engleski

Exclusion nets influence on the abundance of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in apple orchards

Ground beetles (fam. Carabidae) as beneficial insects are valuable organisms to study whether any of the new implemented agricultural measures in fruit production is beneficial. The aim of our study was to analyze impact of different types of exclusion nets on ground beetle species composition and abundance in an apple orchard. The study was conducted in an IPM apple orchard, situated in the north-west part of Croatia. The treatments for the study were four types of exclusion (colored) nets (Agritenax white, Agritenax yellow and Agritenax red all with photo selective properties and Stop Drosophila Normal net - pearl color) and non-covered trees acted as a control. Ground beetles were collected during the summer and autumn (from July 1st until October 15th in 2015) with pitfall traps. During the study, a total of 1559 specimens of ground beetles were identified and sorted into 28 species. Significant differences in the captures under nets were observed for species: Anchomenus (Anchomenus) dorsalis (Pontoppidan 1763), Microlestes minutulus (Goeze 1777), and Pterostichus (Feronidius) melas melas (Creutzer 1799). The most of the ground beetles (413) were recorded under the Agritenax yellow nets and the least (184) in the control. Our study showed the positive effect of exclusion nets on ground beetle species composition and diversity in IPM apple orchard thus confirming their value in assessing the introduction of new agricultural measures into practice.

Agritenax and Stop Drosophila Normal net ; Croatia ; IPM fruit production ; pitfall traps ; soil dwelling fauna

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