Abstract
AbstractThe beetle fauna of conventional, organic, and abandoned apple orchards was monitored in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, between May and September 1991. Treatment in the three types of orchards differed with respect to weed control, disease control, fertilization, and general care. The most commonly captured beetles in all three types of orchards were carabids, in particular, Carabus nemoralis Müller, Carabus granulatus Linné, Harpalus rufipes (DeGeer), and Pterostichus coracinus (Newman). In general, abundance of predaceous beetles was highest in the conventional orchards and lowest in the abandoned orchards. Generic composition of predaceous beetles was similar among orchards, although the abandoned orchards were characterized by high proportions of the larger carabids, C. nemoralis and C. granulatus, whereas the organic and conventional orchards were dominated by the smaller carabids, H. rufipes and P. coracinus. Although there were no significant differences among orchard type in the total abundance of non-predaceous beetles, the abandoned orchards displayed the greatest diversity of non-predaceous beetles, with the lowest diversity found in the organic orchards.
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