Abstract
As part of the COREorganic project EcoOrchard, flower strips were sown in 2015 at the Research Center Laimburg, in two organically managed orchards. No insecticides were deliberately applied in the orchards. The aim of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of measures to promote Functional Agrobiodiversity (FAB). For a bachelor thesis, samples of the flower strips and the control (regular grass vegetation) treatments were taken. A field aspirator of the type "InsectaZooka" (BioQuip Products Inc., California, USA) was used for sampling. 16 samples were aspirated for one minute on an area of 1.2 m² per treatment. The subsequent determination of the insect populations was performed visually. For the evaluation, the insects were divided into four groups: beneficial insects, generally beneficial insects, pests and indifferent species. The subsequent statistical evaluation showed significantly more beneficial insects and a significantly lower number of pests in the flower strips. Furthermore, there was a general tendency for a higher number of generally beneficial insects and indifferent species within flower strips. Introduction Available plant protection methods for organic apple production are not always very effective. Consequently, organic apple growers suffer high economic losses due to insect damages. The project EcoOrchard developed low impact and sustainable strategies for ecological pest management to reduce pest losses for producers and promote clean and environmentally friendly products for consumers. In this context, Functional Agrobiodiversity (FAB) is a promising approach to preserve or increase biodiversity in agroecosystems in order to optimize ecosystem services. Perennial interrow flower strips are an interesting measure to implement FAB by which the non-crop vegetation is diversified and the faunistic biodiversity is increased and therefore boosting the orchard's natural resilience. Through the goal-oriented choice of flower and grass species for the EcoOrchard seed mixture, flower strips provide food, shelter and winter quarters for natural enemies and contribute to biological plant protection. As the installation and management of flower strips cause various costs for the producer it is important to evaluate if they are an effective and feasible tool to support biological plant protection. The insects within the tree canopy have been evaluated by the EcoOrchard project partners. The insect population within the flower strips might differ from the insect population within the canopy, not only because of the distance between tramline and treeline.