Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T14:10:10.251Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Impact of living mulch on arthropod fauna: analysis of pest and beneficial dynamics on organic cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) in different European scenarios

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2016

L. Depalo ,
G. Burgio ,
P. von Fragstein ,
H.L. Kristensen ,
M. Bavec ,
M. Robačer ,
G. Campanelli  and
S. Canali
L. Depalo*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Area Entomologia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
G. Burgio
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Area Entomologia, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
P. von Fragstein
Affiliation:
Peter von Fragstein – University of Kassel, D-37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
H.L. Kristensen
Affiliation:
Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Kirstinebjergvej 10, DK-5792 Aarslev, Denmark.
M. Bavec
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Hoče, Slovenia.
M. Robačer
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Hoče, Slovenia.
G. Campanelli
Affiliation:
Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura–Unità di Ricerca per l'Orticoltura (CREA-ORA), Monsampolo del Tronto (AP), Italy.
S. Canali
Affiliation:
Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria. Centro per lo studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo (CREA-RPS), Via della Navicella, 2–00184, Roma (RM), Italy.
*
*Corresponding author: laura.depalo@unibo.it
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The effect of a ‘cover crop–vegetable cash crop’ intercropping system on arthropod dynamics and biodiversity, was investigated in four different European countries (Italy, Denmark, Germany, and Slovenia), by means of two-seasonal experiments. The soil arthropod fauna was used to compare the ecosystem services of living mulched systems with sole crop ones. The living mulch (LM) technique did not affect the infestation of cabbage caterpillar Pieris spp., showing no detrimental effect of this technique on this key pest of cabbage. In Denmark, aphid populations were higher in the sole crop system than in the LM system. In Italy, a very high level of larval parasitization was detected and in 1 year the percentage of parasitization was higher in LM (88%) than in sole crop (63%). Overall, the LM positively affected the activity density of Carabid beetles, also increasing diversity and evenness of species (Italy and Slovenia) or activity density of some taxa (Slovenia and Denmark). Our results indicate a general positive influence of LM techniques on arthropods in plant/soil systems, as shown by a high level of soil biodiversity and a general lack of negative effects on the density of canopy pests.

Keywords

Pieris spp. infestationAphidsecosystem servicesparasitizationsoil bioindicatorsCarabidae (Coleoptera)Staphylinidae (Coleoptera)
Type
Themed Content: Living Mulch
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 32 , Special Issue 3: Living Mulch , June 2017 , pp. 240 - 247
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altieri, M.A., Nicholls, C.I., and Ponti, L. 2008. Crop diversification strategies for pest regulation in IPM systems. In Radcliffe, E.B., Hutchison, W.D., and Cancelado, R.E. (eds). Integrated Pest Management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. p. 116–130.Google Scholar
Andersen, A. and Eltun, R. 2000. Long-term developments in the carabid and staphylinid (Col., Carabidae and Staphylinidae) fauna during conversion from conventional to biological farming. Journal of Applied Entomology 124:51–56.Google Scholar
Andow, D.A. 1991. Vegetational diversity and arthropod population response. Annual Review of Entomology 36:561–586.Google Scholar
Barbosa, P., Hines, J., Kaplan, I., Martinson, H., Szczepaniec, A., and Szendrei, Z. 2009. Associational resistance and associational susceptibility: Having right or wrong neighbors. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 40:1–20.Google Scholar
Bryant, A., Brainard, D.C., Haramoto, E.R., and Szendrei, Z. 2013. Cover crop mulch and weed management influence arthropod communities in strip-tilled cabbage. Environmental Entomology 42:293–306.Google Scholar
Burgio, G., Campanelli, G., Leteo, F., Ramilli, F., Depalo, L., Fabbri, R., and Sgolastra, F. 2014. Ecological sustainability of an organic four-year vegetable rotation system: Carabids and other soil arthropods as bioindicators. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 39:295–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canali, S., Campanelli, G., Ciaccia, C., Diacono, M., Leteo, F., Fiore, A., and Montemurro, F. 2015. Living mulch strategy for organic cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.) production in central and southern Italy. Italian Journal of Agronomy 10:90–96.Google Scholar
Döring, T.F. and Kromp, B. 2003. Which carabid species benefit from organic agriculture?—a review of comparative studies in winter cereals from Germany and Switzerland. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 98:153–161.Google Scholar
Frank, D.L. and Liburd, O.E. 2005. Effects of living and synthetic mulch on the population dynamics of whiteflies and aphids, their associated natural enemies, and insect-transmitted plant diseases in zucchini. Environmental Entomology 34:857–865.Google Scholar
Grez, A.A. and González, R.H. 1995. Resource concentration hypothesis: Effect of host plant patch size on density of herbivorous insects. Oecologia 103:471–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinds, J. and Hooks, C.R.R. 2013. Population dynamics of arthropods in a sunn-hemp zucchini interplanting system. Crop Protection 53:6–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hole, D.G., Perkins, A.J., Wilson, J.D., Alexander, I.H., Grice, P.V., and Evans, A.D. 2005. Does organic farming benefit biodiversity? Biological Conservation 122:113–130.Google Scholar
Jones, G.A. and Sieving, K.E. 2006. Intercropping sunflower in organic vegetables to augment bird predators of arthropods. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 117:171–177.Google Scholar
Kromp, B. 1999. Carabid beetles in sustainable agriculture: A review on pest control efficacy, cultivation impacts and enhancement. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 74:187–228.Google Scholar
Landis, D.A., Wratten, S.D., and Gurr, G.M. 2000. Habitat management to conserve natural enemies of arthropod pests in agriculture. Annual Review of Entomology 45:175–201.Google Scholar
Lin, B.B. 2011. Resilience in agriculture through crop diversification: Adaptive management for environmental change. BioScience 61:183–193.Google Scholar
Lovei, G.L. and Sunderland, K.D. 1996. Ecology and behavior of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Annual Review of Entomology 41:231–256.Google Scholar
Magurran, A.E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and its Measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Masiunas, J.B. 1998. Production of vegetables using cover crop and living mulches—a review. Journal of Vegetable Crop Production 4:11–31.Google Scholar
Perry, J.N. 1997. Spatial aspects of large-scale experiments. In McEwen, P., Wyatt, T.D., Reynolds, D.R., Riley, J.R., Armes, N.J., Cooter, R.J., Tucker, M.R., Colvin, J., Eigenbrode, S.D., Bernays, E.A., Perry, J.N., Mumford, J.D., Knight, J.D., Corbet, S.A., Osborne, J.L., Matthews, G.A., Mills, N., Symondson, W.O.C., Hemingway, J., Holt, J., and Cheke, R.A. (eds). Methods in Ecological and Agricultural Entomology. CAB International, Wallingford. p. 192–198.Google Scholar
Pimentel, D. 1961. Species diversity and insect population outbreaks. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 54:76–86.Google Scholar
Prasifka, J.R., Schmidt, N.P., Kohler, K.A., O'NEAL, M.E., Hellmich, R.L., and Singer, J.W. 2006. Effects of living mulches on predator abundance and sentinel prey in a corn–soybean–forage rotation. Environmental Entomology 35:1423–1431.Google Scholar
Root, R.B. 1973. Organization of a plant-arthropod association in simple and diverse habitats: The fauna of collards (Brassica oleracea). Ecological Monographs 43:95–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sans, F.X. and Altieri, M.A. 2005. Effects of Intercropping and Fertilization on Weed Abundance, Diversity and Resistance to Invasion. International Society of Organic Agricultural Research (ISOFAR), Bonn.Google Scholar
Schmidt, N.P., O'NEAL, M.E., and Singer, J.W. 2007. Alfalfa living mulch advances biological control of soybean aphid. Environmental Entomology 36:416–424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steel, R.G., Torrie, J.H., and Dickey, D.A. 1997. Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar