Effects of Vineyard Inter-Row Management on the Diversity And
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Journal of Insect Conservation (2020) 24:175–185 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-019-00215-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Efects of vineyard inter‑row management on the diversity and abundance of plants and surface‑dwelling invertebrates in Central Romania Cristina Fiera1 · Werner Ulrich2 · Daniela Popescu3,4 · Claudiu‑Ioan Bunea4 · Minodora Manu1 · Ioana Nae5 · Melania Stan6 · Bálint Markó7 · István Urák8 · Andrei Giurginca5 · Nicole Penke9 · Silvia Winter9,10 · Sophie Kratschmer9,11 · Jacob Buchholz11 · Pascal Querner11 · Johann G. Zaller11 Received: 4 June 2019 / Accepted: 23 December 2019 / Published online: 14 January 2020 © The Author(s) 2020 Abstract Vineyard inter-rows are important biodiversity hotspots within agricultural landscapes, especially when they are covered with vegetation. However, little is known on the efects to management intensity on a broad range of surface-dwelling inverte- brates and their interaction with vegetation. We assessed the diversity and activity density of ants, beetles, millipedes, mites, spiders, springtails and woodlice using pitfall traps in vineyards with either high management intensity (HI) consisting of frequently tilled inter-rows or low management intensity (LO) with alternating tillage in every second inter-row. The study was performed in the Târnave wine region in Central Romania. We wanted to know whether, (i) vineyard management inten- sity afects the diversity of plants and invertebrates, and (ii) local habitat characteristics afect species richness of diferent functional guilds and taxa. Species richness of some invertebrate taxa (Coleoptera, Araneae, Formicidae) did signifcantly difer between HI and LO vineyards. Only phytophages (some Coleoptera) increased in species richness and activity density with vegetation cover. Vineyard soil properties (organic matter content, pH, P, and K) did not signifcantly difer between HI and LO vineyards. We conclude that vineyard inter-row management can afect both the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of biodiversity-driven ecosystem services. Keywords Vineyard biodiversity · Vascular plants · Viticulture · Trophic groups · Tillage · Arthropods Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s1084 1-019-00215 -0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Johann G. Zaller 7 Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, [email protected] Babeș-Bolyai University, Clinicilor 5-7, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 1 Institute of Biology Bucharest, Romanian Academy, 296 8 Department of Environmental Science, Sapientia Splaiul Independenţei, P.O. Box 56-53, 060031 Bucharest, Hungarian University of Transylvania, Calea Turzii 4, Romania 400193 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2 Department of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus 9 Institute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research, Copernicus University Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87100 Toruń, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Poland (BOKU), Gregor Mendel Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria 3 Jidvei Winery, 45 Gării Street, 517385 Jidvei, Alba County, 10 Institute of Plant Protection, University of Natural Resources Romania and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Gregor Mendel Straße 4 Faculty of Horticulture, University of Agricultural 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Calea Mănăștur 3-5, 11 Institute of Zoology, University of Natural Resources 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Gregor Mendel Straße 5 Institute of Speleology, Emil Racoviţă” Romanian Academy, 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria 13 Septembrie Street, 050711 Bucharest, Romania 6 “Grigore Antipa” National Museum of Natural History Şos, Kiselef 1, 011341 Bucharest 2, Romania Vol.:(0123456789)1 3 176 Journal of Insect Conservation (2020) 24:175–185 Introduction agents of pest control as they are polyphagous predators, thus they maintain ecosystem functions and services and Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is among the oldest peren- promote the sustainability of the agroecosystem (Kromp nial crops and well adapted to (summer-) dry climates. 1999). Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) also play an impor- Vineyard inter-rows provide habitats for a range of plant tant role in biological control of vineyard pests (Bolduc and above- and belowground animal species, especially et al. 2005; Bruggisser et al. 2010; Caprio et al. 2015; Cos- when covered with vegetation (Kehinde and Samways tello and Daane 1998; Gaigher and Samways 2014; Isaia 2014; Kratschmer et al. 2018). Organisms colonizing et al. 2006). In vineyards spiders can contribute to control these inter-rows provide various ecosystem services (e.g., of some economically important pests such as grape berry primary production, pest control, pollination, erosion moths (Addante et al. 2003), mealybugs, leafhoppers and mitigation and soil nutrient cycling), while their occur- planthoppers (Daane et al. 2008). Springtails and mites are rence and abundance are infuenced by a range of factors, also inhabitants of vineyards (Favretto et al. 1992; Nash including tillage practices (Faber et al. 2017), weeds and et al. 2010) and have a wide range of feeding strategies cover crops, surrounding landscape structures and applica- that contribute to soil organic matter decomposition and tions of agrochemicals for pest management (Sharley et al. thus infuence the amount of living and dead organic mate- 2008; Thomson and Hofmann 2007). rial and nutrient transfers. In vineyards, ants are used as Inter-row management practices are used for weed indicators of ecosystem functioning (Chong et al. 2010; control and water conservation and can include intensive De Bruyn 1999). However, some species of ants, spiders tillage (resulting in bare soil), alternating tillage, where and millipedes are also vectors of trunk disease patho- only every second inter-row is tilled or no tillage with gens such as Petri disease and esca which result in reduced permanent green cover. Instead of or in addition to tillage, grape yield and quality and ultimately signifcant fnancial the application of herbicides is another common practice losses (Moyo et al. 2014). Finally, as important decompos- to control the inter-row vegetation (Bauer et al. 2004). ers woodlice are also known to be largely afected by local The respective plant communities determine the physical management and associated habitat characteristics, such structure, climatic conditions, food and nesting resources as soil humidity, pesticide application or tillage operations in most habitats and therefore exert considerable infu- (Dauber et al. 2005; Paoletti and Hassall 1999). ence on the distribution and interactions of animal spe- Ecological studies in vineyards are of particular interest cies (Lawton 1983; McCoy and Bell 1991) and ecosystem because vineyards are not only agronomically important but services (Winter et al. 2018). Spontaneous vegetation and/ also for the conservation of biodiversity (Márquez-García or seeded cover crops have a great impact on abundance et al. 2019). Vineyards may host many rare and endangered and diversity of benefcial arthropods in vineyards (Buch- species and biodiversity in general can be high (Costello holz et al. 2017; Franin et al. 2016). Flowering plants and Daane 1998; Isaia et al. 2006). For example, the spi- provide nectar and pollen resources to fower-visiting der species Erigonoplus globipes (L. Koch, 1872), which insects (Ambrosino et al. 2006; Kratschmer et al. 2019). is generally rare in Central Europe (Hänggi et al. 1995), Vegetation cover plays an important role in enhancing can be commonly found in Romanian vineyards. Therefore, the abundance and diversity of arthropod predators and vineyards have a special conservation value and an expanded consequently reduces pest densities (Rusch et al. 2017). knowledge on the efects of diferent management practices Management of vineyards may afect local biodiversity of and the protection of such habitats is of great importance plants and invertebrates (Balog and Markó 2007; Caprio (Winter et al. 2018). et al. 2015; Hadjicharalampous et al. 2002; Simoni and In the present study, we investigated the efect of diferent Castagnoli 2007). Vineyard inter-row management has inter-row vegetation management practices on biodiversity been shown to afect the number and activity of spiders in central Romanian vineyards. We studied the cover and and ground beetles (Norris and Kogan 2000) and alter diversity of plants and diversity and activity densities of interactions between collembolans and spiders (Pfngst- surface-dwelling ants, beetles, millipedes, mites, spiders, mann et al. 2019). springtails and woodlice. We compared efects on these In an agricultural landscape including arable crops, taxa in vineyards with high management intensity (HI) with vineyards can be important for erosion control, improve- frequently tilled inter-rows and vineyards with low manage- ment of soil structure and organic matter content and pro- ment intensity (LO) with vegetation cover in every second viding suitable habitat for benefcial arthropods (Altieri inter-row and herbicide application in the rows. Our aim was 2012; Bommarco et al. 2013). Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: to assess whether (i) vineyard management intensity afects Carabidae) are important components of vineyards (Cap- the diversity of plants and invertebrates, and (ii) local habitat rio et al. 2015) and they are potentially important natural characteristics afect species richness of diferent functional guilds and taxa. 1 3 Journal of Insect