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Selforganizology, 2027, 14(3-4): 47-67
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Article

Constructing a synergistic regulation theory for enhancing natural enemy pest control through farmland vegetational diversity: From vegetation patches to functional networks

WenJun Zhang
School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China

Received 18 May 2026;Accepted 29 June 2026;Published online 31 July 2026;Published 1 December 2027
IAEES

Abstract
Enhancing vegetational diversity on farmland through practices such as weed belts, intercropping, trap cropping, and habitat establishment is widely recognized as a nature-based solution for suppressing pests and bolstering natural enemy communities. Nevertheless, the translation of this ecological principle into reliably effective and predictable pest management remains hindered by a persistent theoretical lag. Empirical outcomes oscillate between marked pest suppression and negligible effects, primarily because the underlying mechanisms are still conceptualized through static, univariate, and scale-insensitive hypotheses. This paper undertakes a comprehensive and critical synthesis of the existing knowledge base, rigorously deconstructing classical frameworks such as the enemies hypothesis, resource concentration hypothesis, and associational resistance concepts. Through a systematic chain of logical deductions anchored in network science, functional ecology, and non-equilibrium thermodynamics, I identify a fundamental conceptual flaw: the treatment of vegetation diversity as an undifferentiated bulk property rather than a spatially explicit, functionally complementary, and temporally orchestrated network. To rectify this, I propose an original theoretical construct, the Functional Vegetation Network Synergy Theory (FVNST). FVNST posits that sustainable pest suppression emerges only when three irreducible axes: functional module completeness, spatial network connectivity, and temporal resource continuity, simultaneously exceed critical thresholds, thereby triggering a synergistic, non-linear amplification of natural enemy efficacy. The theory is formalized through a suite of postulates and a mathematical model articulating the Natural enemy Support Potential and Pest Suppression Potential as a threshold-dependent function. This framework recasts the role of vegetation from a passive source of general biodiversity to an actively designed, multi-trophic ecological network infrastructure. The paper further delineates a five-step design methodology, introduces a quantitative Functional Vegetation Network Efficacy Index, and conceptually validates the theory through cross-system application scenarios. FVNST provides an engineering-ready, predictive core for conservation biological control, transforming it from a collection of empirical rules of thumb into a principled scientific discipline.

Keywords vegetational diversity;conservation biological control;functional vegetation network;synergistic regulation;trophic cascade;emergent properties;ecological thresholds.


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