Abstract
Cydia fagiglandana (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a carpophagous insect which affects the quality and viability of the fruits of beech, oak and chestnut trees. The majority of the works on this species in holm oak woods dealt with assessing its damages. No investigations have yet been performed on the spatial distribution of this pest, although this element is one of the key features to take in account in order to develop proper integrated management programs. The present study, performed during a four years period in an exploited holm oak forest area in Southern Spain, investigated the spatial distribution of C. fagiglandana integrating classic methods based on dispersion rates and distribution fitting together with the elaboration of population density maps based on GIS. Our results showed that the infestation rate progressively decreased from 0.339 in 2001 to 0.102 in 2004. Density maps for C. fagiglandana also show an heterogeneous and aggregated distribution of this insect and a spatio-temporal stability in this area. It is concluded that during the four years of the study inter-specific competition with the weevil Curculio elephas was the factor that most affected the spatial distribution of C. fagiglandana in the experimental plot.
Highlights
The genus Quercus L. is widely spread all over the world and is commonly found in most of the forest ecosystems
The present study showed that during the study period, the holm oaks had differents infestation rates of C. fagiglandana, decreasing overtime from 33.9% to 10.2%
The absence of acorn foraging by pigs in the plot likely allowed a higher number of larvae of C. elephas and C. fagiglandana to complete their development leading to the observed population increase of this weevil (Jiménez, 2003), it was observed that the population of C. fagiglandana decreased overtime (Table 1)
Summary
The genus Quercus L. is widely spread all over the world and is commonly found in most of the forest ecosystems. Holm and cork oak are the most representative tree species in the Mediterranean forest, which is characterized by a climate with moderately wet winters and very hot and dry summers. Spatial distribution and mapping of C. fagiglandana in holm oak. Spain has the largest extension of holm oak forests, with 2,835,839 ha (MARM, 2007). About 26% of the Spanish holm oak forests are located in Andalucía (Southern Spain) (Montoya, 1989), where they have been transformed in «dehesas», that are agro-forestal ecosystems integrating economic exploitation with the maintenance of environmental and ecological values (Scarascia-Mugnozza et al, 2000; Plieninger et al, 2003), in such a way that in 2002 an area of 425,000 ha of the dehesas in Sierra Morena (SW Spain) was declared Reserve of Biosphere by UNESCO. The dehesas of Andalucía account for 37% (about 78,480 t yr–1) of the total acorn production of Spain (Junta de Andalucía, 2003)
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