Turkish Journal of Entomology (2007) 31, 83-95

Nabi Alper Kumral and Bahattin Kovanci (2007)
The diversity and abundance of mites in agrochemical-free and conventional deciduous fruit orchards of Bursa, Turkey
Turkish Journal of Entomology 31 (2), 83-95
Abstract: A survey was conducted in Bursa, during 2003-2004 to evaluate the impact of conventional growing on the mite diversity and abundance in 6 deciduous fruit trees, apple, pear, peach, plum, quince and cherry. In this aim; the differences between conventional and agrochemical-free sites were observed. Additionally, an evaluation was performed in terms of mite species diversity and abundance among deciduous fruit tree species in this study. As a result of this study, pear, cherry, quince and peach were less preferred than apple and plum, respectively, for mite colonization and diversity. Among a total of 36 species, in conventional sites, Panonychus ulmi (Koch) (Acari: Tetranychidae), Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Typhlodromus athiasae P. and S. (Acari: Phytoseiidae) and, in agrochemical-free sites, Amblyseius potentillae (Garman) (Acari: Phytoseiidae), Bryobia rubrioculus (Scheuten) (Acari: Tetranychidae), Amphitetranychus viennensis (Z.) (Acari: Tetranychidae) and Tydeus californicus (Banks) (Acari: Tydeidae) were predominant species and formed more than 66% of the mite specimens collected during two-years. The mite abundance did not significantly differ between conventional and agrochemical-free sites, despite the less species diversity in conventional sites. This suggests that the predatory and neutral fauna may be more affected by agrochemicals than spider mites, such as P. ulmi, T. urticae, and a phytoseiid mite, T. athiasae. On the other hand, this study demonstrated that the mite diversity in conventional sites was decreased by agricultural practices as the high number of unique species was found. Furthermore, based on Sorenson similarity index, the analysis of species similarity brought up that the species composition was quite changed by human activity in conventional sites.
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Database assignments for author(s): Nabi Alper Kumral

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
control - general
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
environment/habitat manipulation
resistance to pesticides

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Panonychus ulmi		Turkey
	Tetranychus urticae		Turkey
	Bryobia rubrioculus		Turkey
	Amphitetranychus viennensis		Turkey
Amblyseius potentillae (predator)			Turkey