Biodiversity-friendly farming practices are taking centre stage, with herbicide use sparking major public debate on human health. Vegetation cover is increasingly used to enhance agroecosystem biodiversity and functions, providing important ecosystem services like biological pest control. However, further information is required on the relationship between vegetation cover, natural enemies, and pest predation. Using a sentinel prey experiment set up in 26 Mediterranean organic vineyards, we analysed the response of generalist predators, and the associated final predation and dynamics under three inter-row management types: bare soil, one out of two inter-rows vegetated and all inter-rows vegetated. Predation on sentinel prey was monitored on the ground and on the vine trunk throughout the daytime and after a night of exposure. Generalist predator abundance was quantified using pitfall traps. Final sentinel prey predation both on vine trunks and on the ground were significantly higher in fully vegetated vineyards, with a shorter prey survival time than in tilled vineyards. Both diurnal and nocturnal predation were significantly related to increased vegetation cover and richness. Moreover, 96 % of the identified predation events involved ants. We demonstrated the key role of vegetation cover in improving the predation function through a spill-over from the inter-row to the grapevine. Contrary to what is commonly observed in agrosystems, we clearly identified ants as the predominant predator both on the ground and on the vine trunk. Our study has important implications for Mediterranean vineyard management, promoting vegetation as a nature-based solution. Sustainable management of vineyard vegetation favouring the natural predator community may contribute to a reduction in pesticide use and fossil fuel consumption.

有利于生物多样性的农业做法正成为主要焦点，除草剂的使用引发了有关人类健康的主要公众辩论。植被被越来越多地用于增强农业生态系统的生物多样性和功能，提供重要的生态系统服务，例如生物虫害防治。但是，还需要有关植被覆盖，天敌和害虫捕食之间关系的进一步信息。通过在26个地中海有机葡萄园中进行的定点捕食实验，我们分析了三类行间管理类型下的通体掠食者的反应以及相关的最终捕食和动态：裸土，两植被间行之一和所有-行植物。在白天和暴露一夜后，在地面和葡萄树干上监视前哨猎物的捕食行为。通才陷阱捕食者定量化了通才捕食者的丰度。在完全植被的葡萄园中，无论是在藤蔓树干上还是在地面上，最终的哨兵捕食都明显更高，猎物的存活时间比耕种的葡萄园要短。昼夜捕食与植被覆盖度和丰富度显着相关。此外，发现的掠夺事件中有96％与蚂蚁有关。我们通过从行间到葡萄树的溢出展示了植被覆盖在改善捕食功能中的关键作用。与通常在农业系统中观察到的相反，我们清楚地确定了蚂蚁是地面和葡萄干上的主要捕食者。我们的研究对地中海葡萄园的管理具有重要意义，它促进了植被的发展，这是基于自然的解决方案。