Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The olive tree is one of the most important crops in Portugal, where tillage is still a normal practice
performed by the growers. This work intends to evaluate the effect of tillage practices on the diversity
and abundance of entomopathogenic fungi associated to Prays oleae Bern. population in the olive grove
ecosystem. In order to achieve this, three tilled and three non-tilled groves were sampled for P. oleae larvae
and pupae, during two consecutive years. The fungi were isolated from diseased larvae and pupae and
identified by rDNA sequencing. One hundred and twenty isolates of fungi described as entomopathogenic
were found, belonging to 8 different species. The most abundant species were Beauveria bassiana (60%),
Cladosporium cladosporioides (18%) and Cladosporium oxysporum (14%). Olive groves under no-till system
showed higher occurrence (2.7%), diversity (7 species) and abundance (65 isolates) of entomopathogenic
fungi than tilled system (2.3%, 4 species and 55 isolates). Although these differences were found to be
not significant, the results suggested that no-tilled olive groves with natural vegetation presented the
most suitable conditions to increase the probability of P. oleae infection by entomopathogenic fungi. The
highest number of exclusive species found in non-tilled groves (4 species) when compared to tilled ones
(1 species) also reinforce this fact and indicated that vegetation cover may act as a reservoir for fungal
species.
Description
Keywords
Olive tree Prays oleae Entomopathogenic fungi Tillage Diversity
Citation
Oliveira, Ivo; Pereira, J.A.; Quesada-Moraga, Enrique; Lino-Neto, Teresa; Bento, Albino; Baptista, Paula (2013). Effect of soil tillage on natural occurrence of fungal entomopathogens associated to Prays oleae Bern. Scientia Horticulturae. ISSN 0304-4238. 159, p. 190-196
Publisher
Elsevier