Functional agrobiodievrsity - a novel approach to optimize pest control in fruit production

Functional agrobiodiversity was implemented in organic apple orchards in Denmark, by perennial flower strips. Two techniques were tested with the purpose of enhancing natural enemies and reducing damage of the rosy apple aphid

Functional agrobiodiversity –a novel approach to optimize pest control in fruit production

Fruit growers suffer great economic losses each year due to pest damage. The demand for organic produce is increasing along with the interest from growers to develop sustainable and more resilient production systems and over 20% of the apple production in Denmark is now organic. Available pest management options are limited and prevention is important for resilience. In the project PROTECFRUIT we test the use of functional agrobiodiversity, by promoting the abundance and diversity of natural enemies in ecological infrastructures using perennial, wild flower strips in organic orchards. Rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea, infestation and damage, and predator abundance and diversity were assessed in organic orchards with flower strips and compared to organic orchards without flower strips. In orchards with flower strips these parameters were also assessed as a function of distance to flower strip. The methodology includes visual observations, beating samples and sentinel prey to estimate predation activity. Field trials were conducted in 2016 and will be repeated again in 2017. Preliminary results show that aphid infestation and fruit damage were less in orchards with flower strips than in control orchards

Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa, Provides a New Host for Native Herbivores in Northern Europe: Case Studies of the Moth, Scrobipalpa atriplicella, and the Tortoise Beetle, Cassida nebulosa

The Andean grain, quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa Willd. (Caryophyllales: Amaranthaceae), is gaining increasing attention as a future food and fodder crop in Denmark and other parts of Europe. Prior to 2005, pest problems in the crop were negligible in Denmark, however native insects may become adapted to this new host. Herbivores feeding on the closely related and very common weed in arable crops Chenopodium album L. present a special risk. In 2006 there was a heavy attack of Scrobipalpa atriplicella (Röslerstamm) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) larvae in the maturing inflorescence of C. quinoa. Gelechiidae are the most important pests on C. quinoa in the Andean region. In 2007 another herbivore on C. album, the tortoise beetle Cassida nebulosa L. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), was a serious problem on C. quinoa in southern Jutland. This is the first published record of these two pests on C. quinoa. The future pest status of C. quinoa in northern Europe is discussed

The effect of turbidity and prey fish density on consumption rates of piscivorous Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis

Predator-prey interaction strengths in variable environments constitute a fundamental link to the understanding of aquatic ecosystem responses to environmental change. The present study investigates the effects of visibility conditions and prey fish density on predation rates of visually oriented piscivorous Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis L. This was done in outdoor mesocosm (16 m2) experiments with clear water and two levels of turbidity (25 and 105 NTU) and two prey fish densities [3.1 and 12.5 roach Rutilus rutilus (L.) individuals m–2]. Perch consumption rates were affected by visibility less than expected, while they were highly affected by increased prey fish density. Perch responded to high prey density in all visibility conditions, indicating that prey density is more crucial for consumption than visibility in turbid lake