Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards
Habitat simplification and intensive use of pesticides are main drivers of global arthropod declines and are, thus, decreasing natural pest control. Organic farming, complex landscapes, and local vineyard management practices such as implementation of flower-rich cover-crop mixtures may be a promisi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/3/220 |
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| author | Jo Marie Reiff Sebastian Kolb Martin H. Entling Thomas Herndl Stefan Möth Andreas Walzer Matthias Kropf Christoph Hoffmann Silvia Winter |
| author_facet | Jo Marie Reiff Sebastian Kolb Martin H. Entling Thomas Herndl Stefan Möth Andreas Walzer Matthias Kropf Christoph Hoffmann Silvia Winter |
| author_sort | Jo Marie Reiff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Habitat simplification and intensive use of pesticides are main drivers of global arthropod declines and are, thus, decreasing natural pest control. Organic farming, complex landscapes, and local vineyard management practices such as implementation of flower-rich cover-crop mixtures may be a promising approach to enhance predator abundance and, therefore, natural pest control. We examined the effect of organic versus integrated management, cover-crop diversity in the vineyard inter-rows, and landscape composition on the natural pest control of <i>Lobesia botrana</i> eggs and pupae. Predation of <i>L. botrana</i> pupae was reduced by organic farming and species-poor cover-crops by about 10%. Predation rates of <i>L. botrana</i> eggs did not differ significantly in any of the studied management options. Dominant predators were earwigs (Forficulidae), bush crickets (Tettigoniidae), and ants (Formicidae). Negative effects of organic viticulture are most likely related to the negative nontarget effects on arthropods related to the frequent sulfur and copper applications in combination with the avoidance of strongly damaging insecticides by integrated winegrowers. While a 10% difference in predation rates on a single pest stage is unlikely to have strong practical implications, our results show that the assumed effectiveness of environmentally friendly agriculture needs to be evaluated for specific crops and regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:36:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e46f5eca62a94b109eb73635c3eccec3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:36:06Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-e46f5eca62a94b109eb73635c3eccec32023-12-03T12:28:54ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-03-0112322010.3390/insects12030220Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian VineyardsJo Marie Reiff0Sebastian Kolb1Martin H. Entling2Thomas Herndl3Stefan Möth4Andreas Walzer5Matthias Kropf6Christoph Hoffmann7Silvia Winter8Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, iES Landau, Fortstraße 7, D-76829 Landau in der Pfalz, GermanyInstitute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, iES Landau, Fortstraße 7, D-76829 Landau in der Pfalz, GermanyInstitute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, iES Landau, Fortstraße 7, D-76829 Landau in der Pfalz, GermanyInstitute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaInstitute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaJulius Kühn Institute, Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops and Viticulture, Geilweilerhof, D-76833 Siebeldingen, GermanyInstitute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, AustriaHabitat simplification and intensive use of pesticides are main drivers of global arthropod declines and are, thus, decreasing natural pest control. Organic farming, complex landscapes, and local vineyard management practices such as implementation of flower-rich cover-crop mixtures may be a promising approach to enhance predator abundance and, therefore, natural pest control. We examined the effect of organic versus integrated management, cover-crop diversity in the vineyard inter-rows, and landscape composition on the natural pest control of <i>Lobesia botrana</i> eggs and pupae. Predation of <i>L. botrana</i> pupae was reduced by organic farming and species-poor cover-crops by about 10%. Predation rates of <i>L. botrana</i> eggs did not differ significantly in any of the studied management options. Dominant predators were earwigs (Forficulidae), bush crickets (Tettigoniidae), and ants (Formicidae). Negative effects of organic viticulture are most likely related to the negative nontarget effects on arthropods related to the frequent sulfur and copper applications in combination with the avoidance of strongly damaging insecticides by integrated winegrowers. While a 10% difference in predation rates on a single pest stage is unlikely to have strong practical implications, our results show that the assumed effectiveness of environmentally friendly agriculture needs to be evaluated for specific crops and regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/3/220natural pest control<i>Lobesia botrana</i>grape berry mothintegrated vineyardscover-crop managementsentinel cards |
| spellingShingle | Jo Marie Reiff Sebastian Kolb Martin H. Entling Thomas Herndl Stefan Möth Andreas Walzer Matthias Kropf Christoph Hoffmann Silvia Winter Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards Insects natural pest control <i>Lobesia botrana</i> grape berry moth integrated vineyards cover-crop management sentinel cards |
| title | Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards |
| title_full | Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards |
| title_fullStr | Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards |
| title_full_unstemmed | Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards |
| title_short | Organic Farming and Cover-Crop Management Reduce Pest Predation in Austrian Vineyards |
| title_sort | organic farming and cover crop management reduce pest predation in austrian vineyards |
| topic | natural pest control <i>Lobesia botrana</i> grape berry moth integrated vineyards cover-crop management sentinel cards |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/3/220 |
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