PhD defence
Jan 31, 2019·
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0 min read
Christophe Dominik
Abstract
Irrigated rice croplands are among the most biologically diverse agroecosystems globally. However, this biodiversity is threatened by agricultural intensification and homogenization of farmed areas, resulting in a degradation of ecosystem services such as natural pest regulation. While evidence exists that increasing landscape heterogeneity in some agroecosystems can enhance natural enemy populations and promote bio-control, little is known about the multi-scale effects of landscape composition and configuration on arthropod communities in rice agroecosystems. In this thesis, I examined the influence of landscape heterogeneity on the distribution of arthropods in three rice-production regions in the Philippines and derived practical recommendations to improve biodiversity and biological control in rice production systems. Through the different chapters of this thesis, I measured landscape heterogeneity at different levels of complexity and spatial scales, and tested its effect on different types of the arthropod biodiversity (taxonomic and functional diversity).
Date
Jan 31, 2019 4:00 PM — 6:00 PM
Location
Halle, Germany
Authors
Scientist / Postdoctoral Researcher
I am an ecologist looking at patterns of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services at different spatial and temporal scales. As a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Community Ecology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), I investigate how pollinators and the services they provide are influenced by landscape and land-use intensity. My main research interests focus on landscape ecology, macroecology, agro-ecology, pollination services and biological control.