Development of a multiprimer metabarcoding approach to understanding trophic interactions in agroecosystems.

To understand trophic interactions and the precise ecological role of each predatory species, it is important to know which arthropod and plant resources are used by generalist predators in agroecosystems. Molecular approaches, such as the use of high-throughput sequencing (HTS), play a key role in identifying these resources. This study develops a multiprimer metabarcoding approach for screening the most common trophic interactions of two predatory arthropods with contrasting morphologies, Rhagonycha fulva (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) and Anthocoris nemoralis (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) collected from a peach crop.

Planting period is the main factor for controlling maize rough dwarf disease.

Maize rough dwarf virus (MRDV) is one of the main yield-limiting factors of maize in the Mediterranean. However, knowledge about the interactions between the agroecosystem and the virus-vector-host relationship continues to be limited. We used multi-model inference to test a landscape-scale approach together with variables measured in the field, and we estimated the effects of early and late planting on MRDV incidence.