Biology subjects

Poggi, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Poggi, S..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Healthy soils, rising pests? Stopping plowing improves soil quality but increases wireworm infestation: evidence from a long-term field study

Conventional tillage (i.e. plowing) is often associated with soil degradation and a loss of biodiversity. In response, reduced tillage has increasingly been promoted as a sustainable alternative for its positive impacts on soil structure, water dynamics, and biodiversity. However, reduced tillage not only favors beneficial soil-dwelling organisms, but also pests. In this field study, we examined the effects of five years of reduced tillage on the physical properties of the soil and the dynamics of Agriotes wireworm populations (Elateridae), which are increasingly widespread pests. Our results show that tillage reduction led to stable edaphic conditions and a redistribution of organic matter, creating a favorable environment for wireworms. While our results demonstrate the beneficial effects of reduced tillage on aggregate stability, they also indicate a concomitant increase in soil bulk density, suggesting a reduction in water-holding capacity. Monitoring of wireworm populations revealed their aggregated distribution and their increase in abundance in infested areas year on year. Monitoring soil moisture revealed that tillage reduction improved water dynamics, enhancing infiltration and reducing evaporation. This could potentially favor the development of wireworms. Surprisingly, wireworm size distribution showed a higher proportion of young instars in plowed plots, evidencing that, firstly, the lack of soil cover does not prevent oviposition and that injury caused by plowing targets more the last instars rather than young larvae. While reduced tillage improves key soil health indicators, our findings suggest a potential trade-off in terms of increased pest pressure. Our study highlights the importance of adopting a holistic approach when designing sustainable cropping systems, as well as considering the services and dis-services they provide.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Unveiling the Hidden Feast: translating molecular detection into predation rate. An example on biological control by generalist predators in agricultural fields.

Very few processes are as decisive as predation in shaping the structure and dynamics of ecological communities. For most predator species, the number of prey items killed by a predator in a day (predation rate) remains impossible to assess because direct observations are scarce or impossible to acquire. To fill this gap, we propose here a Hierarchical Bayesian Model that integrates data on the molecular detection of prey in predators (e.g. PCR results), on individuals captured in the field on the one hand, and on individuals fed in the laboratory, on the other, in a novel mechanistic framework. By explicitly combining the processes of predation and digestion, model fit provides an estimate of the slope and intercept of the digestion curve, and an estimate of the number of prey consumed by a predator in a day. In a case study targeting 25 carabid beetle species and 5 types of prey in agricultural fields (winter wheat), we use our model to estimate predation rates at species and community scales and demonstrate its advantages for studies on biocontrol and beyond. Code and Data are available on this repository : /r/HBM_PredationCode-C725/

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

A hitchhiker's guide to Europe: mapping human-mediated dispersal of the invasive Japanese beetle

Early detection of hitchhiking pests requires the identification of strategic entry points via transport. We propose a framework for achieving this in Europe using the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) as a case study. Human-mediated dispersal has been responsible for its introduction into several continents over the last century, including Europe where it is listed as a priority pest. Furthermore, interceptions far from the infested area confirm the risk of unintentional transport within continental Europe. Here, we analyse how three modes of transport - air, rail and road - connect the infested area to the rest of Europe. We ranked all European regions from most to least reachable from the infested area. We identified border regions and distant major cities that are readily reachable and observed differences between modes. We propose a composite reachability index combining the three modes, which provides a valuable tool for designing a continental surveillance strategy and prioritising highly reachable regions, as demonstrated by recent interceptions. Significance statementSpecies can be moved long distances by unintentional human transport. Such events can lead to their introduction into non-native areas where they can cause biological invasions. Using the case study of the Japanese beetle, a hitchhiker invasive insect, we propose a framework for identifying entry points for human-transported pests within Europe. We consider how the European infested area is connected to the rest of the continent by three modes of transport: air, rail and road. We propose a methodology that considers the three modes to identify potential entry points. This framework could assist authorities in designing surveillance strategies to achieve early detection of pests in Europe.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

A new chapter of the Japanese beetle invasion saga: predicting suitability from long-infested areas to inform surveillance strategies in Europe

The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a polyphagous pest that spreads rapidly and is estimated to cost more than 460 M$/year in damage and control in the USA alone. This study provides risk maps to inform surveillance strategies in Continental Europe, following the beetles introduction and successive spread in the last decade. We developed a species distribution model using a machine-learning algorithm, considering factors relevant to the beetles biology, climate, land use and human-related variables. This analysis was performed using presence-only data from native and invaded ranges (Japan, North America, Azores archipelago - Portugal). We gathered more than 30 000 presence data from citizen science platforms and standardized surveys, and generated pseudo-absences using the target-group method. We used the environmental structure of data to randomly sample pseudo-absences, and evaluate model performance via a block cross-validation strategy. Our results show that climate, in particular seasonal trends, and human-related variables, are major drivers of the Japanese beetle distribution at the global scale. Risk maps show that Central Europe can be considered as suitable, whereas Southern and Northern European countries are at lower risk. The region currently occupied is among the most suitable according to our predictions, and represents less than 1% of the highest suitable area in Europe. A major cluster of high suitability areas is located near the currently infested zone, whereas others are scattered across the continent. This highlights the importance of designing surveillance strategies considering both active insect dispersal and the possibility of hitchhiking to reach distant areas.

ecology↗