Contribution of landscape drivers to explain crop pest infestation levels at national scale
Résumé
Managing crop pests in an integrated framework requires increased knowledge about
pest abundance drivers. Landscape properties, agricultural practices or climate can affect
the presence of crop pests at different scales. However, few studies considered these affects
at national scale, due to a lack of data. In this study, we analysed the effect of climatic conditions and land-uses occupation on the level of pest infestation of three types of pests: slugs
(Deroceras reticulatum & Arion hortensis); cereal aphids (Sitobion avenae & Rhopalosiphum
padi) and oilseed rape pests (Meligethes aeneus & Ceuhtorrhynchus napi). Pest infestation
levels were derived the French national epidemiological monitoring database "Epiphyt" and
aggregated for 181 small agricultural areas over the French territory. Climatic data were
gathered from the French national meteorological service database "Safran" and land-uses
were mapped using national cartography databases. Climatic variables were the main drivers
of the level of pest infestations, in particular temperature and humidity. Pest infestation level
were also influenced by some landscape properties such hedgerow and maize proportion, while
the proportion of pest host crops and semi-naturals habitats never had significant effects.