Effect of olive grove’s understorey management on arthropod diversity

ABSTRACT

The agricultural sector has been intensifying production systems to increase yields. Olive cultivation is the most widespread permanent crop in Europe and the Mediterranean region and in many cases, it is under intensive farming practices with heavy use of agrochemicals, greatly affecting olive grove biodiversity. In this study we investigate the impact of different understorey management practices (undisturbed, cleared with mechanical means) on plant cover, ground beetle and bee richness and abundance, and on the abundance of ground arthropods and flying insects in olive groves on Lesvos Island, North Aegean, Greece. We found that undisturbed understorey had a positive impact on plant richness and abundance, ground beetle and bee richness and abundance, as well as ground arthropod and flying insect abundance. The results suggest that maintaining the plant cover undisturbed significantly improves the biodiversity of the olive groves and by extension the ecosystem services, such as pollination, pest control and soil health.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Conservation agriculture
• good agricultural practices
• biodiversity loss
• ecosystem service
• land management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to reasons of sensitivity and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data are located in controlled access data storage at XXX.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2024.2364739

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.