Effect of a cover crop on the aphid incidence is not explained by increased top-down regulation

PeerJ

article

Jeniffer K. Alvarez-Baca¹  Xiomara Montealegre²  Cécile Le Lann¹  Joan Van Baaren¹  Blas Lavandero² 

[1] CNRS, ECOBIO ,(écosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)—UMR 6553, Université Rennes I;Laboratorio de Control Biológico, Universidad de Talca

关键词: Aphidius platensis;    Myzus persicae;    Brachycaudus helichrysi;    Avena sativa;    Prunus domestica;    Winter refuge;    Cover crops;    Aphids;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13299

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCover crops can be used as a habitat management strategy to enhance the natural enemies and their temporal synchronization with a target pest. We examined the effect of winter oat intercropping within organic plum orchards on the natural enemy abundance and seasonal dynamics on the biological control of plum aphids in spring in Central Chile.MethodsWe compared the incidence and abundance of natural enemies and aphid pests from winter to the end of spring using two treatments: (1) plum trees with an oat cover crop (OCC) and (2) plum trees without a cover crop but with spontaneous vegetation (SV). We hypothesized that cover crops allow the development of winter cereal aphids, promoting the early arrival of natural enemies in spring, resulting in an earlier control of plum aphids.ResultsWinter cereal aphids developed well on the OCC, and as a result, a lower plum aphid incidence in spring was observed when compared to the SV. However, the abundance of natural enemies and the parasitism rates cannot explain the positive impacts of the oat cover crop on the aphid populations as there were no differences between treatments. A potential effect of the oat due to chemical and/or physical stimuli (bottom-up effects) could help to explain these results.

【 授权许可】

CC BY