A Comparison of Flower and Grass Strips for Augmentation of Beneficial Arthropods in Apple Orchards

Sowing plants that provide food resources in orchards is a potential habitat management practice for enhancing biological control. Flowering (providing pollen and nectar) grasses alternative prey) can benefit natural enemies orchards; however, little known about their relative importance. We studied the effect of practices (flower strips, grass spontaneous grass) on arthropod predators under organic apple regimes Beijing, China. Orchards located at two different sites were assessed 3 years (2017–2019). The cover crops had significant impact abundance diversity predators. treatment consistently supported significantly greater densities prey predators, more abundant than other treatments. Shannon–Wiener was higher crop Community structure somewhat similar between control, but it differed flower grass/control. Weak evidence an increase mobile (ladybirds lacewings) orchard canopy found. Ladybirds lacewings treatments 2019 only, while aphid lowest. fact strips promoted predator stronger suppression comparison to suggests providing has great biocontrol service potential. selection necessary conserving are discussed this paper.