Birds as predators of cork and holm oak pests

• Published in: Agroforestry systems Vol. 90; no. 1; pp. 159 - 176
• Main Authors: Ceia, Ricardo S, Ramos, Jaime A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.02.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: adverse effects; Agriculture; agroforestry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birds; breeding; cork; diet; ecosystems; eggs; Forage; foraging; Foraging behavior; Forestry; Forests; insect pests; Insects; Larvae; Life Sciences; niches; Overwintering; Passeriformes; Pests; Predation; Predators; Prey; pupae; Quercus; Quercus ilex subsp. rotundifolia; Quercus suber; Woodlands; Iberian Peninsula; ANE, Europe, Iberian Peninsula; MED; Foraging guild; Insectivory; Mediterranean oak woodland; Biocontrol
• ISSN: 0167-4366; 1572-9680
• DOI: 10.1007/s10457-014-9749-7

The recent decline of Mediterranean oak woodlands in SW Iberian Peninsula is related to insect pests which affect both cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia). We identified twenty-six bird species as potential regular predators of twenty major pests by reviewing the diet of breeding, wintering and resident species in this ecosystem. Foraging guilds are strongly associated with predation at distinct stages of the pests’ life-cycle: ground-foragers prey on overwintering pupae and larvae of seed-borers, tree-foragers prey on eggs, larvae and pupae of defoliating and wood-boring pests, and aerial-sweepers prey on airborne imagines. Bird predation can cover the complete life-cycle of pest species because different species may be complementary due to a dissimilar exploitation of foraging niches and periods. Small generalist tree-foraging passerines are important pest predators given their high densities and widespread distribution in Mediterranean oak woodlands, but management practices can have a significant negative effect in their populations.