Towards Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management in Intensive Pear Cultivation: A Case Study from Belgium

Recently, the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was further extended into Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM). Implementation of IPPM strategies entails the combination of actions for pest and pollinator management providing complementary or synergistic benefits for yield and/or quality of the harvest. The aim of this study was to examine IPPM elements (i.e., mixed hedgerow, nesting boxes for mason bees, Osmia spp.) and demonstrate their impact in the practical context of modern commercial fruit cultivation in a 4-year case study in an intensive ‘Conference’ pear orchard... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Tim Belien
Stijn Raymaekers
Maxime Eeraerts
Veerle Mommaerts
Gregor Claus
Christian Bogen
Niels Piot
Guy Smagghe
Pieter Spanoghe
Dany Bylemans
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Reihe/Periodikum: Insects, Vol 12, Iss 901, p 901 (2021)
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: insect pollination / biological control / Pyrus communis / Osmia spp / mason bees / mixed hedgerow / Science / Q
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28971529
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12100901

Recently, the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was further extended into Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM). Implementation of IPPM strategies entails the combination of actions for pest and pollinator management providing complementary or synergistic benefits for yield and/or quality of the harvest. The aim of this study was to examine IPPM elements (i.e., mixed hedgerow, nesting boxes for mason bees, Osmia spp.) and demonstrate their impact in the practical context of modern commercial fruit cultivation in a 4-year case study in an intensive ‘Conference’ pear orchard. The outcomes of visual observations during transect walks and molecular analysis of pollen collected by mason bees, showed the importance of additional floral resources for the presence of mason bees and other pollinating insects in the orchard environment. Pear quality assessments indicated that insect-mediated pollination had a significant positive impact, with a tendency for higher quality pears in the close vicinity of Osmia nesting boxes. However, despite the fact that pear pollen was also detected in Osmia spp. nest cells, the amount and frequency of pear pollen collection for their nest built-up turned out to be rather low. In the same intensive pear orchard studied for pollination effects, we simultaneously demonstrate the impact of a mixed hedgerow to enhance integrated pest control.