I assessed the impacts of conventional and organic systems on forb and bee communities. I found greater forb diversity and more connected bee-flower networks in organic fields, but bee communities did not differ between systems. Comprising only 12% of the landscape, natural habitat did not affect small-bodied bees in either system but had a positive effect on large-bodied bees at the scale of 2000 m radius. These results indicate that an increased forb diversity and bee-flower interaction in organic fields is not enough to offset the negative effects of landscape homogeneity on bees. Third, I compared Bombus impatiens colony success, worker condition, and colony-collected pollen between farming systems. I found greater growth rate, brood cells, and pollen species richness in B. impatiens colonies as well as lower wing wear and greater body lipid mass in workers from organic fields, than in conventional fields. The greater colony success and better worker conditions could be a proxy for better ecosystem services provided by organic fields. Overall, my studies show that organic farming supports greater associated biodiversity, more complex bee-flower networks, and better biodiversity-based ecosystem services in the Northern Great Plains.
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    Evaluation of Crop Insurance Yield Guarantees and Producer Welfare with Upward Trending Yields
    (2012-12) Adhikari, Subodh; Knight, T. O.; Belasco, Eric J.
    Actual Production History (APH) yields play a critical role in determining the coverage offered to producers by the Risk Management Agency’s yield-based crop insurance products. Using both county and individual insured unit data, we examine the impact of APH yield trends for Texas cotton and Illinois corn. Our findings indicate that biases due to using simple average APH yields when yields are trending upward reduce the expected indemnity and actuarially fair premium rate. The estimated welfare effect also varies significantly with different commonly used detrending approaches. This study demonstrates that producer welfare can be enhanced through proper treatment of yield trends in crop insurance programs.
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    Yield Guarantee Determination and the Producer Welfare Benefits of Crop Insurance
    (2013) Adhikari, Subodh; Knight, T. O.; Belasco, Eric J.
    Farm-level crop insurance guarantees are based on a small sample of historical yields. Two measures enacted by Congress, yield substitution and yield floors, are intended to mitigate the erratic nature of small samples in determining yield guarantees. We examine the impact of small samples and related policy provisions on the producer welfare benefits of individual-level yield insurance. Our findings indicate that sampling variability in Actual Production History (APH) yields has the potential to reduce producer welfare and that the magnitude of this effect differs substantially across crops. The yield substitution and yield floor provisions mitigate the negative impact of sampling error but also bias guarantees upward, increasing government cost of the insurance programs.
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