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opencc-by-4.0Mar 2024View details →

Maintaining habitat diversity at small scales benefits wild bees and pollination services in mountain apple orchards

In 2021, we conducted our study in apple orchards in South Tyrol, an Alpine region in Italy, using pan-traps, direct observations of visitation frequency, and a pollinator exclusion experiment. We investigated the scale-dependent effects of landscape heterogeneity and other parameters on wild bee assemblages and the related pollination service they provide at five spatial scales (radius 100 – 2,000 m).

Figure 2 in Abundance and distribution of Aculus schlechtendali on apple orchards in Southern of Brazil

Figure 2 Crossbar of the pairwise comparisons of the average number of ARM observed on three cultivars of apples. Notes: Different letters indicate a significant difference (P <0.01). Mean estimated

Figure 1 in Abundance and distribution of Aculus schlechtendali on apple orchards in Southern of Brazil

Figure 1 Location of the municipalities sampled in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Santa Catarina (SC) and Paraná (PR).

Figure 3 in Abundance and distribution of Aculus schlechtendali on apple orchards in Southern of Brazil

Figure 3 Crossbar of the pairwise comparisons of the average number of ARM observed on the three Southern Brazilian states. Notes: Different letters indicate a significant difference (P <0.01). Mean estimated via bootstrap (999 repetitions) ± standard deviation.

Figure 5 in Abundance and distribution of Aculus schlechtendali on apple orchards in Southern of Brazil

Figure 5 Correlogram. Visualization of Moran´s I as a function of distance (Km) among sampling locations. Distances with significant spatial autocorrelation whose values of Moran´s I are signifi-

opencc-zeroJan 2021View details →

Predatory arthropod community composition in apple orchards: Orchard management, landscape structure and sampling method

Studies on predatory arthropods in agricultural areas seldom include Diptera other than hover flies, partly because common sampling methods are less effective for capturing species that easily fly off when disturbed. To study the effect from this bias when describing the predator community, we compared traditional beat sampling of branches and suction sampling for describing the community of predatory arthropods in Swedish apple orchards, both organic orchards and orchards using integrated pest management. Our results indicate that the proportion of both predatory dipterans and parasitic hymenopterans increase dramatically when using suction sampling (Diptera: 32% vs 20%, Hymenoptera: 25% vs 7%). In fact, predatory dipterans were the most abundant predatory group when using suction sampling, in contrast to beat sampling where spiders were the most abundant group. One group of predatory flies that was particularly rich in both species and individuals in the surveyed apple orchards was dance flies in the family Hybotidae. Even though the bias of sampling method was evident, it was encouraging that the method choice did not affect the conclusions concerning management on predatory arthropod communities. With both methods, dipteran and coleopteran predators were more abundant in organic apple orchards whereas opilionids were more abundant in orchards managed according to integrated pest management. The inclusion of landscape variables further indicated effects of landscape diversity and of deciduous forest cover, but the response varied in sign between predatory groups. Whereas both Coleoptera and Heteroptera were more abundant in orchards surrounded by more complex landscapes (high landscape diversity and/or high deciduous forest cover), spiders, opilionids and dipterans were rather less abundant in these orchards. To conclude, our study points to the potential importance of predatory dipterans in apple orchards, and we highly recommend future studies of arthropod predators in apple and other crops to actively include predatory Diptera.

opencc-zeroDec 2019View details →

Increasing agricultural habitat reduces solitary bee offspring number and weight in apple orchards through reduced floral diet diversity and increased fungicide risk

1. Threats to bee pollinators such as land use change, high pesticide risk, and reduced floral diet diversity are usually assessed independently, even though they often co-occur to impact bees in agroecosystems. 2. We established populations of the non-native mason bee O. cornifrons at 17 NY apple orchards varying in proportion of surrounding agriculture and measured floral diet diversity and pesticide risk levels in the pollen provisions they produced. We used path analysis to test the direct and indirect effects of different habitats, diet diversity, and pesticide risk on emergent female offspring number and weight. 3. Our results showed that high proportions of agricultural habitat surrounding bee nests indirectly reduced the number of female offspring produced, by reducing floral diet diversity in pollen. 4. When proportion agriculture surrounding bee nests was high, bees collected increased proportions of Rosaceae in their pollen provisions, which marginally (0.05<p<0.1) increased fungicide risk levels in pollen, which, in turn, marginally reduced female offspring weight. In contrast, female offspring weight increased as proportion surrounding open habitat (wildflowers, grassland, pasture) increased, but this effect was not influenced by proportion Rosaceae or fungicide risk levels in pollen. 5. Synthesis and Applications: To promote healthy O. cornifrons populations in apple, we must maintain floral resource diversity and open habitats, while reducing fungicide risk levels and agricultural habitats. More broadly, our results show that land use change, in the form of increasing agricultural habitat, can negatively impact bee populations in agroecosystems indirectly through multiple, simultaneous threats. We must strive to understand these complex interactions between simultaneous threats to maintain healthy bee populations in agroecosystems, where we rely on them for pollination.

opencc-by-nd-4.0Mar 2014View details →

FIGURE 1 in Phytoseiid Mite Diversity (Acari: Mesostigmata) And Assessment Of Their Spatial Distribution In French Apple Orchards

FIGURE 1: French regions sampled (with the number of orchards considered) and: a – proportions of dominant species in each region in regards to mite densities; b – proportions of dominant species in each region in regards to number of plots occupied.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Dataset for benchmarking Multiple Object Tracking and Segmentation (MOTS) in an apple orchard field.

A dataset of temporally consistent apple images and labels taken using UAVs and a wearable sensor in an orchard, consisting of 86000 manually annotated apple instances and 1700 frames annotated in the MOTS (Multi-object Tracking and Segmentation) style. Sequence 0-5 are used for training. Sequence 6-8 are used for testing/validation. Sequence 10-12 are the testing datasets that have "ignore regions" overlays. The code used in the paper can be found on <a href="https://git.wur.nl/said-lab/rt-obj-tracking/">our GitLab.</a>

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

Data for: Wild bee communities benefit from temporal complementarity of hedges and flower strips in apple orchards

1. Wild bees importantly pollinate both crop and wild plants. Yet, in intensive agricultural landscapes, wild bees are rare due to resource limitations of nectar and pollen. Flower strips and hedges are often used as resource enhancements for wild bees to overcome this shortage, but provide floral resources only during specific time periods. To sustain diverse and stable bee communities, bee-attractive flowers need to be available during the entire growing season. This may be achieved by combining flower strips and hedges to complement each other and provide continuous floral resources. 2. Over three subsequent years, we compared the phenology of flower and wild bee communities in perennial flower strips, hedges and improved hedges (complemented with a sown herb layer) in conventional apple orchards in Southern Germany, a pollination-dependent crop-system. 3. Hedges provided floral resources in the early season while the flower strips took over later in the season. 4. Bees visited the hedges mostly from March to June, whereas they visited the flower strips from June to August (first year), and in the second year already from April onwards. Flower strips were visited with an overall higher abundance and species richness than the improved and not modified hedges. 5. Synthesis and application: For enhancing wild bees in intensive apple orchards, hedges and perennial flower strips are complementary in providing flower resources. Yet, flower strips bloom more constantly and during periods of flower scarcity, and thus attract more bees than hedges. Perennial flower strips of different age classes should be preferred over annual strips, at best in a network with some well-maintained hedges, as perennial flower strips of different age attract different bee communities and thus potentially a higher bee diversity on the landscape level.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Data on three-year flowering intensity monitoring in an apple orchard

The present dataset contains UAV images during the full blooming period of an apple orchard for three consecutive years, 2018, 2019, and 2020. It is directly linked to a research article entitled “Feasibility assessment of tree-level flower intensity quantification from UAV RGB imagery: A triennial study in an apple orchard”. The data collection site was an apple orchard located at Randwijk, Overbetuwe, The Netherlands (51.938, 5.7068 in WGS84 UTM 31U). This dataset aims to support researchers focussing on remote sensing, machine vision, deep learning, and image classification, and the stakeholders interested in precision horticulture and orchard management. It can be used for flowering intensity estimation and prediction, and spatial and temporal flowering variability mapping by using digital photogrammetry and 3D reconstruction.

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

Data for: Direct and indirect effects of management and landscape on biological pest control and crop pest infestation in apple orchards

Biological pest control, relying on naturally occurring predator-prey dynamics, is considered a key element to achieve more sustainable farming systems. However, the combined effects of local management and landscape factors on communities of natural enemies as well as the cascading effects on pest infestations are rarely addressed, especially in perennial crops. Here, we used Piecewise Structural Equation Modelling (PSEM) to test direct and indirect effects of landscape composition, landscape configuration and local management practices on natural enemy communities, the pest control services they provide and ultimately on pest infestation and pest-related yield damage in apple crops. To this end, we surveyed 12 organic and 12 Integrated Pest Management (IPM) orchards during three consecutive years, and we also established a semi-natural benchmark to quantify the extent to which predator communities in the orchards were degraded. Natural enemies had a different community composition and were more abundant in organic orchards compared to IPM orchards. This had a small and positive effect on sentinel egg predation rates in organic orchards, but overall had very little impact on actual apple pest infestation. On the contrary, apple pest infestation levels were directly and positively affected by organic management practices and by increasing semi-natural habitat cover and landscape edge density. Compared to a semi-natural benchmark, both agricultural management systems showed degraded predator communities, which translated into an impaired delivery of biological control services. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that organic management and habitat conservation can enhance natural enemies and stimulate pest control, but also show that these factors can enhance pest infestations and can even lead to an overall increase in pest-related crop damage. Our study thus highlights the complex interplay of ecosystem services and disservices provided by biodiversity, which should be taken into account when advising farmers, policy makers and land managers on effective and sustainable strategies to control pest species and safeguard crop production.

Figure 4 in Abundance and distribution of Aculus schlechtendali on apple orchards in Southern of Brazil

Figure 4 Municipalities and its respective states (see color legend) from Southern Brazil

opencc-zeroOct 2021View details →

More intraguild prey than pest species in arachnid diets may compromise biological control in apple orchards

Understanding the full diet of natural enemies is necessary for evaluating their role as biocontrol agents, because many enemy species do not only feed on pests but also on other natural enemies. Such intraguild predation can compromise pest control if the consumed enemies are actually better for pest control than their predators. In this study, we used gut metabarcoding to quantify diets of all common arachnid species in Swedish and Spanish apple orchards. For this purpose, we designed new primers that reduce amplification of arachnid predators while retaining high amplification of all prey group. Results suggest that most arachnids consume a large range of putative pest species on apple but also a high proportion of other natural enemies, where the latter constitute almost a third of all prey sequences. Intraguild predation also varied between regions, with a larger content of heteropteran bugs in arachnid guts from Spanish orchards. There was also a tendency for cursorial spiders to have more intraguild prey in the gut than web spiders. Two groups that may be overlooked as important biocontrol agents in apple orchards seem to be theridiid web spiders and opilionids, where the latter had several small-bodied pest species in the gut. These results thus provide important guidance for what arachnid groups that should be targets of management actions, even though additional information is needed to quantify all direct and indirect interactions occurring in the complex arthropod food webs in fruit orchards.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Apple orchard production estimation using deep learning strategies: a comparison of tracking-by-detection algorithms - CaseStudy

The dataset "Case Study" consists of image sequences (videos) for apple detection and tracking and its corresponding ground truth. The ground truth is presented in MOT format. This dataset is part of the paper: Villacrés, J., Viscaino, M., Delpiano, J., Vougioukas, S. & Cheein, F. A. (2022). Apple orchard production estimation using deep learning strategies: a comparison of tracking-by-detection algorithms. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. The article is currently accepted. For a better reference format, please refer to the journal's official website. If you have used the material presented in this data set, please cite the previous article. For more information regarding the dataset, please refer to the paper mentioned below.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

Data from: Global taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of bees in apple orchards

An essential prerequisite to safeguard pollinator species is characterisation of the multifaceted diversity of crop pollinators and identification of the drivers of pollinator community changes across biogeographical gradients. The extent to which intensive agriculture is associated with the homogenisation of biological communities at large spatial scales remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated diversity drivers for 644 bee species/morphospecies in 177 commercial apple orchards across 33 countries and four global biogeographical biomes. Our findings reveal significant taxonomic dissimilarity among biogeographical zones. Interestingly, despite this dissimilarity, species from different zones share similar higher-level phylogenetic groups and similar ecological and behavioural traits (i.e. functional traits), likely due to habitat filtering caused by perennial monoculture systems managed intensively for crop production. Honey bee species dominated orchard communities, while other managed/manageable and wild species were collected in lower numbers. Moreover, the presence of herbaceous, uncultivated open areas and organic management practices were associated with increased wild bee diversity. Overall, our study sheds light on the importance of large-scale analyses contributing to the emerging fields of functional and phylogenetic diversity, which can be related to ecosystem function to promote biodiversity as a key asset in agroecosystems in the face of global change pressures.

publicFeb 2020View details →

Increasing agricultural habitat reduces solitary bee offspring number and weight in apple orchards through reduced floral diet diversity and increased fungicide risk

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publicAug 2023View details →

Data from: Global taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of bees in apple orchards

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publicNov 2025View details →

Floral resource strips enhance parasitoid abundance and diversity in apple orchards and promote agroecological advances in a South African biosphere reserve

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