AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Michael C. Russell for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Horticulture presented on May 23, 2013 Title: Habitat Management for Beneficial Insects on Willamette Valley Vegetable and Berry Farms. Abstract approved: ___________________________________________________________________ John G. Lambrinos Conservation biological control involves manipulating farm landscapes or management systems to enhance populations of beneficial predators of agricultural pests. Farmscaping is one aspect of conservation biological control where predators of important pests are identified, the availability on the farm landscape of resources and habitat components needed by the beneficials to complete their lifecycles is evaluated, and hedgerows, beetle banks, or other conservation plantings can be added to the landscape to provide the lacking resources. To be able to efficiently survey a farm landscape for the presence of resources that support beneficial predator populations there needs to be information on the resource availability with different habitats. This dissertation describes a series of investigations into determining the amount of resources available in particular habitat types, and how to create conservation plantings which provide these resources with minimal expense and impact on the farming system. The first investigation is into the floral resource availability to parasitoid wasps in cane berry production landscapes. A meta analysis was performed to estimate the effects of different species on longevity of and attraction to various flowers. This information was then used to evaluate the plant species found on Willamette valley cane berry farms and calculate the total floral resource availability of different habitats during different times of the year. Surveys identified particular habitats on the landscape, and different management regimes as having high floral resource availability relative to other habitats or management regimes. The second investigation focuses on the biology of a group of ground beetles that are common on Willamette valley vegetable farms. Pitfall trapping and soil core samples were used to determine the seasonal activity patterns of the carabids, and to identify which habitats they were using most. Sentinel prey cards were used to compare pitfall trap counts with the risk of predation of a potential prey item. Laboratory experiments identified differences in the feeding and activity of different species, and the changes over the season. The third investigation used soil cores to sample the over wintering arthropod predator populations in a variety of habitats on Willamette valley farms, and in plantings of native species on beetle banks in a common garden at the Hyslop research farm in Corvallis, Oregon. Grassy habitats were found to support the highest arthropod populations both on the farms and in the common garden. Some perennial forbs also had high arthropod numbers, while other perennial forbs and annual forbs had low numbers. Differences in the number of over wintering arthropods in different species were related with differences in the structure and composition of the vegetation. The information presented here can be used to assign value to different habitats based on the provision of specific resources required for beneficial predators to complete their life cycles. This will aid in rapid evaluations of farm landscapes based on aerial imagery interpretation or a quick tour. After initial predictions are made it is easier to conduct more in depth sampling to confirm whether the beneficials are in fact present and thriving. If there are resources that are in too short a supply the information provided here will help in designing conservation plantings to provide those resources. © Copyright by Michael C. Russell May 23, 2013 All Rights Reserved Habitat Management for Beneficial Insects on Willamette Valley Vegetable and Berry Farms by Michael C. Russell A DISSERTATION submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented May 23, 2013 Commencement June 2013 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Michael C. Russell Presented on May 23, 2013 APPROVED: ______________________________________________________________________ Major Professor, representing Horticulture ______________________________________________________________________ Head of the Department of Horticulture ______________________________________________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. ______________________________________________________________________ Michael C. Russell, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gwendolyn Ellen, Elizabeth Records, and Jeremy Karby provided invaluable assistance with the fieldwork and labwork involved in the completion of this dissertation. Dr. John Lambrinos was the best Major advisor I could have wanted and provided the perfect mix of guidance, assistance, and freedom to follow my interests. CONTRIBUTION OF AUTHORS Dr. Mario Ambrosino made a significant contribution to the compilation of articles for the parasitoid wasp floral availability meta analysis. Elizabeth records provided the majority of the labor in the beetle activity trials and dissections. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 1 A meta-analysis of physiological and behavioral responses of parasitoid wasps to flowers of individual plant species …………………………….... 11 Patterns of floral nectar availability for parasitoid wasps in cane berry production landscapes ………………………………………….…… 44 Seasonal activity and feeding patterns of Ground beetles (Carabidae: Coleoptera) in a western Oregon agricultural landscape …………………..….. 90 Vegetation characteristics associated with high densities of over wintering predatory beetles and spiders in western Oregon vegetable farm landscapes ………………………………………………………. 134 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………. 177 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………... 179 Appendix ………………………………………………………………. 193 Appendix A Plant communities of cane berry fields under different management systems ………………………………………………. 194 Appendix B Phenology, feeding habits, activity patterns, and fertility state of common ground beetles (Coleroptera: Carabidae) of agricultural areas in the Willamette valley of western Oregon ………………………. 219 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 The estimated mean effects (log response ratio) of each plant species on longevity (left panel) and attraction (right panel) in parasitoid wasps. ... 41 2.2 The calculated effects (log response ratio = ln treatment mean / control mean) of each plant species that was only included in a single study on parasitoid wasp longevity and attraction. ………………………. 42 2.3 The calculated mean effect sizes [log response ratio = ln (treatment mean / control mean)] of the species within each plant family with tested species. ……………………………………………………… 43 3.1 Floral phenology of species on caneberry farm landscapes ………………. 74 3.2 Mean season long floral availability scores for fields in different habitat groups ………………………………………………………………. 77 3.3 The mean potential floral availability score for each habitat during each sample week ……………………………………………….…….. 78 3.4 The mean floral availability score over the season for habitat patches in different successional stages …………………….……..………….. 79 3.5 Mean floral availability score for fields under different inter row (cover crop or tillage) and irrigation (overhead or drip) management regimes .... 81 3.6 Abundance of flowers with and without potentially available nectar in cane berry fields of each management type over the four month growing season …………………….……………………………….. 82 3.7 A map showing the floral availability scores for each habitat patch on farm H during the last week of July ..…………………………….. 83 4.1 The mean number of beetles of each species caught per pitfall trap during each sampling month ……………..………………………. 121 4.2 The mean number of beetles of each size class caught per trap during each sample month ……………………………………………... 122 4.3 The mean number of ground beetles caught per trap in habitats dominated by different plant functional groups for each carabid species and for all carabids as a group (including Omus). ……………... 124 LIST OF FIGURES (Continued) Figure Page 4.4 The number of ground beetle adults collected from winter soil cores from habitats dominated by different plant growth forms ……….. 125 4.5 The mean number of fly pupae eaten per beetle over two days for species included in the feeding ……………………………………… 126 4.6 The relationship between mean voracity and mean adult length for the common large and mid-sized beetles ……………………………… 126 4.7 The relative activity density, voracity, and egg load of four ground beetle species over the year ……………………………………….……... 128 4.8 The number of pigweed seeds eaten as a proportion of all items eaten for each ground beetle species …..………………………………….. 129 4.9 The mean number of ground beetle larvae caught per pitfall trap. ……… 130 4.10 Bar graphs showing the trend for more sentinel prey items eaten when there are more ground beetles present ……………………... 132 4.11 The mean number of beetles caught per trap on the four farms ….….. 133 5.1 The back transformed mean log (abundance + 1) of three generalist predator groups in soil cores from habitats on the farm landscape ……………………………………………………... 166 5.2 Mean