engleski

Arthropods in olive orchards

Arthropods have great significance in integrated and ecological plant protection because the increase in their population can reduce the number of pests, thereby reducing the use of pesticides. It is necessary to maintain biodiversity within the cultivation area. Biodiversity is achieved by maintaining the ecological infrastructure that provides beneficial arthropods habitat, shelter and space for overwintering, and also provides them with a food source. It was found that the presence of certain weed species is in close relationship with the increasing presence of beneficial arthropods. The objective of this research was to assess the abundance, richness and composition of arthropods in olive orchards under different land use. The experiment was done in two olive orchards in Ravni Kotari (Zadar County, Croatia). In the first orchard, the soil was cultivated, while in second orchard the soil was partly covered with weeds. Arthropod fauna was collected from the beginning of May until the end of September in 2014. For arthropod collection, an entomological net and yellow sticky traps were used. In each orchard three yellow sticky traps were placed. Samples were collected every 15 days. Richness was measured using the Shannon diversity index (H'). During this research a total of 263 arthropod individuals belonging to 10 orders were collected. The most abundant orders were: Hymenoptera (61.5%), Coleoptera (19.3%) and Neuroptera (4.5%). Beneficial arthropods such as parasitic wasps, lacewings, syrphids and ladybugs were found on yellow sticky traps. A higher number of beneficial organisms (125) was found in the olive orchard partly covered with weeds, while in the cultivated orchard 94 individuals were recorded. The olive orchard partly covered with weeds was richer in arthropods (2.90). Significant differences between the olive orchards were not found, but we can conclude that the orchard partly covered with weeds was more attractive to beneficial arthropods than the cultivated orchard.

ecological infrastructure, integrated and ecological plant protection, beneficial organisms, olive, Shannon diversity index, weeds in olive orchard

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