Influence of agricultural environment on the plant mite community in forest fragments

Abstract

The mite community has been surveyed in Seasonal Semideciduous Forest with three types of surrounding agricultural environments to test the hypothesis that abundance and richness of mites in forest fragments are influenced by the type of agricultural environment. The survey has been carried out in six fragments, divided into sets of two fragments, each one neighboring one sort of agricultural environment: sugarcane crop (FS), orange crop (FO) and pasture (FP). In each fragment, ten individuals of Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae) were selected, five at the edge and five within each fragment. Iphiseiodes zuluagai, often registered in orange crops, was more abundant in the fragments neighboring such crop, as well as some species of Tarsonemidae. In this study, the Phytoseiidae were more abundant in the fragments neighboring pasture, while sugarcane crops probably favored occurrence of phytophagous mites in the neighboring fragments. Tetranychidae were less abundant in FO, which can be explained by periodical use of pesticides in the orange crops. Forest fragments are important for colonies of predators in the neighboring crops, mainly for annual crops such as sugarcane, where the close perennial environment is very important for colonization of the crop. Maintenance of those areas, besides favoring preservation of wild species of mite, is very important to increase diversity of the neighboring agricultural ecosystems.Keywords: agroecosystems, native areas, edge effect, forest fragments. Influência do ambiente agrícola vizinho na comunidade de ácaros plantícolas em fragmentos florestais ResumoFoi estudada a comunidade de ácaros em fragmentos de mata estacional semidecidual com três tipos de ambientes agrícolas circunvizinhos para testar a hipótese de que a abundância e a riqueza de ácaros em fragmentos florestais são influenciadas pelo tipo de ambiente agrícola. O estudo foi conduzido em seis fragmentos, divididos em três conjuntos de dois fragmentos, sendo cada conjunto vizinho de um determinado tipo de ambiente agrícola: canavial (FS), laranjal (FO) e pastagem (FP). Em cada fragmento foram selecionados e marcados dez indivíduos de Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae), cinco na borda e cinco no interior do fragmento. Iphiseiodes zuluagai, registrado frequentemente em laranjais, foi mais abundante nos fragmentos vizinhos a essa cultura, bem como algumas espécies de Tarsonemidae. Neste estudo os fitoseídeos foram mais abundantes nos fragmentos vizinhos de áreas de pastagens, enquanto os cultivos de cana-de-açúcar provavelmente favoreceram a ocorrência de fitófagos nos fragmentos adjacentes. Os tetraniquídeos foram menos abundantes em FO, o que pode ser explicado pela aplicação periódica de pesticidas nos laranjais. Fragmentos florestais são importantes para a colonização de predadores nas culturas vizinhas, principalmente em culturas anuais, como a cana-de-açúcar, nas quais o ambiente perene próximo é muito importante para a colonização do cultivo. A conservação dessas áreas, além de favorecer a manuten...

Therapeutic Options in Management of a Clinical Case of Chorioptic Mange in a Goat

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A Snap-Shot of Domatial Mite Diversity of Coffea arabica in Comparison to the Adjacent Umtamvuna Forest in South Africa

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