03884naa a2200289 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902200140006002400360007410000170011024501270012726000090025450011360026352018550139965000160325465300210327065300300329165300320332165300260335365300360337965300140341570000160342970000180344570000150346370000130347877301030349110638022022-11-30       2022    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d  a1612-47587 a10.1007/s10340-022-01580-72DOI1 aABBATE, S.L.  aRefuge areas favor the presence of predators and herbivores in Bt soybeanba landscape perspective.h[electronic resource]  c2022  aArticle history: Received 13 August 2022; Revised 20 October 2022; Accepted 29 October 2022; Published online 17 November 2022. -- Corresponding author: Abbate, S.L.; Est. Exp. "Dr. Mario A. Cassinoni", Department of Plant Protection, Polo Agroalimentario y Agroindustrial Paysandú, Centro Universitario Regional Litoral Norte, Sede Paysandú, Universidad de la República, Ruta 3 km 363, Paysandú, Uruguay; email:abbate@fagro.edu.uy  -- Funding: This research is part of a project sponsored by Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII, Uruguay): Fondo María Viñas (FMV-2-2016-1-126142). SA obtained Postgraduate student grants by ANII (POS_NAC_2011_1_3559) and Comisión Académica de Posgrado (CAP)-Universidad de la República (Uruguay). FM thanks national funding by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal), through the institutional scientific employment program contract. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology for its financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020), and to SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020).  aABSTRACT.- Soybean plants that express various insecticidal proteins of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis have been widely adopted globally in many crop systems. This technology effectively controls the main defoliating pest species in most countries and reduces insecticide spray requirements. However, widespread use of Bt crops also generates high selection pressure against pest populations, leading to resistance concerns. Refuge areas are established to delay this phenomenon, but little is known about their other ecological functions. We evaluated the role of non-Bt soybean refuge areas regarding the abundance and richness of predator species in Bt soybean and non-Bt fields. For 2 years, herbivore and predatory arthropods were sampled in 28 soybean fields (RR/Bt) and their non-Bt soybean refuge areas (RR/noBt) in Uruguay, throughout the whole crop cycle. Landscape crop diversity (1 km radius) was characterized by its richness and evenness. Arthropod abundance and richness were analyzed using general linear mixed models. The abundance and richness of predators (Araneae, Coccinellidae, Heteroptera and Chrysopidae) found in Bt soybean were positively associated with the values recorded in refuge areas, independently of the diversity of the surrounding landscape. This relationship was not affected by changes in the distance between sampling points (within 800 m). The abundance of stink bugs and leaf-feeding caterpillars in Bt soybean was positively associated with refuge area values. Our results reinforce the importance of refuge areas, not only due to their role in resistance management, but also as preservation areas of beneficial fauna within a landscape approach to Integrated Pest Management in agroecosystems. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.  aGLYCINE MAX  aCaterpillar pest  aInsect-resistant GM crops  aInsect-resistant management  aLandscape composition  aPLATAFORMA DE BIOINSUMOS - INIA  aPredators1 aMADEIRA, F.1 aBENTANCUR, O.1 aALTIER, N.1 aPONS, X.  tJournal of Pest Science, 2022. [Article in Press]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-022-01580-7