Effects of different types of villages on the distribution of arable land near-surface arthropods

In agricultural landscapes, villages are mostly distributed in or around cultivated land, which is a special non-arable habitat; however, its role in arable land biodiversity is unclear. In this study, three villages (containing high, medium, and low proportions of semi-natural habitats) in the south of Changtu County, Liaoning Province were selected, and the distribution of near-surface arthropods in adjacent farmlands at different distances from the villages was investigated by using the trap method. The effects of village type and distance gradient on the whole and different functional groups of arable land near-surface arthropod communities were investigated by analysis of variance and sparse extrapolation curves. The results showed that 1) the number of plant-eating species in the adjacent cultivated land of the village was the largest, accounting for 75.34% of the total number, which was the main trophic group of the near-surface arthropods in the study field, followed by predatory species, accounting for 17.94% of the total population. 2) The diversity and dominance of near-surface arthropods in the farmland adjacent to the village showed a decreasing trend from the edge to the inside of the cultivated land. The higher proportion of semi-natural habitats made village a source of near-surface arthropod migration. 3) Villages increased the abundance of predators in arable land as well as the activity density of plant-eating species, while villages with a higher proportion of semi-natural habitats promoted the spread of more predators to farmland and further curb pest outbreaks. In summary, whether semi-natural habitats remain or are re-established within a village as a special type of non-arable habitat and their proportion have key impact on the biodiversity of adjacent arable land. Increasing the area of semi-natural habitats within the village by planting flowers or hedges on idle homesteads can provide habitat and refuge for predators, and increase the biological control effect of farmland in the event of pest outbreaks.