1,721,041 research outputs found
Lasioglossum albocinctum
No full textLasioglossum albocinctum (Lucas) EXAMINED SPECIMENS: 2♀♀, Wied il-Qlejgħa, Rabat, 26-iv-2016, collected by M. V. Balzan, determined by A. Pauly. DISTRIBUTION: Western Mediterranean Basin, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Ukraine, Corsica, Sicily, and the Balearic Islands.Published as part of Balzan, Mario, Genoud, David, Rasmont, Pierre, Schwarz, Maximilian & Michez, Denis, 2017, New records of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the Maltese Islands, pp. 1-9 in Journal of Melitology 2017 (72) on page 3, DOI: 10.17161/jom.v0i72.6626, http://zenodo.org/record/805732
Lasioglossum punctatissimum
No full textLasioglossum punctatissimum (Lucas) EXAMINED SPECIMENS: 1♀, Fiddien, Rabat, 28-iv-2016, collected by M. V. Balzan, determined by A. Pauly. DISTRIBUTION: North-Western Africa, Continental Europe, Ireland, Israel, and the Balearic Islands.Published as part of Balzan, Mario, Genoud, David, Rasmont, Pierre, Schwarz, Maximilian & Michez, Denis, 2017, New records of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) from the Maltese Islands, pp. 1-9 in Journal of Melitology 2017 (72) on page 3, DOI: 10.17161/jom.v0i72.6626, http://zenodo.org/record/805732
Management strategies for the control of Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) damage in open-field cultivations of processing tomato in Tuscany (Italy).
No full textSince its recent introduction into the Mediterranean area, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) has
become widespread and an important pest throughout the region, including in Tuscany,
where it was first recorded in 2009. Although several studies have been conducted within
controlled environments on the ecology and management of T. absoluta, limited information
is currently available on the importance of this pest in open-field cultivations, which may
lead to ineffective management strategies. This study was carried out to monitor fluctuations
in adult populations of T. absoluta in organic and conventional cultivations of processing
tomatoes using pheromone lures, and to collect inter-annual data on direct yield loss and
fruit damage from larval feeding in two separate trials in Grosseto (Tuscany). The first trial
included eight conventionally managed fields; the second trial was carried out in four organically
managed fields. Results show relatively higher crop damage for tomatoes transplanted
later in the season and harvested towards the end of August to early September, and limited
fruit damage from this pest during the second year of the study for both conventional and
organically managed fields. Finally, biological and chemical pest management strategies for
the control of T. absoluta adopted by farmers within the region are reviewed and discussed
Landscape complexity and field margin vegetation diversity enhance natural enemies and reduce herbivory by Lepidoptera pests on tomato crop.
No full textAgricultural intensification may lead to higher pest pressure through the loss of natural plant assemblages, and associated reduction in natural enemy diversity, while providing increased crop area. We investigate the influence of field margin vegetation and landscape complexity on natural enemy diversity and crop damage caused by two Lepidoptera tomato pests (Tuta absoluta and Noctuidae). At the local scale, fields were bordered with herbaceous field margins of varying vegetation diversity. At the landscape scale, these fields were set in landscapes with increasing landscape complexity. Margin vegetation diversity was higher in landscapes with lower arable land cover, and was associated with increased floral resources and enemy diversity, with the latter being negatively related to T. absoluta-caused fruit injury. Total crop damage increased with arable land cover. These results imply that the suitability of farming practices for the conservation of natural enemies and pest control services is influenced by the landscape context. © 2015 International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC
Augmenting flower trait diversity in wildflower strips to optimise the conservation of arthropod functional groups for multiple agroecosystem services
No full textSown wildflower strips are increasingly being established in Europe for enhancing arthropod conservation and the provision of ecosystem services, including biotic pollination and natural pest control. Here we use floral traits to identify different plant functional effect groups. Floral resources were provided in four experimental levels characterised by a cumulatively increasing flower trait diversity and vegetation stand complexity. The first level consisted of a bare control strip, whilst in each subsequent level three wildflower species with different functional traits were added (Level 0: control; Level 1: three Apiaceae species; Level 2: three Apiaceae and three Fabaceae species; Level 3: three Apiaceae, three Fabaceae species, and Centaurea jacea (Asteraceae), Fagopyrum esculentum (Polygonaceae), Sinapis alba (Brassicaceae)). Plots with sown wildflower strip mixtures were located adjacent to experimental plots of organically-managed tomato crop, which is attacked by multiple pests and partially relies on bees for fruit production, and hence dependent on the provision of pollination and pest control services. Results obtained here show that the inclusion of functionally diverse wildflower species was associated with an augmented availability of floral resources across time, and this increased the abundance of bees and anthocorids throughout the crop season. Several natural enemy groups, such as parasitoids, coccinelids and ground-dwelling predators, were not significantly enhanced by the inclusion of additional flower traits within the strips but the presence of flower resources was important to enhance their conservation in an arable cropping system
Utilisation of plant functional diversity in wildflower strips for the delivery of multiple agroecosystem services
No full textIncreased plant diversity in cropping systems can play an important role in agriculture by enhancing arthropod-mediated ecosystem services, including biological control and pollination. However, there is limited research investigating the concurrent influence of plant functional diversity within cultivated systems on different arthropod functional groups, the provision of multiple ecosystem services, and crop yield. During a field experiment, repeated over 2 years, we measured the effect of increasing plant functional diversity on community structure of arthropod visitors, the abundance of multiple pests and induced crop damage, and fruit production in two varieties of tomato. Plant resources (floral and extra-floral nectar and pollen) were included within experimental plots in four levels, with each level increasing the plant functional group richness, based on floral morphology and availability of resources, in a replacement series. The presence of sown flower mixtures in experimental plots was associated with increased abundance and diversity of natural enemy functional groups and an enhanced abundance of bees (Hymenoptera: Apiformes). However, we only detected relatively small variability in arthropod visitors among types of mixtures, and increased abundance of natural enemies did not translate into stronger pest suppression or reduced crop damage. Lepidoptera pest damage was significantly higher in plots adjacent to wildflower strips, an ecosystem disservice, but a significantly higher crop productivity was recorded from these plots. Our results provide evidence that inclusion of non-crop plant resources in agroecosystems can improve the conservation of beneficial arthropods and may lead to increased crop productivity. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicat
Field margin vegetation enhances biological control and crop damage suppression from multiple pests in organic tomato fields
No full textEphemeral cropping systems are characterized by frequent disturbances of ecological processes, which may compromise the conservation of plant and arthropod diversity and the ecosystem services they may provide. Conservation biological control practices include habitat manipulations that provide non-pest resources and selectively enhance natural enemies' effectiveness. This study, conducted in eight commercial fields of organically grown tomato, compared the effectiveness of sown flower strips with semi-natural margins in regulating natural enemy abundance, biocontrol, and crop damage. During repeated visits, the abundance of different arthropod groups was recorded. Crop surveys included measurement of aphid abundance, parasitism, and leaf and fruit damage from sap-sucking and lepidopteran pests. Semi-natural habitats were associated with higher vegetation diversity, but natural enemies were more strongly associated with sown strips during flowering. Sap-sucking pests were always recorded in higher abundance in flower strips, but crop damage in the plots adjacent to these strips was lower, suggesting that these strips may act as a trap-crop. The inclusion of floral supplements enhanced the parasitism rate of aphids in the crop, and reduced the rate of increase of lepidopteran-caused foliar damage with time. Early in the growing season, semi-natural strips showed significantly lower levels of crop damage and aphid counts, suggesting that these habitats may be important during early crop colonization by natural enemies. These results indicate that the inclusion of flower strips enhances the conservation of arthropod functional diversity in ephemeral crops, and that diverse mechanisms are important for controlling different pests. However, the efficacy of habitat manipulation is likely to be greater when it is complemented with the conservation of diverse semi-natural vegetation in the pre-existing field margin
FIGURE 2 in The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of the Maltese Islands
No full textFIGURE 2. Diversity of bee fauna in Mediterranean islands as a function of island area. The point for bee species richness in Malta is shown in grey (data sources are shown in Table 2).Published as part of Balzan, Mario V., Rasmont, Pierre, Kuhlmann, Michael, Dathe, Holger, Pauly, Alain, Patiny, Sébastien, Terzo, Michael & Michez, Denis, 2016, The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of the Maltese Islands, pp. 225-244 in Zootaxa 4162 (2) on page 239, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4162.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/25573
Exploring the potential for nature-based solutions to cool the streetscapes of a densely urbanised Mediterranean city
Full text linkRising temperatures due to climate change are expected to have a greater impact on cities, compared to rural
areas, due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In cities of the Mediterranean Basin, cooling of the urban
microclimate is becoming a priority for practitioners, stakeholders, citizens and public authorities. The use of
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to address the UHI effect is often advocated in the literature but there are few
accounts of these interventions in high-density historical cities. This study focuses on Cottonera, a densely
populated urban area with extensive soil sealing and low natural cooling capacity on the island of Malta. Since
many residents already place potted plants in the streetscape outside their homes, this informal urban greening of
public space provides a currently untapped resource which could be maximised to form coordinated NbS in
terventions to cool the streetscape. To explore this possibility, the vegetation placed in the streetscape is surveyed
for its current and potential capacity to provide shading to pedestrians, whilst an analysis of the spatial con
straints of the urban fabric informs appropriate interventions for the case study area. Residents are asked for their
thoughts on urban greening and their willingness to participate in such a project as an initial step towards a
participatory planning approach. Three types of NbS are proposed that could be co-implemented alongside the
community to achieve place-based hybrid NbS
Megachilidae
No full textMegachilidae Osmia (Osmia) tricornis (Latreille 1811) Previous Reports: Alfken (1929) Distribution: West Mediterranean Basin, Corsica, and Sardinia. Osmia tricornis has often been confounded with closely related O. kohlii, which occurs in Malta and Sicily. However, these two species show an allopatric distribution (Müller, 2015). Megachile argentata (Fabricius, 1793) Previous Reports: Valletta (1971) Distribution: Algeria, Hungary The species M. argentata has often been confounded with Megachile leachella (Curtis, 1828) (Schwarz and Gusenleitner 2011), but the latter has not been recorded from the Maltese Islands. M. leachella is present in Continental Europe and North Africa.Published as part of Balzan, Mario V., Rasmont, Pierre, Kuhlmann, Michael, Dathe, Holger, Pauly, Alain, Patiny, Sébastien, Terzo, Michael & Michez, Denis, 2016, The bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of the Maltese Islands, pp. 225-244 in Zootaxa 4162 (2) on page 238, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4162.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/25573
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