Abstract
In conservation agriculture, slugs are considered significant pests and their monitoring is a key option in the integrated pest management framework. Together with molluscicide applications, predators such as ground beetles can offer a tool for slug control in the field. Through the evaluation of slug and ground beetle monitoring strategies, this work compared their presence in conventional and conservation agricultural plots. The invasive Deroceras invadens was the dominant slug species to occur in all sampling periods. Among Carabidae, Poecilus cupreus and Pterostichus melas were the most abundant species, and Bembidion spp., Brachinus spp., and Harpalus spp. were also common. Beer-baited pitfall traps, whatever their alcoholic content, caught more slugs and ground beetles than wooden boards used as shelters. Slugs were more abundant in conventional plots than in conservation plots, possibly due to the lower presence of natural enemies such as ground beetles. Despite possible impacts on Carabidae, beer-baited pitfall traps should be considered a useful tool for slug monitoring and for the planning of molluscicide applications. Soil management such as minimum- or no-tillage and the presence of cover crops are important elements influencing both slug and ground beetle presence, possibly playing a key role in the maintenance of natural enemy populations.
Highlights
In agroecosystems, negative effects due to landscape simplification could be mitigated by adopting conservation agricultural practices, such as no-tillage, cover cropping, crop rotation, residue management [1,2,3], and promoting ecosystem services such as biological control [4,5]
The present study focuses on the evaluation of slug and ground beetle monitoring strategies in conservation agriculture and the impact of such strategies on carabid populations
Conservation agriculture can be seriously affected by the presence of pestiferous slugs, and traps are monitoring tools that can be used when planning the timing of molluscicide applications
Summary
Negative effects due to landscape simplification could be mitigated by adopting conservation agricultural practices, such as no-tillage, cover cropping, crop rotation, residue management [1,2,3], and promoting ecosystem services such as biological control [4,5]. The reduction of soil tillage, as well as increasing the presence of crop residues, may create favourable conditions for some pests, increasing their occurrence and / or influencing their population dynamics [6,7,8,9,10]. This can be true for pestiferous slugs [11,12,13]. Practices based on non-inversion tillage have been shown to increase weed infestation and to modify the biological community of the soil [16]
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