Editorial: Molecular and isotopic approaches to food webs in agroecosystems

Abstract

This special issue comprises seven papers: one review, one opinion and five experimental papers. Together, these articles illustrate how molecular tools and isotope analyses are improving our understanding of food-web structure and dynamics in agricultural systems. The papers collated here make use of the PCR-based DNA barcoding approach, protein-marking ELISA and the analysis of isotopic ratios to investigate a wide range of ecological questions. These studies advance our understanding of biodiversity and food-web dynamics in agroecosystems, provide direction on how to improve biological control of pests, detail the movement of energy and nutrient fluxes in soil food webs, and quantify anthropogenic disturbances in agroecosystems.