Apple is considered the most important fruit crop in temperate areas and profitable production depends on multiple ecosystem services, including the reduction of pest damage and the provision of sufficient pollination levels. Management approaches present an inherent trade‐off as each affects species differently. We quantified the direct and indirect effects of management (organic vs. integrated pest management, IPM) on species richness, ecosystem services, and fruit production in 85 apple orchards in three European countries. We also quantified how habit composition influenced these effects at three spatial scales: within orchards, adjacent to orchards, and in the surrounding landscape. Organic management resulted in 48% lower yield than IPM, and also that the variation between orchards was large with some organic orchards having a higher yield than the average yield of IPM orchards. The lower yield in organic orchards resulted directly from management practices, and from higher pest damage in organic orchards. These negative yield effects were partly offset by indirect positive effects from more natural enemies and higher flower visitation rates in organic orchards. Two factors other than management affected species richness and ecosystem services. Higher cover of flowering plants within and adjacent to the apple trees increased flower visitation rates by pollinating insects and a higher cover of apple orchards in the landscape decreased species richness of beneficial arthropods. The species richness of beneficial arthropods in orchards was uncorrelated with fruit production, suggesting that diversity can be increased without large yield loss. At the same time, organic orchards had 38% higher species richness than IPM orchards, an effect that is likely due to differences in pest management. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that organic management is more efficient than integrated pest management in developing environmentally friendly apple orchards with higher species richness. We also demonstrate that there is no inherent trade‐off between species richness and yield. Development of more environmentally friendly means for pest control, which do not negatively affect pollination services, needs to be a priority for sustainable apple production.

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Highlights Asturian cider apple orchards harbor species-rich assemblages of insectivorous birds. Apple tree canopy cover and forest availability drive avian biodiversity in orchards. Insectivorous birds control arthropod abundance and pest outbreak in apple trees. Multi-scaled habitat management for promoting apple pest control is suggested.

Abstract. Episyrphus balteatus (DeGeer) (Diptera: Syrphidae), Adalia bipunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Aphidoletes aphidimyza (Rondani) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) are the three most abundant natural enemies of Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Asturian (NW Spain) apple orchards. They attack this aphid in sequence: E. balteatus arrived first, followed by A. bipunctata and then by A. aphidimyza. The cecidomyiids arrived too late to have a regulating effect. The syrphids laid an average of 2.3 ± 1.7 eggs per aphid colony and the coccinellids 18.4 ± 9.9 regardless of the degree of the infestation rates of the apple shoots. This value corresponds to the size of an egg batch laid by one female. Therefore, these aphid predators did not respond numerically to the abundance of the pest. The results of this study indicate that natural populations of syrphids and ladybird beetles are unable to control D. plantaginea, and therefore a more complex strategy than waiting for natural enemies is required.

A field experiment was conducted in a cider-apple orchard to evaluate the effect of six groundcover management systems (pine-bark, plastic and straw mulches, tillage, herbicide and natural soil) on the occurrence of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae).Eight species of carabids were collected in pitfall traps. The three most common beetles, Steropus gallega Fairmaire (65.8%), Pseudophonus rufipes (DeGeer) (18.2%) and Poecilus cupreus L. (14.6%), represented more than 98% of the total catches. The specific dominance depended on the sampling date. The soil management treatment significantly affected the following parameters.(1) The overall carabid catch: the plastic mulch (5.6% of the total catches) negatively affected total carabid collection, which was higher in the tilled (24.3%) and herbicide-treated (21.4%) plots, although not significantly different from the natural soil (16.5%), straw mulch (16.3%) and pine-bark mulch (15.9%) treatments. (2) The specific preferences of the three most common carabids: the plastic cover adversely affected the catches of S. gallega whilst P. rufipes was collected in greater numbers in tilled areas and P. cupreus in the herbicide treatments. (3) The structure of the carabid community: based on species richness, diversity and evenness indices, herbicide and tillage provided the most diverse carabid community and the straw mulch the poorest. It was concluded that groundcover management in apple orchards may affect the activity density of epigeic predators which may contribute to the natural control of pests.

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Abstract1 Organic and conventional management of apple orchards may have a different effect on arthropod communities.2 We conducted a 3‐year study to assess the effect of two strategies of fertilizer treatment (organic versus chemical) and three tree‐row management systems (straw mulching, tillage and herbicide) on activity‐density and biodiversity of epigeic predators. Ground beetles (Carabidae), rove beetles (Staphylinidae), ants (Formicidae) and spiders (Araneae) were sampled monthly with pitfall traps in the same apple orchard during 2003, 2004 and 2005.3 A total of 4978 individuals were collected. Carabids (56.8% of the total catches) were the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by spiders (20.7%), ants (14.8%) and rove beetles (7.7%). Tree‐row management had a greater influence on predator catches than fertilizer treatment. Total predator catches were lower under the mulch. Mulching also reduced carabid abundance, but increased staphylinid catches.4 Tree row management also had a significant effect on biodiversity parameters. Species richness did not significantly differ among treatments for ants, spiders or the total catches, but was higher on herbicide‐treated plots for carabids and on mulched plots for staphylinids. Shannon–Wiener’s diversity index was significantly greater in the mulched and herbicide treated plots for total predators and carabids. For staphylinids, this index was significantly greater on the mulched plots. Fertilizer application strategy only influenced the species richness of rove beetles, which was greater in the chemically‐treated plots.5 The results showed that a change from conventional to organic fertilizer treatment of apple trees may be performed without differential effects on predator activity‐density or biodiversity. However, a change from herbicide treatment to mulching or mechanical weed control may be significant, depending on the taxonomic group.

1 Flowering plant species in hedgerows may be food sources for beneficial insects and therefore play a role in biodiversity conservation and agroecosystem functioning. Research was conducted in eight organic cider-apple orchards in Asturias (northwest Spain) aiming to (i) identify the native flowering plants in the surrounding hedgerows and (ii) assess the attractiveness of those flowers for beneficial insects, such as pollinators and natural enemies of pests. 2 A total of 7745 flowers belonging to 63 plant species were recorded in the hedgerows from May to September 2012. Flower abundance and species richness decreased as the season progressed. Orchard differences were observed for plant species richness but not for the total number of flowers in the hedgerows, likely as a result of similar management among orchards. 3 Hymenoptera pollinators (honey bees, bumblebees and wild bees) accounted for 37.8% of the total insects recorded visiting flowers, whereas predatory hoverflies (14.9%) were the dominant natural enemies. 4 The attractiveness for insects was assessed for 21 of the flowering plant species identified in the hedgerows. Flowering plants differed in the number of taxa that they attracted and in their attractiveness for particular insect groups and for insects as a whole. 5 The present study described the floral composition of the hedgerows that surround apple orchards and identified the local floral resources that could provide benefits for farmers by improving ecosystem services of pollination and biological control of pests.