The University of Calgary is working with Lakeland College to take a deep dive into the effect of beneficial insects living in natural habitats and non-farmed spaces, such as in-field wetlands, on canola yields.

Initial research conducted by UCalgary has shown that insects and other arthropods living in field wetlands that move throughout the surrounding crop and through pollination or pest control, may help to improve yields, decrease inputs and increase profitability.

In 2019, landscape ecologist and study lead Dr. Paul Galpern, associate professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design and Department of Biological Sciences at UCalgary, partnered with Lakeland to initiate a three-year project that will measure the effect of beneficial insects on canola yield, at increasing distances from wetlands.

This collaborative project is funded by the Canola Agronomic Research Program, which encompasses funding from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba Canola Producer Commissions.

Laurel Thompson, Lakeland's crop research scientist, explains, “Dr. Galpern's preliminary work has shown that the concentration of beneficial insects is highest closest to in-field wetlands, and as beneficial insect populations are measured farther away from the wetland, these populations drop off. This led to the project hypothesis that if these beneficial insects are having a positive effect on canola pollination, then we might find a yield effect in the surrounding canola crop. This is what we aim to quantify.”

The study is measuring this by deploying mesh exclosure “tents” in canola fields that will exclude insects from contacting the canola crop inside the tent. The mesh exclosure tents allow sunlight, rainfall and wind to penetrate, but they keep insects out. This past summer the mesh exclosure tents were placed in canola crops, prior to canola bloom, at increasing distances from the wetland (two, 25, 50, 75, and 100m) in three canola fields in the Vermilion region.

The experiment is being replicated three times within each field to increase the quality and quantity of data in the project. Canola yield will be measured from within the exclosed area (beneficial insects are not able to access) and outside of the exclosed area at each distance (beneficial insects have full access).

If beneficial insects are having a positive influence on canola yield, the researchers would expect to see a difference in yield between the exclosed and non-exclosed areas. Further, if there are fewer beneficial insects farther from the wetland, the researchers would expect to see any difference in yield be highest closest to the wetland, and dropping off at farther distances away from the wetland. Insect populations are being measured at increasing distances from the wetlands, alongside the exclosure tents.

A second component of this project will involve using precision combine yield data from 50 Vermilion-area canola fields in each of three years (150 fields total) to model the effect of wetlands on canola yield at a larger scale.

While examining the relationship between natural habitats, canola yield and the presence of beneficial arthropods, the study aims to provide specific advice to producers about the contributions of natural habitats to yield, how to manage these non-farmed spaces and the relative importance of beneficial arthropods for yields.