Kiwifruit orchards get more spiders from cornfields than forests
Sullivan NJ, Stringer LD, Butler RC, Black A, Waipara N, Vink CJ.
Pollinators
The orb weavers and wolf spiders patrolling your garden edges are free pest control, and this study shows even a scruffy neighboring field, not just pristine woods, can supply them.
Scientists counted spiders living in kiwifruit orchards that sat next to either untouched native forest or a maize field. Surprisingly, the orchards next to the maize field had more spiders and more different kinds than the ones next to the forest. That suggests spiders can move in from all sorts of neighboring land, not just wild habitat, as long as they have somewhere to shelter and breed.
Key Findings
2,710 spiders were collected across 27 families, 64 species, and 8 functional guilds using pitfall traps and active sampling
Spider abundance and diversity were highest in native forest, lowest in maize, and intermediate in kiwifruit, but kiwifruit next to maize had more spiders than kiwifruit next to forest
Orb web weavers dominated the catch at 45.9%, and four species (Tenuiphantes tenuis, Erigone prominens, Leucauge dromedaria, Anoteropsis hilaris) made up over half of all adults (341 of 646)
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers surveyed spiders in kiwifruit orchards next to either native forest or maize fields and found orchards bordering maize actually hosted more spiders and more spider diversity than those bordering forest, suggesting nearby farmland can still seed beneficial predators into crops.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Spider (Araneae) Abundance and Diversity Across Land-Use Gradients.
In agricultural insect pest control, there has been a movement away from broad-spectrum insecticide use towards more sustainable practises. These include lowering pesticide inputs and reducing the ...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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