Agroecosystems: Crop domestication effects on insect agrobiodiversity
Conference Year
January 2019
Abstract
During thousands of years, humans has been domesticating and cultivating crop plants for useful traits to fulfill our necessities. It is known that these novel characteristics can influence entire arthropod communities; differentiating the ecological and evolutionary processes of higher trophic levels cohabiting agroecosystems compared to natural habitats. Therefore, the study of these new communities can help us to elucidate the origin of agricultural systems and the biotic parameters that contribute to their characteristics and ecological roles. Despite this, only few studies have examined the arthropod community structures on crops and their wild progenitors at the center of crop origin, and no study has been done across multiple crop species. Therefore, here we present a unique approach to understand how do crop domestication and cultivation influences arthropod agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services at an important center of crop origin. We will compare wild progenitors and cultivated crops of maize (Zea mays), squashes (Cucurbita argyrosperma), beans (Phaseolus spp.), chili peppers (Capsicum annuum), and green tomatoes (Physalis philadelphica), distributed around Mexico. For each wild/domesticated complex, we will sample the arthropod agrobiodiversity and collect data regarding other factors that contributes to the structure of the arthropofauna, such as vegetation type, management intensity and plant genotype. In order to rapidly and accurately identify our specimens and assign them to an ecological guild, we will use a metagenomic approach by extracting DNA from a pooled sample and generating barcodes. Abundance and richness will be calculated for each species and guild, and differences among arthropod communities will be determine. In conclusion, our study will help us to understand the community level effects of crop artificial selection and will serve as the base to understand how changes in arthropod population dynamics could structure patterns of genetic diversity and evolution in agroecosystems.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Yolanda H Chen
Status
Graduate
Student College
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Program/Major
Plant and Soil Science
Primary Research Category
Biological Sciences
Secondary Research Category
Food & Environment Studies
Agroecosystems: Crop domestication effects on insect agrobiodiversity
During thousands of years, humans has been domesticating and cultivating crop plants for useful traits to fulfill our necessities. It is known that these novel characteristics can influence entire arthropod communities; differentiating the ecological and evolutionary processes of higher trophic levels cohabiting agroecosystems compared to natural habitats. Therefore, the study of these new communities can help us to elucidate the origin of agricultural systems and the biotic parameters that contribute to their characteristics and ecological roles. Despite this, only few studies have examined the arthropod community structures on crops and their wild progenitors at the center of crop origin, and no study has been done across multiple crop species. Therefore, here we present a unique approach to understand how do crop domestication and cultivation influences arthropod agrobiodiversity and ecosystem services at an important center of crop origin. We will compare wild progenitors and cultivated crops of maize (Zea mays), squashes (Cucurbita argyrosperma), beans (Phaseolus spp.), chili peppers (Capsicum annuum), and green tomatoes (Physalis philadelphica), distributed around Mexico. For each wild/domesticated complex, we will sample the arthropod agrobiodiversity and collect data regarding other factors that contributes to the structure of the arthropofauna, such as vegetation type, management intensity and plant genotype. In order to rapidly and accurately identify our specimens and assign them to an ecological guild, we will use a metagenomic approach by extracting DNA from a pooled sample and generating barcodes. Abundance and richness will be calculated for each species and guild, and differences among arthropod communities will be determine. In conclusion, our study will help us to understand the community level effects of crop artificial selection and will serve as the base to understand how changes in arthropod population dynamics could structure patterns of genetic diversity and evolution in agroecosystems.