Effects of Ground Cover Management on Insect Predators and Pests in a Mediterranean Vineyard

Conservative techniques, such as ground cover management, could help promote viticulture sustainability, which is a goal of conservation biological control, by providing shelter and food sources for predatory insects. A field experiment was conducted in a Mediterranean vineyard to evaluate ground co...

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Published inInsects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 421
Main Authors Sáenz-Romo, María Gloria, Veas-Bernal, Ariadna, Martínez-García, Héctor, Ibáñez-Pascual, Sergio, Martínez-Villar, Elena, Campos-Herrera, Raquel, Marco-Mancebón, Vicente Santiago, Pérez-Moreno, Ignacio
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 23.11.2019
MDPI
Subjects
Abundance
Agricultural ecosystems
Agricultural practices
Biodiversity
Biological control
Canopies
Cover crops
Crops
Food sources
Grapevines
Ground cover
Insects
Management
Pest control
Pests
Predators
Sustainability
Tillage
Vegetation
Vineyards
Viticulture
Wineries & vineyards
United States > US
vineyard
diversity
natural enemies
cover crop
pests
abundance
tillage
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Summary:Conservative techniques, such as ground cover management, could help promote viticulture sustainability, which is a goal of conservation biological control, by providing shelter and food sources for predatory insects. A field experiment was conducted in a Mediterranean vineyard to evaluate ground cover management impacts on predatory insect and potential grapevine pest abundance and diversity, both on the ground and in the grapevine canopy. Three different ground cover management techniques (tillage, spontaneous cover and flower-driven cover) were tested for two years (2016 and 2017). Overall, the ground cover management significantly affected the abundance of important epigeal predators, of which carabids, forficulids and staphylinids were the most captured. The carabid abundances under both the cover crop treatments were found to be approximately three times higher compared with that under the tillage treatment. In contrast, the canopy insect abundance in the vineyard was similar among the treatments for both the predators and the potential grapevine pest species. These results indicate that cover crop vegetation can be used in vineyards to enhance predatory insect abundance and may improve agroecosystem resilience.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects10120421