Groundcovers and Rain Shelters Alter Co-Occurrence Patterns among Ground Beetle Communities in an Organic Raspberry Crop

Insects

Charles Comeau¹  Gaétan Moreau²  Jean-Pierre Privé³ 

[1] Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries New Brunswick, 381 Killam Drive, Moncton, NB E1C 3T1, Canada;Département de Biologie, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB E1A 3E9, Canada;Plant Medic Inc., Cocagne, NB E4R 3G8, Canada;

关键词: Carabidae;    rain shelters;    reflective groundcovers;    Rubus idaeus;    species co-occurrence;   

DOI  :  10.3390/insects13050413

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The use of rain shelters and reflective groundcovers has been shown to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of organic fruit crops prone to rain-driven epidemics of phytopathogens. Here, we tested whether these structures affect communities of epigean species. To this end, we studied rain shelters and white, synthetic reflective groundcovers placed in a red raspberry organic cropping system in New Brunswick, Canada, during two subsequent summers to assess their independent and combined effects on ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). 18,445 ground beetles belonging to 54 species were collected. Rain shelters and reflective groundcovers altered patterns of ground beetle species richness, activity density and functional diversity compared to the control, but to a limited extent. Thus, this study suggests that these structures, which have known benefits against phytopathogens, have no detrimental impact on epigean fauna.

【 授权许可】

Unknown