Soil erosion control, plant diversity, and arthropod communities under heterogeneous cover crops in an olive orchard

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 977 - 989
• Main Authors: Gómez, José Alfonso, Campos, Mercedes, Guzmán, Gema, Castillo-Llanque, Franco, Vanwalleghem, Tom, Lora, Ángel, Giráldez, Juan V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2018
• Subjects: annuals; Aquatic Pollution; arthropod communities; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; cover crops; Earth and Environmental Science; ecosystem services; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; erosion control; Facing to real sustainability - Conservation agricultural practices around the world; farms; grasses; mowing; olives; orchards; pests; predators; runoff; soil; species diversity; tillage; vegetation; Waste Water Technology; water erosion; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Heterogeneous; Predators; Cover crops; Sustainability; Olive crop; Biodiversity; Arthropods community; Erosion
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-8339-9

A 3-year experiment compared in an olive orchard the effect of different cover crops’ composition on runoff, water erosion, diversity of annual plants, and arthropod communities which could provide an alternative to conventional management based on tillage (CT). The cover crops evaluated were a seeded homogeneous grass (GC), a seeded mix of ten different species (MC seeded ), and a non-seeded cover by vegetation naturally present at the farm after 20 years of mowing (MC natural ). The results suggest that heterogeneous cover crops can provide a viable alternative to homogeneous ones in olives, providing similar benefits in reducing runoff and soil losses compared to management based on bare soil. The reduction in soil loss was particularly large: 46.7 in CT to 6.5 and 7.9 t ha −1  year −1 in GC and MC seeded , respectively. The heterogeneous cover crops resulted in greater diversity of plant species and a modification of the arthropod communities with an increased number of predators for pests. The reduction of the cost of implanting heterogeneous cover crops, improvement of the seeding techniques, and selection of species included in the mixes require additional research to promote the use of this practice which can deliver enhanced environmental benefits.