The Ecology and Services of Beneficial Arthropods in Crop Production Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Crop production systems constitute the largest terrestrial biomes in many regions. These agricultural landscapes—which provide food, fibers and other materials for human societies—are also habitat for diverse arthropod communities. The arthropods that are capable of tolerating agricultural landscapes include herbivores and their natural enemies; however, synanthropic arthropods also provide other essential ecosystem services, such as weed control, pollination and decomposition. This Special Issue will examine the benefits for human societies from arthropods in agricultural systems. In particular, this Special Issue aims to quantify these services at regional or global scales. However, papers that describe arthropod services at field scales, or that describe agroecological approaches to optimize these services, are also welcome. Papers can encompass any arthropod group (insects, spiders, millipedes, etc.) and any crop production system. Papers may focus on provisioning (e.g., silk, honey), regulating (e.g., pest and weed regulation, biological control) and/or cultural services, as well as underlying supporting services. Papers based on stakeholder surveys are also welcome.

Dr. Finbarr Horgan
Guest Editor

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