Pest damage in sugarcane is shaped by temperature, farming practices and landscape context

1. Chilo sacchariphagus is a major sugarcane pest, primarily affecting producing regions in Asia and around the Indian Ocean, yet little is known about the biotic and abiotic factors driving its population dynamics and associated crop damage. This study assesses, for the first time, the relative influence of meteorological conditions, farming practices, landscape context, and natural enemy communities on herbivory damage caused by this pest on Reunion Island. 2. In-field surveys were conducted at 60 sampling points during 2022 and 2023, recording crop damage and multiple explanatory variables across spatial scales, from the field to the landscape. Data were analyzed using generalized additive models and a multi-model inference framework. 3. Crop damage was primarily explained by meteorological conditions (36 % of deviance), farming practices (36 %), and landscape context within a 250 m buffer (27 %) , while natural enemy abundance had no significant effect. Five key predictors shaped damage: average temperature during the wettest season, agrochemical inputs (fertilizer and herbicides), landscape edge density, and sugarcane proportion within the 250 m buffer. Lower fertilizer and herbicide use was associated with crop damage, while edge density and sugarcane proportion showed non-linear relationships with damage. 4. This study underscores the value of an integrative, cross-scale approach to identify drivers of crop damage by C. sacchariphagus . Findings suggest that reduced agrochemical inputs, coupled with increased landscape fragmentation and lower host crop dominance, may mitigate pest damage. Future work should further examine the role of natural enemies and explore the ecological mechanisms behind the non-linear impacts of landscape structure on pest dynamics. • Pest damage are shaped by farming practices, temperature, and landscape structure. • Lower fertilizer and herbicide use reduced crop damage. • Edge density and sugarcane proportion non-linearly affected crop damage. • Agroecological farming and landscape planning could help managing C. sacchariphagus • Multiscale approach effectively rank key factors that explain herbivory patterns