Deciduous orchards.

Includes bibliographies.

Populations of the oriental fruit moth in peach and apple orchards in the eastern states /

Literature cited: p. 13.

Main Group Through Orchards in Bloom

Saline Valley Farms was an experiment in cooperative farming and living begun in 1932 by Harold S. Gray.

Fruit tree survey, commercial orchards, New York, 1962. Supplemental report.

Cover title.

Schedule, specifications, and drawings. Webb creek diversion dam and concrete diversion pipe, Lewiston orchards project, Idaho ...

Reproduced from type-written copy.

A model of macadamia with application to pruning in orchards

A self-organising model of macadamia, expressed using L-Systems, was used to explore aspects of canopy management. A small set of parameters control the basic architecture of the model, with a high degree of self-organisation occurring to determine the fate and growth of buds. Light was sensed at the leaf level and used to represent vigour and accumulated basipetally. Buds also sensed light so as to provide demand in the subsequent redistribution of the vigour. Empirical relationships were derived from a set of 24 completely digitised trees after conversion to multiscale tree graphs (MTG) and analysis with the OpenAlea software library. The ability to write MTG files was embedded within the model so that various tree statistics could be exported for each run of the model. To explore the parameter space a series of runs was completed using a high-throughput computing platform. When combined with MTG generation and analysis with OpenAlea it provided a convenient way in which thousands of simulations could be explored. We allowed the model trees to develop using self-organisation and simulated cultural practices such as hedging, topping, removal of the leader and limb removal within a small representation of an orchard. The model provides insight into the impact of these practices on potential for growth and the light distribution within the canopy and to the orchard floor by coupling the model with a path-tracing program to simulate the light environment. The lessons learnt from this will be applied to other evergreen, tropical fruit and nut trees.

Floral expression and pollen germination ability in productive mountain papaya ( Vasconcellea pubescens A.DC.) orchards

Mountain papaya ( Vasconcellea pubescens A.DC.) is described as trioecious in the centers of origin of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. However, under cultivation conditions in La Serena (30° S, 70° W), Chile, it is found to be dioecious and monoecious. The objective was to learn about the variations in floral expression of mountain papaya. Flowers from monoecious and dioecious plants were therefore identified and quantified during two seasons. In vitro pollen germination ability was also evaluated based on the factors of site, season, and plant sex. Monoecious plant inflorescences are polygamous; female and male flowers are observed, as well as bisexual flowers that are usually deformed. This condition allows them to be classified as an ambisexual plant. The existence of flowers of different sexes appears to depend on the season; the female dioecious plant is maintained as such, independently of climatic conditions. Pollen from male flowers, from both ambisexual and male plants, germinates 75% in summer, while germination decreases to 56% in spring (P ≤ 0.05). Flowering of female plants coincides with the permanent occurrence of male flowers in ambisexual plants, which ensures pollination without the need for male plants as pollinators in orchards. Based on this information, some management practices and possible lines of research about this species are proposed.

Integrated control of two tortricid (Lepidoptera) pests in apple orchards with sex pheromones and insecticides.

The apple is attacked by a significant number of insect pests in Brazilian commercial orchards, including Bonagota salubricola and Grapholita molesta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Sexual disruption of B. salubricola and G. molesta was evaluated in apple orchard using the flowable pheromone formulations, SPLAT Grafo+Bona (SG+B), SPLAT Attract and Kill Grafo+Bona (SAKG+B), and compared with the standard insecticides used for management in the Integrated Apple Production (IAP) system. Both formulations were applied at a rate of 1kg/ha on October 10, 2005 and December 13, 2005 using 300 and 1000 point sources/ha of SG+B and SAKG+B, respectively in experimental units of 7 ha. Adult male captures of B. salubricola and G. molesta were evaluated weekly in Delta traps with specific synthetic sex pheromone from October 10, 2005 to February 14, 2006. Damage to fruits was evaluated on November 21 and December 21, 2005, and January 25 and February 14, 2006. In the SPLAT treated experimental units a significant reduction was observed in the number of B. salubricola and G. molesta males caught in Delta traps compared to the experimental unit IAP. Damage by B. salubricola at harvest ranged from 1.63 to 4.75% with no differences between treatments, while damage by G. molesta was near zero in all experimental units. Mating disruption using SG+B and SAKG+B was sufficient to control B. salubricola and G. molesta with results equivalent to IAP guidelines. This technology is promising for management of both pests in Brazilian apple orchards with immediate reduction of 43% in the number of insecticide applications.

Carbon and nitrogen stocks of an arenosol under irrigated fruit orchards in semiarid Brazil.

O acúmulo de matéria orgânica beneficia a produtividade do solo e reduz a concentração do carbono atmosférico. Entretanto, pouco é sabido a respeito do acúmulo de C e N em solos arenosos cultivados com culturas perenes irrigadas em regiões semi-áridas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito do cultivo de fruteiras irrigadas nos estoques de C e N de um Neossolo Quartzarênico em Paraipaba, CE. Foram coletadas amostras na linha e na entrelinha de pomares irrigados de banana, caju, manga, sapoti, goiaba e graviola. Em áreas adjacentes sob vegetação de Caatinga hipoxerófila e após dois anos de desmatamento foram coletadas amostras adicionais. As profundidades de amostragem foram: 0 a 0.1, 0.1 a 0.2 e 0.2 a 0.4 m. Os teores de C e N no solo foram mais altos na camada superficial (0 a 0.1 m). Não houve efeito da profundidade de amostragem sobre a densidade do solo. Os estoques de C e N na área com vegetação de Caatinga na camada de 0 a 0.4 m foram de 27,6 and 2,4 Mg ha-1, respectivamente. A retirada da vegetação natural e o cultivo das fruteiras levaram a reduções de 5 a 23% e 4 a 21% nos estoques de C e N do solo, respectivamente. As culturas do sapoti e da graviola contribuíram para o aumento dos estoques de C e N após a retirada da vegetação natural. As culturas da goiaba, graviola, manga e sapoti contribuíram para a melhoria do índice de estratificação deste solo.

Residual effects of pesticides in peach orchards on the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)¹.

2016

Networks cities and ecological habitats

As the world’s rural populations continue to migrate from farmland to sprawling cities, transport networks form an impenetrable maze within which monocultures of urban form erupt from the spaces in‐between. These urban monocultures are as problematic to human activity in cities as cropping monocultures are to ecosystems in regional landscapes. In China, the speed of urbanisation is exacerbating the production of mono‐functional private and public spaces. Edges are tightly controlled. Barriers and management practices at these boundaries are discouraging the formation of new synergistic relationships, critical in the long‐term stability of ecosystems that host urban habitats. Some urban planners, engineers, urban designers, architects and landscape architects have recognised these shortcomings in contemporary Chinese cities. The ideology of sustainability, while critically debated, is bringing together thinking people in these and other professions under the umbrella of an ecological ethic. This essay aims to apply landscape ecology theory, a conceptual framework used by many professionals involved in land development processes, to a concept being developed by BAU International called Networks Cities: a city with its various land uses arranged in nets of continuity, adjacency, and superposition. It will consider six lesser‐known concepts in relation to creating enhanced human activity along (un)structured edges between proposed nets and suggest new frontiers that might be challenged in an eco‐city. Ecological theory suggests that sustaining biodiversity in regions and landscapes depends on habitat distribution patterns. Flora and fauna biologists have long studied edge habitats and have been confounded by the paradox that maximising the breadth of edges is detrimental to specialist species but favourable to generalist species. Generalist species of plants and animals tolerate frequent change in the landscape, frequenting two or more habitats for their survival. Specialist species are less tolerant of change, having specific habitat requirements during their life cycle. Protecting species richness then may be at odds with increasing mixed habitats or mixed‐use zones that are dynamic places where diverse activities occur. Forman (1995) in his book Land Mosaics however argues that these two objectives of land use management are entirely compatible. He postulates that an edge may be comprised of many small patches, corridors or convoluting boundaries of large patches. Many ecocentrists now consider humans to be just another species inhabiting the ecological environments of our cities. Hence habitat distribution theory may be useful in planning and designing better human habitats in a rapidly urbanising context like China. In less‐constructed environments, boundaries and edges provide important opportunities for the movement of multi‐habitat species into, along and from adjacent land use areas. For instance, invasive plants may escape into a national park from domestic gardens while wildlife may forage on garden plants in adjoining residential areas. It is at these interfaces that human interactions too flow backward and forward between land types. Spray applications of substances by farmers on cropland may disturb neighbouring homeowners while suburban residents may help themselves to farm produce on neighbouring orchards. Edge environments are some of the most dynamic and contested spaces in the landscape. Since most of us require access to at least two or three habitats diurnally, weekly, monthly or seasonally, their proximity to each other becomes critical in our attempts to improve the sustainability of our cities.

Effect of nitrogen on the skin colour and other quality attributes of ripe ‘Kensington Pride’ mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit

Near-ripe ‘Kensington Pride’ mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit with green skin colour generally return lower wholesale and retail prices. Pre-harvest management, especially nitrogen (N) nutrition, appears to be a major causal factor. To obtain an understanding of the extent of the problem in the Burdekin district (dry tropics; the major production area in Australia), green mature ‘Kensington Pride’ mango fruit were harvested from ten orchards and ripened at 20 ± 0.5 O C. Of these orchards, 70% produced fruit with more than 25% of the skin surface area green when ripe. The following year, the effect of N application on skin colour and other quality attributes was investigated on three orchards, one with a high green (HG) skin problem and two with a low green (LG) skin problem. N was applied at pre-flowering and at panicle emergence at the rate of 0,75,150,300 g per tree (soil applied) or 50 g per tree as foliar N for the HG orchard, and 0,150,300,450 g per tree (soil applied) or 50 g per tree (foliar) for the LG orchards. In all orchards the proportion of green colour on the ripe fruit was significantly (P<0.05) higher with soil applications of 150 g N or more per tree. Foliar sprays resulted in a higher proportion of green colour than the highest soil treatment in the HG orchard, but not in the LG orchards. Anthracnose disease severity was significantly (P<0.05) higher with 300 g of N per tree or foliar treatment in the HG orchard, compared with no additional N. Thus, N can reduce mango fruit quality by increasing green colour and anthracnose disease in ripe fruit.

Efficacy of multispecies pheromone lures for Carpophilus davidsoni Dobson and Carpophilus mutilatus Erichson (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

Orchard experiments were conducted in southern New South Wales to evaluate the efficacy of multispecies pheromone lures in trapping two economically important species of Carpophilus. Captures of Carpophilus davidsoni Dobson and Carpophilus mutilatus Erichson in traps baited with aggregation pheromones of both species or a three-way lure that also included the pheromone of Carpophilus hemipterus (L.) were not significantly different from captures in traps baited with conspecific pheromones. Carpophilus davidsoni and C. mutilatus were cross-attracted to traps baited with the pheromone of the other species, but numbers were significantly reduced compared with traps baited with conspecific or heterospecific pheromones. Multispecies lures will improve prospects for the commercial use of synthetic aggregation pheromones in Carpophilus beetle management in stone-fruit orchards.

An improved coattractant for pheromone trapping of Carpophilus spp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

Fermenting apple juice (FAJ) contained within polyacrylamide granules was an effective pheromone coattractant for Carpophilus davidsoni in trapping experiments conducted in stone fruit orchards in southern New South Wales. Fermenting apple juice-baited traps captured as many beetles as traps baited with the 'standard' coattractant fermenting bread dough (FBD), either alone or in combination with aggregation pheromone. Increasing the interval of FAJ replacement to 2 weeks instead of 1 week, as is necessary for FBD, did not reduce trapping efficiency. Replacement of FAJ every three weeks did not affect captures of C. davidsoni in one experiment but did reduce captures of Carpophilus mutilatus. In a second experiment, captures of C. davidsoni were also reduced. Fermenting apple juice contained within polyacrylamide granules replaced at fortnightly intervals is an effective, convenient and practical pheromone coattractant for Carpophilus spp.