Invertebrate community richness in New Zealand kiwifruit orchards under organic or integrated pest management

Todd, Jacqui H.; Malone, Louise A.; McArdle, Brian H.; Benge, Jayson; Poulton, Joanne; Thorpe, Stephen; Beggs, Jacqueline R.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.02.007

Cited by 26 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Given that our results align with previous demonstrations of improved soil quality and enhanced populations of other taxa for kiwifruit orchards managed under organic farming systems (Moller et al. 2007; Carey, Benge & Haynes 2009; Todd et al. 2011), native bird densities may be a good indicator of sustainable land management practices within this agroecosystem.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

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Reduced pesticide toxicity and increased woody vegetation cover account for enhanced native bird densities in organic orchards

MacLeod

Blackwell

Benge³

2012

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary 1.Organic farming is often promoted as a solution for counteracting the adverse impacts of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. However, it is unclear whether the biodiversity benefits derived from organic farming require an adoption of organic farming in its entirety (i.e. a systemslevel approach) or whether the benefits derived are because of just a small subset of the associated management practices. 2. Using bird survey data collected from kiwifruit orchards in New Zealand, we assessed whether orchards managed under an organic system support higher bird densities than those under integrated management systems. To determine whether biodiversity gains might also be achieved on non-organic orchards, we tested whether variation among kiwifruit orchards in the amount of (non-crop) woody vegetation cover, density of shelterbelts and toxicity of pesticide applications are better predictors of bird densities than management systems. 3. Composite measures of breeding season densities of all native species and the subset of native insectivores were higher on organic orchards than integrated management orchards. Densities of introduced bird species were comparable among management systems. 4. Pesticide use and habitat composition variables were better predictors of native bird densities than management system, with native bird densities negatively associated with pesticide toxicity ranking and ⁄ or positively associated with woody vegetation cover. 5. Synthesis and applications. A complete conversion to an organic system may not be required to improve biodiversity in agroecosystems. Instead, the transfer of specific land management practices known to benefit biodiversity in organic systems has the potential to enhance biodiversity in other more intensively managed systems (e.g. integrated management). This may be a path towards attaining biodiversity benefits at a larger scale, because such changes may be more straightforward than conversion to an organic system.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Recent research has shown that, relative to kiwifruit orchards under integrated management, organic orchards can provide enhanced environmental outcomes, with the latter supporting higher plant and invertebrate biodiversity and soil quality (Moller et al. 2007; Carey, Benge & Haynes 2009; Todd et al. 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced pesticide toxicity and increased woody vegetation cover account for enhanced native bird densities in organic orchards

MacLeod

Blackwell

Benge³

2012

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…They were also a source of greater invertebrate biodiversity (Todd et al 2011), which it is hoped indicates a more resilient provision of ecosystem services. As these results become more widely known they will influence non-organic orchardists, and demonstrate that organic growers do not "mine" the soil as is popularly claimed ).…”

Section: Organic Farmers and Their Farms Contribute To The Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World

Freyer¹,

Bingen²

2015

The International Library of Environmental, Agricultural and Food Ethics

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“…ARGOS found a greater variety of plants growing under shelterbelts (Moller et al, 2007) and higher species richness and abundance of invertebrates within the production areas (eg. Todd et al, 2011) of Organic compared to IM Kiwifruit orchards. Higher numbers of predators, parasitoids, herbivores, fungivores and omnivores in the organic orchards compared with those under IM are expected to result in more resilient ecosystem services in the organic orchards.…”

Section: Enhancing Biodiversity For Supporting and Regulating Culturamentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Organic Standards Sufficient to Ensure Sustainable Agriculture? Lessons From New Zealand’s ARGOS and Sustainability Dashboard Projects

Merfield¹,

Møller

Manhire³

et al. 2015

SAR

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Our review concludes that organic standards need to account for a broader set of criteria in order to retain claims to 'sustainability'. Measurements of the ecological, economic and social outcomes from over 96 kiwifruit, sheep/beef and dairy farms in New Zealand between 2004 and 2012 by The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) project showed some enhanced ecosystem services from organic agriculture that will assist a "land-sharing" approach for sustainable land management. However, the efficiency of provisioning services is reduced in organic systems and this potentially undermines a "land-sparing" strategy to secure food security and ecosystem services. Other aspects of the farm operation that are not considered in the organic standards sometimes had just as much or even a greater effect on ecosystem services than restriction of chemical inputs and synthetic fertilisers. An organic farming version of the New Zealand Sustainability Dashboard will integrate organic standards and wider agricultural best practice into a broad and multidimensional sustainability assessment framework and package of learning tools. There is huge variation in performance of farms within a given farming system. Therefore improving ecosystem services depends as much on locally tuned learning and adjustments of farm practice on individual farms as on uptake of organic or Integrated Management farming system protocols.

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Invertebrate community richness in New Zealand kiwifruit orchards under organic or integrated pest management

Cited by 26 publications

References 33 publications

Reduced pesticide toxicity and increased woody vegetation cover account for enhanced native bird densities in organic orchards

Reduced pesticide toxicity and increased woody vegetation cover account for enhanced native bird densities in organic orchards

Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World

Are Organic Standards Sufficient to Ensure Sustainable Agriculture? Lessons From New Zealand’s ARGOS and Sustainability Dashboard Projects

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