Amid global challenges in climate, biodiversity and food production, insects remain an overlooked yet crucial part of the solution. These critters, whizzing away in the weedy undergrowth, do more for our farms than we typically appreciate. While some damage crops, most insects benefit farms by breaking down organic matter, pollinating flowers and curbing those pesky pests.
Through an undergraduate course called Diversity of Insects, Ally Dolezal, a PhD alumna from the University of Guelph, discovered the intricate world of these creatures and their role in agricultural ecosystems. What started as a fascination culminated in exceptional doctoral research in the College of Biological Sciences with Dr. Andrew MacDougall on a Food from Thought funded project.
Recognizing the importance of and threats to beneficial insects in agricultural ecosystems, Dolezal embarked on her research, exploring what influences the balance between crop pests and their natural enemies on farmland. She focused specifically on arthropods, a group of creatures characterized by their segmented body parts and appendages, with a shell-like exterior called an exoskeleton. This diverse group includes organisms such as, beetles, flies, spiders and aphids.
Dolezal’s objective was, as she puts it, “to understand how arthropods interact with their environment and apply this knowledge to applications for pest management, ecosystem restoration, and the promotion of arthropod diversity on farm landscapes.” She studied how three critical factors—natural areas near crops, predator-prey relationships and agrochemical use—interact to help or hinder the pest-controlling insects. She examined how these factors work together across scales, from individual fields to entire landscapes, and how they affect different groups of insects, from single species to entire communities.
Dolezal’s research demonstrated that restoring strips of wild plants or small streams around fields give pest-eating insects roadways to move efficiently between environments throughout the farming seasons. She also showed that interactions between species and their habitat in farm ecosystems can improve natural pest control, reduce pesticide use and support sustainable practices that preserve biodiversity. Dolezal’s research delivers a clear message: “Arthropods aren’t optional in agroecosystems”. She further emphasises that “understanding arthropods unlocks smarter, more sustainable farms, and habitat is their lifeline.” In other words, healthy farms need insects, and insects need a healthy habitat.
Dolezal is actively sharing this message with the public through co-organizing Guelph Bug Day, an educational event that has engaged over 16,000 students and families in Guelph, helping them appreciate the importance of insects in both natural, agricultural and human environments.
During her PhD, she also worked as a Conservation Scientist at the rare Charitable Research Reserve, where she applied her lab and field skills towards conservation initiatives while mentoring early-career researchers and students. “Engaging with others outside of academia has grounded my work in real-world impact and reminded me that science is most powerful when it’s shared”, she says.
Ultimately, for Dolezal, what started as a sense of wonder sparked by an undergraduate course over a decade ago, has grown into a lifelong desire to contribute to research towards a more sustainable and resilient food system. Through understanding the tiny creatures that most people overlook, she’s helping demonstrate how farms can not only produce food but also nurture the ecosystem services that sustain them.
Read more about practical strategies for restoring farmland biodiversity.
