Abstract
Conservation biological control (CBC) is an environmentally sound potential alternative to the use of chemical insecticides. It involves modifications of the environment to promote natural enemy activity on pests. Despite many CBC studies increasing abundance of natural enemies, there are far fewer demonstrations of reduced pest density and very little work has been conducted in olive crops. In this study we investigated the effects of four forms of non-crop vegetation on the abundance of two important pests: the olive psyllid (Euphyllura olivina) and the olive moth (Prays oleae). Areas of herbaceous vegetation and areas of woody vegetation near olive crops, and smaller patches of woody vegetation within olive groves, decreased pest abundance in the crop. Inter-row ground covers that are known to increase the abundance of some predators and parasitoids had no effect on the pests, possibly as a result of lack of synchrony between pests and natural enemies, lack of specificity or intra-guild predation. This study identifies examples of the right types of diversity for use in conservation biological control in olive production systems.
Highlights
The use of synthetic pesticides for pest control in conventional agriculture is coming under closer scrutiny due to rising concerns about environmental and health problems (Meehan et al, 2011) including the recent ruling by the European Union to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (Stokstad, 2013)
This study aimed to compare the relative benefits of four forms of vegetation diversity for use in olive grove conservation biological control on the abundance of olive moth (Prays oleae (Bernard)), and olive psyllid (Euphyllura olivina (Costa))
Ground cover did not have any effect on the abundance of pest species and we did not calculate the proportional change in abundance for ground cover versus bare soil
Summary
The use of synthetic pesticides for pest control in conventional agriculture is coming under closer scrutiny due to rising concerns about environmental and health problems (Meehan et al, 2011) including the recent ruling by the European Union to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides (Stokstad, 2013). Biological control has evolved in recent decades as a response to such concerns and one approach, ‘conservation biological control’ includes practices such as the modification of the environment to boost the impact of natural enemies of pests (Eilenberg, Hajek & Lomer, 2001). The extent of spill over of natural enemies between adjacent vegetation types can be large (Bowie et al, 1999). These various forms of modifications increase the diversity of vegetation and habitat structure, which in turn increases the availability of natural enemy resources such as nectar, pollen, alternative prey, and shelter (Altieri & Letourneau, 1982; Landis, Wratten & Gurr, 2000)
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