{"id":40741,"date":"2026-01-15T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=40741"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:35:25","slug":"nature-based-ecological-land-management-serves-as-nonchemical-approach-to-pest-suppression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2026\/01\/nature-based-ecological-land-management-serves-as-nonchemical-approach-to-pest-suppression\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature-Based, Ecological Land Management Serves as Nonchemical Approach to Pest Suppression"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, January 15, 2026)\u00a0 \u201cBirds and bats consumed over 87 rice pest species in West African lowland rice fields,\u201d according to a recent study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment<\/em><\/a>. The authors continue, \u201cOur findings highlight the importance of maintaining and managing a diverse community of bats and birds for network resilience.\u201d In this context, the research distinguishes the \u201cpredator-prey\u201d as established through the ecological balance of diverse organisms in nature from a \u201cpredator-pest\u201d orientation that views some organisms as unwanted and targets for control and more subject to human manipulation. \u00a0The authors describe the predator-pest network as a means to quantify the \u201cecosystem services\u201d impact, with the researchers noting that they \u201cinvestigated the role of predator and prey species in the predator\u2013prey network and compared those roles with that of the predator\u2013pest network, to further explore their potential as pest suppressors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communities across the United States and globally are looking for opportunities to transition to alternative pest management strategies given decades-long increasing reliance on synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which contribute significantly to looming existential crises of biodiversity collapse, public health decline, and planetary instability of ecosystems, climate, and geopolitics. As evidenced in a recent report by Farm Action U.S. (2025), \u201cToday, just four corporations\u2014Bayer, Corteva, ChemChina, and BASF\u2014control more than 50%<\/a> of the global seed market, consolidating power with their patented genetically engineered seeds.\u201d The privatization of agricultural tools of crop production that were once community-owned and moderated undermines thousands of years of community-led seed sharing and storage to prepare for harvest for the next season.<\/p>\n

This same logic guides the approach to protecting and expanding the right of local municipalities to regulate pesticide and fertilizer use within their jurisdictions, treating federal pesticide law as a floor rather than a ceiling for public health and environmental protection.<\/p>\n

Background and Methodology<\/h2>\n

There are three main objectives outlined by the study authors:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201c…Characterize and compare the dietary composition of birds and bats that feed on insects in West African rice fields, with a specific focus on potential rice pests in their diet;<\/li>\n
  2. Analyse the structure of predator\u2013prey and predator\u2013pest networks to assess patterns of modularity, connectivity, and specialisation thereby addressing the gap in understanding functional complementarity among predators; and,<\/li>\n
  3. Identify structurally important predator species within these networks and evaluate their potential contribution to pest suppression services and network stability under low-input, smallholder farming conditions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To better quantify the role of predator and prey species in their network compared to roles of the \u201cpredator-pest\u201d network, species\u2019 roles were assessed on several metrics, including species\u2019 degree (\u201cnumber of interaction partner species), strength (\u201cthe importance of each predator species for the set of prey species and vice versa\u201d), and the specialization index (\u201cquantifies the niche exclusiveness of a predator or prey, relative to a random distribution of interactions based on the observed interaction frequencies).<\/p>\n

    For additional information on the methodology, please see Sections 2.1 to 2.7.<\/p>\n

    The researchers collected fecal samples from 502 individual predators, including 345 bats and 157 birds. A total of 1,347 taxon, or Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) as referred to throughout the study as a means of organizing\/listing their unique biological identity akin to the style of the Dewey Decimal Classification system, were found to interact with 34 predators (18 bats and 16 bird species). More specifically, \u201cA total of 262 prey OTUs were classified to the genus or species level, of which 87 [were] classified as rice pests.\u201d This research was conducted in northern Guinea-Bissau, in the \u201ctropical sub-humid\u201d region of Oio. The field work was carried out in rice fields in the towns of Farim and Mansaba and near six villages (Djalicunda, Bironqui, Lenquebato, Bereco, Demba S\u00f3, and Mambonco). The significance of this study is important for the local population as they are \u201cheavily reliant on agriculture, with most people engaged in smallholder farming.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Researchers for this study span several countries and specialties, including Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, CHANGE – Global Change and Sustainability Institute (University of Lisboa, Portugal); Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Biodiversidade e Recursos Gen\u00e9ticos, InBIO Laborat\u00f3rio Associado<\/em> (Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Portugal); BIOPOLIS Program in CIBIO (Portugal); Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (Lisboa, Portugal); Organiza\u00e7\u00e3o para Defesa e Desenvolvimento das Zonas H\u00famidas (ODZH) <\/em>(Organization for the Defense and Development of Wetlands, Guinea-Bissau); The Peasant Center of Djalicunda (Guinea-Bissau); Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Forestali (SAAF) <\/em>(Department of Agricultural, Food, and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Italy); School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford (United Kingdom); Department of Biology, Oxford University (United Kingdom); Instituto da Biodiversidade e das \u00c1reas Protegidas <\/em>(Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Areas, Guinea-Bissau); and Centre for Functional Ecology, Associate Laboratory TERRA, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra (Portugal).<\/p>\n

    Funding for this study included research funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education in Portugal) and the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. \u201cThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper,\u201d says the study. \u00a0They continue in the Acknowledgments section: \u201cThe capture and handling of bats and birds, as well as the transport of [fecal] samples, were conducted under [license] from the Guinea-Bissau Nature Conservation Authority (IBAP \u2013 Instituto da Biodiversidade e das \u00c1reas Protegidas<\/em>).\u201d<\/p>\n

    Results<\/h2>\n

    Understanding the relationship networks between predator, prey, and pest is critical to the support for conservation efforts and broader pest management strategies without chemical dependency on the following grounds:<\/p>\n

    \u201cSpecies occupying unique roles in arthropod consumption warrant close monitoring (e.g., bats\u00a0C. pumilus<\/em>,\u00a0H. cafer\/ruber<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Scotoecus<\/em>\u00a0otu14 and birds\u00a0P. melanocephalus<\/em>,\u00a0E. glaucurus<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Ploceu<\/em>s otu33). Their roles in both networks suggest that, beyond delivering pest suppression services, they help maintain broader predator\u2013prey dynamics. By regulating a wider range of prey, including taxa not yet recognized as rice pests, these predators can play a role in preventing future outbreaks<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Some additional topline results from this analysis underscore the ecosystem services that birds and bat species can offer for agricultural and nonagricultural pest management:<\/p>\n