The impact of vineyard inter-row vegetation on plant and insect diversity

Abstract

Original article rup-Kristensen et al., 2003). Viticulture, one of the oldest thousand hectares of land in the Czech Republic (Bublíková, 2017). Vineyards where these environmentally-friendly practices are used offer attractive and stable habitats for a range of species, especially in inter-rows covered by diverse plant species, which are favourable for pollinators (Kehinde al., 2016) and can serve as functional migration corridors for German Society for Horticultural Science SummaryCover cropping is an increasingly popular agricultural practice that can help support biodiversity and reduce the negative impact of intensive agricultural production. This study focuses on the impact of inter-row vegetation change on invertebrate species occurrence and vegetation composition. The spontaneous cover crop evaluated in 2018 was changed in spring 2019 to a commercial plant mixture designed for vineyards' greening. Due to dry weather conditions, the sown vegetation coverage rate in 2019 was very low. There was a strong positive correlation between the number of invertebrates and the coverage rate and number of plant species. The sum of average numbers of invertebrates per six-meter-long plot in the inter-rows was 295.67 in 2018 and 142.67 in 2019. Phytophagous species, predators and parasitoids were present in higher numbers in 2018 than in 2019. The average number of phytophagous species was 47% lower and the average number of predators and parasitoids was 69% lower in 2019 than 2018. The coverage rate and plant diversity were lowest (~20%) in August and September 2019. Keywords biodiversity, ecosystem service invertebrates, vegetation, vineyardWhat is already known on this subject?• The impact of cover crop within vineyards has been the positive effects on water and nutrient cycle, erosion had been reported, however, some disservices may occur. Disservices mostly relate with water and nutrient competition or pest problems. Many authors suggest careful selection of cover crop to eliminate possible disservices. What is the expected impact on horticulture?• The use of cover crop is an important practice that diffuses many negative effects of agriculture. The of commercial plant mixtures. Depending on local vegetation, also the use of spontaneous cover crop should be considered.

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