68th International Symposium on Crop Protection (ISCP): poster: Landscape plant composition differentially influences aphid parasitoids in fruit orchards

Global conversion of natural habitats from ecosystem to agrosystem has led to marked decline in species diversity and composition. Hence, redesigning the surrounding area and increasing the diversity of beneficial arthropods is an important approach that can help suppress pests, limit chemical sprayings (residues) and increase crop yields. To evaluate the diversity and similarity of aphid and parasitoid communities in relationship with habitat variation, a monitoring dataset collected from a two-year survey carried out in Belgian horticultural agroecosystems was analysed. Three types of plant hosts were investigated: stone- and pome fruit trees (FT), woody plants (WP), and herbaceous plants (HP). We found that the densities and richness of both aphid and parasitoid species were influenced by changes in plant species type. Parasitoid species similarity index between FT and HP was higher than between FT and WP. While parasitoid diversity, richness, and evenness indices in HP habitat was higher than other habitats, aphid species similarity between FT and HP was low, 0.12, and bit less than between FT and WP, 0.18. Habitat type, particularly HP, is suggested to influence the structure of aphid parasitoid community and consequently the natural aphid control in fruit orchard. The role of aphids associated with herbaceous plants as reservoirs for economically important parasitoid species in fruit orchards is discussed.
Key words: Beneficial insects, biodiversity, biological control, landscape, fruit orchards

Details

Activity type

Participation in scientific conference

Activity work package

Reduction in pesticide residues

Activity number

PcFruit-WP3-a11

Activity contact

Ammar Alhmedi

Activity partner

pcfruit vzw

Activity country

Belgium

Last edit

03-10-2017