Abstract
Functional biodiversity is of fundamental importance for pest control. Many natural enemies rely on floral resources to complete their life cycle. Farmers need to ensure the availability of suitable and sufficient floral biodiversity. This review summarizes 66 studies on the management of floral biodiversity in apple orchards, published since 1986. Approaches followed different degrees of intervention: short-term practices (mowing regime and weed maintenance, cover crops), establishment of durable ecological infrastructures (perennial flower strips, hedgerows) and re-design of the crop system (intercropping, agroforestry). Although short-term practices did not always target the nutrition of natural enemies by flowering plants, living conditions for them (alternative prey, provision of habitat) were often improved. Perennial flower strips reliably enhanced natural enemies and techniques for their introduction continuously developed. Resident natural enemies and their impact in pest control reacted positively to the introduction of a more diversified vegetation, whereas the response of very mobile organisms was often not directly linked to the measures taken. A careful selection and management of plants with particular traits exploitable by most natural enemies emerged as a key-point for success. Now the elaborated design of such measures needs to be adopted by stakeholders and policy makers to encourage farmers to implement these measures in their orchards.
Highlights
Apple orchards are perennial crop systems, which may dominate the environment due to their area-wide cultivation
We focused explicitly on the management of floral resources within orchards with the aim of favoring beneficial arthropods and providing better pest control in apple production
Abstracts were screened in more detail in order to decide if they match the general question: “Managing floral resources for pest control in apple orchards”
Summary
Apple orchards are perennial crop systems, which may dominate the environment due to their area-wide cultivation. Commercial cropping systems involve the cultivation of intensively managed dwarf-trained trees, with a high input of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. For this reason, their management can seriously affect the environment, but in particular local biodiversity within the orchard itself [1,2]. In addition to the cultivated fruit trees in the orchard, other plants contribute to the diverse environment and provide nutritional or structuring functions. 30 years, many studies were conducted on the design, effects and management of floral and structural resources provided by ground cover vegetation, cover crops, hedges or tree composition in orchards. We focused explicitly on the management of floral resources within orchards with the aim of favoring beneficial arthropods and providing better pest control in apple production
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