Abstract The intensification and simplification of complex vineyard landscapes have a negative impact on the abundance of natural enemies of crop pests. Semi‐natural areas with non‐crop plants, like hedgerows and woody margins, can act as sources for these organisms that frequently spill over to nearby vines. To assess their impact on beneficial arthropods, we sampled parasitoid wasps, spiders and Phytoseiidae mites in common native Mediterranean tree and shrub species and herbaceous ground cover in semi‐natural areas around vineyards. We then assessed whether the distance to the periphery or periphery composition affected the abundance of these natural enemy groups in the vineyard. While distance did not affect the abundance of the sampled groups, vineyard location and cultivar did. Populations of phytoseiids were significantly higher in vineyard plots next to biodiverse margins than in plots surrounded by other vineyards. Also, vineyard plots with more parasitoids had lower spider numbers, and vice versa. Plants of Tamarix africana harboured high numbers of both spiders and parasitoids in May and August, as did Pistacia lentiscus in August, while Rubus ulmifolius , Rosmarinus officinalis and Rosa canina hosted large spider populations in more than one season. Herbaceous plants also proved important winter hosts for parasitoids and spiders. However, the number of phytoseiids was overall low in marginal plants. Our results underline the impact of marginal habitats on the populations of beneficial arthropods in vineyards and the potential of particular Mediterranean plant species to host these groups throughout the year.
Santos et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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