The effect of local and landscape level land-use composition on predatory arthropods in a tropical agricultural landscape

It has been suggested that the composition of different non-crop land-use types along with tree density regulate local biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. However, specific data is limited, not least from tropical regions. We examined how different land-use types and forest cover at different scales influenced the abundance and species composition of predatory arthropods in 40 homegardens of southwest Ethiopia. We collected specimens using pitfall traps during two separate months and related sample composition to land-use in the vicinity (1 ha plot, local scale, field data) and tree cover within 200 and 500 m radius zones (landscape scale, satellite data). Spiders, beetles and ants were most common. A high abundance of ants was found in tree-rich homegardens while the variation in abundance of spiders was best explained by the interaction between tree cover at the local and landscape scales. The highest spider abundances were found when either the homegarden or the surroundings had high tree-cover and was lower in both the most tree-rich and tree-poor landscape–garden combinations. In addition, open non-crop cover (mostly grasslands) and ensete (a banana-like perennial crop) favored spiders. This pattern demonstrates that different land-use types at different scales can interact to create variations in biodiversity across an agricultural landscape. To enhance numbers of predatory arthropods in homegardens, which may be beneficial for natural pest control, our results suggest that different strategies are needed depending on the target group or species. Grasslands, ensete fields and tree-rich habitats seem to play important roles.