Peisley Rebecca K, Saunders Manu E, Luck Gary W
School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia; Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia.
Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University , Albury , New South Wales , Australia.
PeerJ. 2016 Jun 30;4:e2179. doi: 10.7717/peerj.2179. eCollection 2016.
Birds active in apple orchards in south-eastern Australia can contribute positively (e.g., control crop pests) or negatively (e.g., crop damage) to crop yields. Our study is the first to identify net outcomes of these activities, using six apple orchards, varying in management intensity, in south-eastern Australia as a study system. We also conducted a predation experiment using real and artificial codling moth (Cydia pomonella) larvae (a major pest in apple crops). We found that: (1) excluding birds from branches of apple trees resulted in an average of 12.8% more apples damaged by insects; (2) bird damage to apples was low (1.9% of apples); and (3) when trading off the potential benefits (biological control) with costs (bird damage to apples), birds provided an overall net benefit to orchard growers. We found that predation of real codling moth larvae was higher than for plasticine larvae, suggesting that plasticine prey models are not useful for inferring actual predation levels. Our study shows how complex ecological interactions between birds and invertebrates affect crop yield in apples, and provides practical strategies for improving the sustainability of orchard systems.
在澳大利亚东南部苹果园活动的鸟类对作物产量可能产生积极影响（如控制作物害虫）或消极影响（如造成作物损害）。我们的研究首次利用澳大利亚东南部六个管理强度不同的苹果园作为研究系统，确定了这些活动的净结果。我们还使用真实的和人造的苹果蠹蛾幼虫（苹果作物中的一种主要害虫）进行了一项捕食实验。我们发现：（1）将鸟类排除在苹果树的树枝之外，导致被昆虫损害的苹果平均增加了12.8%；（2）鸟类对苹果的损害较低（占苹果的1.9%）；（3）在权衡潜在益处（生物防治）和成本（鸟类对苹果的损害）时，鸟类为果园种植者提供了总体净效益。我们发现，对真实苹果蠹蛾幼虫的捕食率高于对橡皮泥幼虫的捕食率，这表明橡皮泥猎物模型对于推断实际捕食水平并无用处。我们的研究展示了鸟类与无脊椎动物之间复杂的生态相互作用如何影响苹果的作物产量，并为提高果园系统的可持续性提供了实用策略。
