Olive agroecosystems are of great agricultural, environmental, cultural and economic importance for the Mediterranean. In the island of Crete (Greece) olive orchards are the most common cultivation, occupying 20% of the total land area. Patterns of invertebrate biodiversity of olive cultivation have been associated with farming systems, the agro-ecological zones of cultivation and landscape attributes. Terrestrial snails of 16 olive orchards under two different farming systems (organic and conventional) located in two different agro-ecological zones (plain and hilly) were studied in the Messara plain, south Crete. Linear models and Mantel tests were used to evaluate the effect of different factors on land snail richness and composition, respectively. Species richness of terrestrial snails was higher in hilly olive orchards regardless of the farming systems. Species richness was explained by landscape attributes (olive orchard area, isolation, slope and anthropogenic impact), while species composition was only partly associated with landscape characteristics. Preliminary results indicate distinct community patterns of terrestrial snails in olive orchards in the Messara plain. Landscape characteristics are important factors affecting snail biodiversity of olive orchards. Terrestrial snails are highlighted as potential indicators for studying the impact of olive orchard management on biodiversity.
I strongly believe that Mediterranean olive orchard are interesting environments and that traditional practices can positively influence local biodiversity. Maybe that is even more valid than the distinction between conventional vs. organic. Did you evaluated the different sites also based on extensive vs. traditional practices, especially in plain areas? Maybe you can plan that for the future. Please keep me updated on your studies.
ciao!
There is a big variability of practices and inputs used among olive orchards in our study. In our research we surveyed olive orchards planted with the same cultivar and density. The orchards were modern with a medium tree density (200 – 250 trees / ha). They were chosen to be representative of the ones found in the study area.
For the current work we did not test for differences between extensive and traditional practices, however, we value the suggestion and plan to do so in the immediate future.
Please check previous articles by our team (see in the manuscript the works of Gkisakis et al., 2015, 2016, 2018), where more research has been done for terrestrial arthropods in the orchards.
Sincerely
