The presence of native aromatic species in understorey plant communities predicts reduced infestation by olive fruit flies in olive orchards on Lesvos Island

Author:

Stattegger Sophie R.1,Tscheulin Thomas1,Mescher Mark C.2ORCID,Kizos Thanasis1,De Moraes Consuelo M.2ORCID,Meyer Stefan34

Affiliation:

1. Department of Geography, University Hill University of the Aegean Mytilene Greece

2. Department of Environmental Systems Science ETH Zürich Zürich Switzerland

3. Albrecht‐von‐Haller Insitute for Plant Sciences, Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Untere Karspüle 2 University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

4. Division of Botany Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz Görlitz Germany

Abstract

AbstractThe olive fruit fly (Bactrocera oleae) (Rossi) is the most economically important insect pest in many olive cultivation areas worldwide. However, levels of infestation by this pest show remarkable variability, even among orchards in close proximity to one another. While the factors driving this variability remain uncertain, there is evidence that the presence of native plants species can influence pest populations in agro‐ecosystems via various mechanisms, suggesting that variation in the composition of understorey plant communities might plausibly play a role. In this study, we first used field trapping and plant community surveys to explore the effect of the native understorey plants Cistus creticus (Cistaceae), Lavandula stoechas (Lamiaceae), Origanum onites (Lamiaceae) and Sarcopoterium spinosum (Rosaceae) on the abundance of B. oleae across 40 olive orchards on Lesvos Island (Greece). These four plant species are widely spread in many olive orchards. Our results revealed a relationship between the plant community and the intensity of flies captured in McPhail traps, and identified the plant species C. creticus and S. spinosum whose presence was negatively correlated with fly abundance (estimate = −0.047, −0.091, respectively). The subsequent laboratory behavioural experiments revealed that exposure to olfactory cues from C. creticus and S. spinosum reduced fly attraction to odours from the olive host (Olea europaea) by 10%. These results thus reveal a relationship between the infestation levels by B. oleae and the composition of the plant community in olive orchards on Lesvos and suggest a plausible mechanism via which olfactory cues from native aromatic species might influence fly recruitment. More generally, these findings highlight the potentially important role of understorey communities in mediating resistance to B. oleae and other agricultural pests.

Publisher

Wiley

Subject

Insect Science,Agronomy and Crop Science

Cited by 1 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Effect of olive grove’s understorey management on arthropod diversity;Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems;2024-06-10

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