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ORCHARD BIODIVERSITY TOOLKIT Welcome to This Toolkit! ORCHARD BIODIVERSITY TOOLKIT Welcome to this toolkit! This document will guide you through the process of monitoring the biodiversity in your orchard at first. A second part consists of management tips to improve the habitat quality within it. We hope you have fun while monitoring and learning about biodiversity in your own orchard! Good luck !! JULY, 2017 Red Apple team: Jorge Villa Cedeño, Jelger Elings, Godlove Kirimibo, Xuqing Li, Palash Mandal, Tim van Schelt Table of Contents Introduction Monitoring Biodiversity Monitoring Plants Monitoring Mammals Monitoring Birds Monitoring Insects Management Strategies Pruning Hedgerows and Border Plants Grazing and Mowing Dead wood and Branches Compile Wood or Stone Variety Fruit Tree Species Nesting Boxes for Birds Water Bodies Insect Hotel Fallen Fruits INTRODUCTION categories: birds, insects, mammals A field full of different flowers, birds, and plants. We have chosen these 4 insects and many other animals, categories because most of the flora reminds us of the concept of and fauna in the orchards can be ‘biodiversity’ which is a hot topic right categorized in these categories. To now. What does it really mean? Briefly monitor they have to be measured, we biodiversity is the diversity of life in a will explain all the methods to given area, which can be a water pond, measure the presence of the flora and patch of forest, a whole forest, or a fauna and how to fill in the data. We traditional orchard as in our case. will work in this toolkit with the most Biodiversity incorporates all types of easy to use techniques and refer to animals, plants, and even tiny living other helpful sources of information if organisms that we cannot see with our needed. naked eyes. In addition, biodiversity includes also the vast genetic variation Filling in the data to tuintelling.nl that exist within the species. allows you to get an overview of the Traditional orchards receive special biodiversity in your orchard, but also attention in France, Spain, and allows your friends to check your Germany due to their role in biodiversity. The data filled in here biodiversity conservation. Maintaining allows agricultural collectives or other traditional orchards in the Netherlands parties to analyze the data and inform can also play a big role in the you about your biodiversity scores. conservation of biodiversity. This allows you to apply some targeted management if a biodiversity group This toolkit will guide you through the scores low. Using the very same process of improving the biodiversity monitoring system allows you to track in your orchard. We will explain every the changes as the orchard reacts to step of the process and provide you the new management. with the right information to measure and improve biodiversity. The toolkit The scientific backup of the advice can consists of 2 steps: monitoring, and be found in the report management advice. These two elements have their own purpose and I will explain them briefly. Monitoring biodiversity will be done in 4 Once a year. Between the months of May and June The plant monitoring system is very easy, and even pleasant. It consists of taking a stroll through your orchard and noting down what you see. Since the orchard in general is only a small piece of land this can easily be done. More ‘scientific’ methods come with extra work and complications, and this method is scientific enough to estimate species composition and abundances. The monitoring starts with entering the orchard. Before monitoring it is important to define the borders of your orchard. Usually this will be made pretty clear by hedges, walls, or ditches. Then start walking through the orchard. Make sure that you visit all places of the orchard and don’t forget any corners. Also count the species in the boundaries. While walking try to focus on the flowering species. They are the easiest to identify, and if done in the right period almost all plants will flower. This right period runs from the end of May to June. Make sure there is enough time before mowing and monitoring. Preferably the monitoring should be done before any mowing has occurred. Note down all the species you encounter. Try to estimate the number of plants you see per species. The data you’ve collected can be filled in into an app like NOVA List of needed tools • Notebook and pen • FLORON abundance table • Camera (optional) 5 As needed. Between the months of May and June Satellite images can easily be used to monitor the plants in your orchard, with the help of an vegetation index known as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This index measures the variations in vegetation health and density. It’s values can range from -1 to 1. Higher values indicate healthier and denser vegetation and lower values indicate less vegetation. Farmers all around the Netherlands can freely access to satellite images of their plots with the values of this index through web pages like www.groenmonitor.nl and https://akkerweb.eu/nl-nl/. You can check on your orchard any time of the year, but be aware that it would be better to monitor the health and density of your plants between the months of May and June, when plants are more abundant. Access Groenmonitor or Akkerweb Follow the instructions on how to view the NDVI index Check for variations on health and density of your plants List of needed tools • Computer or any device that can access the internet. 6 Once per season The monitoring of the mammals is very easy and straightforward. It requires very little from the person doing the monitoring and the best thing is actually to do as little as possible. The method we advice to use is the placement of camera traps. The application of camera traps works best when the surroundings of the camera are disturbed as little as possible since most mammals avoid human influences. There is a step-by-step plan written for the application of cameras in backyards. We can use exactly the same protocol. The first step is to find a suitable place to hang the camera. This can be done together with an expert from the collective or a local representative of the Zoogdiervereniging. Set up the camera trap using the folder ‘Project Wildcamera’ Upload the camera footage The data from the camera footage will be analysed List of needed tools • Camera trap • Tin of sardines • Pole • Screws • Screwdriver 7 Once per season The monitoring of the bird species is very simple. Simply note down what species and in what quantities you see during a week in the orchard. At the end of the week you can fill this in in tuintelling.nl. The data is then stored and appears on your ‘wall’. Here you can easily find back what you’ve seen in the past. Also your friends can see what animals appear in your orchard. When you have problems identifying a species it is really easy to ask for help. Simply post a picture or description and one of your friends can probably help you out. In addition we’ve made a list with the most common species to help you out with the identification. The second way of monitoring requires a bit more effort. This is the so- called point-count. With this method you will sit in the middle of your orchard at a set date and time. You note down what species and quantities you observe in the orchard in a 30 minute timeframe. Using a standardised method like this allows us to compare between orchards. Something we can’t do with the first method. This point count can be executed together with a week count. So point count data will then be incorporated in the week count. You can find further instructions on tuintelling.nl Note down the species for the week count Select the day for the point count and execute it Upload observations to tuintelling.nl List of needed tools • Identification key • Notebook and pen • Watch • binocular 8 Once per season The monitoring of the insects is easy to operate for owners. Glue traps, pitfalls and a camera (or a smartphone with camera) are everything you need. What you need to do is to set up the traps in the orchards for at least 24 hours and take a photo of them. Then, send all the photographs to the agricultural collectives with your name and the time when these photos taken. All the identification work will be done by the agricultural collectives or organizations associated. Final result will be sent to you after several days. The pitfalls will catch insects active on ground and glue traps will catch insects active in the air and on the tree. First suitable weather is required. We propose a cloudy day with changeable weather. Because during this weather, all the flying insects are active and easy captured. Then, 2 random trees need to be selected in orchards. Hang 2 glue traps on the branches of each tree with 1 in the north and the other in the south. In addition to that, bury 2 pitfalls in the ground near each tree with 1 under the canopy and the other out of the canopy. Poor a little water with soap in them in order to prevent the insects from escaping. After 24 hours , take pictures of all the pitfalls and glue traps. Send all the pictures with the following information: date of monitoring, start and end time, name of you and your orchard. Randomly select 2 trees For each tree: Hang 2 glue traps on branches and bury 2 pitfalls in the ground Take pictures and send to your collectives List of needed tools • 4 Glue traps • 4 Pitfalls • Camera (Smartphone) • Water and soap 9 Management Practices Once you have started to analyze the kind and number of species you can find in your orchard, it’s time to guarantee that the quality of the habitat will support the possibility for these species to live here.
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