Increasing the complexity of plant and animal communities on farmlands may reduce the impact of insect pests on crop yield, says an entomologist who will conduct a seminar on the topic Friday.

William Snyder of Washington State University’s Department of Entomology will discuss this relationship in his free public presentation, entitled “Predator biodiversity and herbivore suppression: from genes to communities,” at 1:30 p.m. in room 121, Biology Building.

He will draw on his research project examining the ecological basis of natural pest control on west coast vegetable farms, testing the hypothesis that greater biodiversity leads to increasingly pest-suppressive farms.