The Role of Annual Flowering Plant Strips on a Melon Crop in Central Spain : Influence on Pollinators and Crop

Azpiazu Segovia, Celeste ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8217-9347, Medina Velez, Maria Pilar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4642-3554, Adán del Río, Ángeles ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4681-1816, Sánchez Ramos, Ismael, Estal Padillo, Pedro Del ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9411-1638, Fereres Castiel, Alberto and Viñuela Sandoval, Elisa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6283-5236 (2020). The Role of Annual Flowering Plant Strips on a Melon Crop in Central Spain : Influence on Pollinators and Crop. "Insects", v. 11 (n. 1); p. 66. ISSN 2075-4450. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010066.

Description

Title: The Role of Annual Flowering Plant Strips on a Melon Crop in Central Spain : Influence on Pollinators and Crop
Author/s:
Item Type: Article
Título de Revista/Publicación: Insects
Date: January 2020
ISSN: 2075-4450
Volume: 11
Subjects:
Freetext Keywords: agri-environment scheme; ecosystem services; wild bees; attractiveness; interspecific competition; facilitation
Faculty: E.T.S. de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas (UPM)
Department: Producción Agraria
Creative Commons Licenses: Recognition - No derivative works - Non commercial

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Abstract

Planting flower strips adjacent to crops is among the habitat-management practices employed to offer alternative floral resources to pollinators. However, more information is needed to understand their potential spill-over of pollinators on nearby insect-pollinated crops. Over the course of two consecutive years, the suitability of a flower mixture of 10 herbaceous plants for pollinators was evaluated on a weekly basis, in a randomized block design of two melon plots (10 × 10 m2 ) with or without 1 m-wide flower strips. Floral coverage and pollinator visits to the plant species, as well as pollinator visits and the yield and quality of the crop, were assessed. Additionally, the selected mixture was tested for 1 year in a commercial field in order to ascertain how far the flower strip could influence visitors in the crop. The most suitable species for a flower strip in central Spain based on their attractiveness, floral coverage and staggered blossom were Coriandrum sativum L., Diplotaxis virgata L., Borago officinalis L. and Calendula officinalis L. The flower strip can act as either pollinator competitor or facilitator to the crop, depending on their floral coverage and/or the predominant species during the crop bloom period. The concurrence of blooming of the rewarding plant C. officinalis with the melon crop should be avoided in our area. In the commercial field, the bee visitation rate in the melon flowers decreased with the distance to the flower strip. No influence of the specific flower strip evaluated on crop productivity or quality was found.

Funding Projects

Type
Code
Acronym
Leader
Title
Government of Spain
AGL2013-47603-C2-1-R
Unspecified
Viñuela Sandoval, Elisa
Evaluación de cubiertas florales y otras estrategias dirigidas a favorecer la polinización y el control biológico de plagas en cultivos hortícolas

More information

Item ID: 57845
DC Identifier: https://oa.upm.es/57845/
OAI Identifier: oai:oa.upm.es:57845
DOI: 10.3390/insects11010066
Official URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/1/66
Deposited by: Memoria Investigacion
Deposited on: 19 May 2020 14:23
Last Modified: 19 May 2020 14:23
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