Ground beetles in Mediterranean olive agroecosystems: Their significance and functional role as bioindicators (Coleoptera, Carabidae).

ABSTRACT: The impact of agricultural practices and soil management on the communities of arthropods living in the agricultural landscape is acknowledged as a critical issue by the literature, and it needs to be better investigated to improve the ecological sustainability of agriculture. In the present study, we aimed to study how soil management affect carabid species distribution in one of the most typical agroecosystem of the Mediterranean region, i.e. the olive grove. In South Italy olive plantations feature different types of soil management, from tillage to half- or full-cover cropping. Species distribution has been examined for a total of 10,189 individuals and 62 species collected from 17 sites. Notably from our analysis we have observed that three factors (climax vegetation, soil features an

SUBMITTER: Pizzolotto R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5860759 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature