Habitat Diversity at the Field and Landscape Level: Conservation Biological Control Research in California Viticulture

  • Albie Miles
  • Houston Wilson
  • Miguel Altieri
  • Clara Nicholls
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

The intensification of viticulture in California has led to the creation of grape monocultures characterized by an absence of non-crop plant diversity in and around vineyards. The continued expansion of vineyards into California native plant communities has also led to an aggregate reduction of non-crop habitats at the landscape scale (Heaton and Merenlender 2000). Such increased concentration of plant host resources and the reduction of non-crop habitats supporting natural enemies have been shown to increase pest densities, with associated crop losses and reduce overall crop productivity (Root 1973; Russell 1989; Corbett and Rosenheim 1996a; Altieri and Nicholls 2004). To manage recurring pest problems, California grape growers rely principally on the use of synthetic pesticides, including organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, known to pose a range of environmental quality and human health risks (Bentley 2009; CDPR 2009; UC IPM 2010b; Eskenazi et al. 2010).

Keywords

Natural Enemy Cover Crop Parasitism Rate Floral Resource Pest Density 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Albie Miles
    • 1
  • Houston Wilson
    • 1
  • Miguel Altieri
    • 1
  • Clara Nicholls
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Environmental Science, Policy and ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyUSA

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