EcoOrchard -Innovative design and management to boost functional biodiversity of organic orchards

Functional agrobiodiversity (FAB) uses orchard design and management to gain more natural enemies, making orchards more robust to pests. This CORE Organic Plus project aims to collect existing knowledge and generate new knowledge in order to use FAB successfully in orchards

Innovative design and management to boost functional biodiversity of organic orchards : the ECOORCHARD project

Orchards are perennial cultures, and, especially in organic fruit production it is essential to design and manage orchards in a way which favours beneficials such as insect predators and parasitoids over pests and diseases. As landscape-dominating crops their management affects overall biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. Increasing plant biodiversity and habitats in such a way that beneficials are favoured is called Functional Agro-Biodiversity (FAB). The value of FAB for reducing pesticide use in fruit production is generally acknowledged, and many growers try to increase it. However, they lack situation-specific information about how to drive and assess biodiversity to optimize FAB. ECOORCHARD is therefore combining several approaches: (i) identifying and sharing innovative methods already implemented by fruit growers to increase FAB in EU countries ; (ii) assessing simple methods for farmers to monitor FAB ; (iii) quantifying the effect of FAB-boosting flower strips. The different on-farm sites, scientific trials and a web-based stakeholder platform to collect and share information are important elements to bring the collected experiences and scientific results very directly to the organic fruit growers. Interviews already started in 2015 with advisors and growers will provide useful information on original practices and methods used in orchard, to be shared during workshops with farmers for empowerment. ECOORCHARD aims to develop appropriate functional biodiversity practices for users’ needs and thus will identify and assess innovative techniques in terms of effectiveness and implementation conditions , carry out classical field experiments, on-farm and multi-site trials and collective workshops involving farmers, researchers and advisory services. More on : http://coreorganicplus.org/research-projects/ecoorchar

Theta Activity in the Left Dorsal Premotor Cortex During Action Re-Evaluation and Motor Reprogramming

The ability to rapidly adjust our actions to changes in the environment is a key function of human motor control. Previous work implicated the dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC) in the up-dating of action plans based on environmental cues. Here we used electroencephalography (EEG) to identify neural signatures of up-dating cue-action relationships in the dPMC and connected frontoparietal areas. Ten healthy subjects performed a pre-cued alternate choice task. Simple geometric shapes cued button presses with the right or left index finger. The shapes of the pre-cue and go-cue differed in two third of trials. In these incongruent trials, the go-cue prompted a re-evaluation of the pre-cued action plan, slowing response time relative to trials with identical cues. This re-evaluation selectively increased theta band activity without modifying activity in alpha and beta band. Source-based analysis revealed a widespread theta increase in dorsal and mesial frontoparietal areas, including dPMC, supplementary motor area (SMA), primary motor and posterior parietal cortices (PPC). Theta activity scaled positively with response slowing and increased more strongly when the pre-cue was invalid and required subjects to select the alternate response. Together, the results indicate that theta activity in dPMC and connected frontoparietal areas is involved in the re-adjustment of cue-induced action tendencies

EcoOrchard – collecting existing knowledge and generating new knowledge on functional biodiversity of organic orchards

Organic fruit growers often suffer economic losses due to insect damages. The available natural pest control products are not always effective; and most important: many organic fruit growers would prefer not to use any pesticide at all. EcoOrchard, a CORE Organic Plus project (2015-18) aims to collect existing knowledge and generate new knowledge in order to use Functional AgroBiodiversity (FAB) successfully in orchards. This includes experimental trials in seven countries on the potential of inter-row flower strips for control of key pests and natural enemy augmentation, the establishment of the EBIO-Network as a European-wide network of stakeholders for collecting, sharing and improving scientific and practical knowledge and experience in FAB management, the development and testing of simple FAB assessment tools for use on-farm by growers and advisors, and finally, using a participatory approach to learn about potential constraints that may hamper the adoption of innovative tools and how to solve these constraints by iterative reevaluation

Tuning the Brake While Raising the Stake:Network Dynamics during Sequential Decision-Making

When gathering valued goods, risk and reward are often coupled and escalate over time, for instance, during foraging, trading, or gambling. This escalating frame requires agents to continuously balance expectations of reward against those of risk. To address how the human brain dynamically computes these tradeoffs, we performed whole-brain fMRI while healthy young individuals engaged in a sequential gambling task. Participants were repeatedly confronted with the option to continue with throwing a die to accumulate monetary reward under escalating risk, or the alternative option to stop to bank the current balance. Within each gambling round, the accumulation of gains gradually increased reaction times for “continue” choices, indicating growing uncertainty in the decision to continue. Neural activity evoked by “continue” choices was associated with growing activity and connectivity of a cortico-subcortical “braking” network that positively scaled with the accumulated gains, including pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA), inferior frontal gyrus, caudate, and subthalamic nucleus (STN). The influence of the STN on continue-evoked activity in the pre-SMA was predicted by interindividual differences in risk-aversion attitudes expressed during the gambling task. Furthermore, activity in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) reflected individual choice tendencies by showing increased activation when subjects made nondefault “continue” choices despite an increasing tendency to stop, but ACC activity did not change in proportion with subjective choice uncertainty. Together, the results implicate a key role of dorsal ACC, pre-SMA, inferior frontal gyrus, and STN in computing the trade-off between escalating reward and risk in sequential decision-making. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using a paradigm where subjects experienced increasing potential rewards coupled with increasing risk, this study addressed two unresolved questions in the field of decision-making: First, we investigated an “inhibitory” network of regions that has so far been investigated with externally cued action inhibition. In this study, we show that the dynamics in this network under increasingly risky decisions are predictive of subjects' risk attitudes. Second, we contribute to a currently ongoing debate about the anterior cingulate cortex's role in sequential foraging decisions by showing that its activity is related to making nondefault choices rather than to choice uncertainty

Perception et gestion par les agriculteurs de la biodiversité fonctionnelle dans les vergers à pomme en agriculture biologique

Les bénéfices de la biodiversité fonctionnelle, notamment en terme de lutte contre les ravageurs, font l'objet de débats entre les praticiens et on sait peu de choses sur les pratiques et les motivations des agriculteurs pour favoriser cette biodiversité. Nous avons supposé que l'utilisation de méthodes de suivi aiderait les agriculteurs à mieux apprécier les bénéfices de la biodiversité fonctionnelle et les inciterait à mettre en œuvre des pratiques qui lui sont favorables. Nous avons mis en œuvre une approche globale combinant des entretiens semi-directifs et des ateliers participatifs pour décrire les pratiques et la perception des agriculteurs vis-à-vis de la biodiversité fonctionnelle et concevoir des méthodes de suivi adaptées à leurs besoins. Nos résultats fournissent des preuves empiriques que la biodiversité fonctionnelle est associée à de multiples services et dis-services. En outre, ils montrent que l'expérience et le temps disponible des agriculteurs sont deux conditions importantes à la mise en œuvre de pratiques favorables à la biodiversité fonctionnelle. Quatre attitudes principales envers la gestion de la biodiversité fonctionnelle ont été caractérisées : attentisme, naturalisme, régulation et multifonctionnalité. La connaissance de ces attitudes fournit un cadre utile pour concevoir des outils de soutien et des programmes de recherche en adéquation avec les besoins des agriculteurs

Farmers Appreciation And Management Of Functional Functional Biodiversity In Organic Apple Orchards

The benefits of functional biodiversity (FB) for pest control are under debate among practitioners. L and little is known about farmers’ practices and motivations to foster FB. We assumed that the use of monitoring methods would help the farmers to better appreciate the benefits of functional biodiversityFB and thus implement favorable practices. Therefore, w We performed undertook a comprehensive approach strategy combining consisting of wide semi-directive interviews and participatory workshops to describe farmers’ practices and perception, and design monitoring methods adapted to their needs. Our findings provide empirical evidence that FB is associated with multiple services and dis-services. Additionally, and thatthe farmers’ experience and time are two important conditions for farmers’ involvement for FB. Four main attitudes towards the management of FB were characterized: wait-and-see, naturalist, regulation, and multifunctional. These attitudes provide a useful framework to design support tools and research programs in adequacy line with farmers’ need

Innovative design and management to boost functional biodiversity of organic orchards

Organic fruit growers often suffer economic losses due to insect damages. The available natural pest control products are not always effective; and most important: many organic fruit growers would prefer not to use any pesticide at all. Growing flowers in order to gain more natural enemies, and hence less pests is a technique called Functional Agro-Biodiversity (FAB). Ongoing research in this CORE Organic Plus project aims to collect existing knowledge and generate new knowledge in order to use FAB successfully in orchards

Functional agrobiodiversity (FAB) in apple pest management in Latvia: what do we know?

A short view on functional agrobiodiversity, what do we know about it in Latvia. What do Latvian apple orchard owners think about it, what are demands in national laws and regulations. What has been done in project ECOORCHARD in this context

Funkcionālā agrobioloģiskā daudzveidība un tās paaugstināšanas pasākumu novērtēšanas metodes: 2015.gada rezultāti

Stenda ziņojums par Funkcionālo agrobioloģisko daudzveidību un tās paaugstināšanas pasākumu novērtēšanas metodēm, rezultātiem 2015.gadā