NERC CASE PHD STUDENT Alistair Campbell PhD, Improving pest control services
Alistair Campbell’s PhD investigated improving pest control services and beneficial insect conservation in cider apple orchards using multi-functional flower mixes and was published in 2014. The work was sponsored by Syngenta and run on Bulmers orchards and a number of conclusions were drawn:
- Mixed flower types attract a greater diversity of beneficial insects in apple orchards than mixes targeted to certain pollinators
- Some groups of beneficial insects may be affected by small changes in flower mix
- Some evidence for reduced leaf damage from increased predatory insect numbers, with no loss of yield
- Pollination can be a limiting factor for yield in cider apple orchard, with >80% of flower visits from wild pollinators
- There is a positive relationship between fruit set and solitary bees’ flower visits
- Provision of nesting sites for solitary bees would be beneficial
Further information and more details:
http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/84000/1/Campbell_apple_ms_nov16_full.pdf
