Integrated Pest Management in European Apple Orchards

Abstract

Research on integrated pest management (IPM) in apple orchards has generated wealth of literature worldwide, but comprehensIve reviews are rare (60, 121, 183). Apple IPM, a multidisciplinary, ecological approach to the management of pest populations, which uses variety of control tactics compatibly in single pest management system (182, p. 41), is difficult to describe on paper. The major reason is the great complexity and geographic variability of the perennial apple orchard ecosystem (105, 173, 210). Specialist reviews (89, 115, 151, 179, 180, 199) often deal with various pome fruit pests, but they usually emphasize the advancement of knowledge instead of practical integration of that knowledge. This review describes recent advances in European apple IPM, with the emphasis on the promotion of biological pest control. To be clear, I have chosen both scene and perspective. The scene is the high density apple orchard, the perspective the hierarchical appreciation of natural enemies.