Effect of Organic Farming and Agricultural Abandonment on Beneficial Arthropod Communities Associated with Olive Groves in Western Spain: Implications for Bactrocera oleae Management

Abstract

Simple SummaryOlive cultivation has been extremely relevant in the Mediterranean area for centuries, creating traditional landscapes with high cultural and biodiversity values. However, in recent decades, these landscapes have been affected by two processes. On the one hand, the most productive areas have undergone significant intensification, with greater input of agrochemicals and a much higher tree density; on the other hand, marginal areas, with lower production, are being progressively abandoned. While more attention has been paid to intensification effects, few studies have considered the consequences of olive grove abandonment. In our study, we analyzed how abandonment and management regimes (organic or traditional) affected the main olive pest (Bactrocera oleae) and different groups of natural enemies in olive groves established near the border between Spain and Portugal. Our results showed that abandoned and managed olive groves had different, but similarly rich and diverse, communities of natural enemies, highlighting the complementary role that these two habitats play at the landscape scale. Moreover, abandoned groves may not be acting as a reservoir for the olive fly. To prevent land abandonment from continuing, measures such as organic farming or agritourism, which have been implemented in the studied area, could be effective.Agricultural abandonment and intensification are among the main land-use changes in Europe. Along with these processes, different proposals have been developed to counteract the negative effects derived from agricultural intensification, including organic management. In this context, we aimed to determine how organic management and farmland abandonment affect Bactrocera oleae and its main groups of natural enemies: hymenopteran parasitoids, spiders, ants, carabids, and staphylinids. Between May and October 2018, four samplings were carried out in nine olive groves (three under organic management, three under traditional management, and three abandoned) in a rural area on the border between Spain and Portugal (Salamanca, Western Spain). Our results suggested differences between the natural enemy community composition of abandoned and organic groves, with slightly higher levels of richness and abundance in abandoned groves. We found no differences between organic and traditional groves. The managed olive groves sustained a different natural enemy community but were similarly rich and diverse compared with the more complex abandoned groves, with the latter not acting as a reservoir of B. oleae in our study area. Both systems may provide complementary habitats; however, further abandonment could cause a reduction in heterogeneity at the landscape scale and, consequently, a biodiversity loss.