Organic management, reduced tillage, and increased vegetation cover promote ant abundance and diversity in Mediterranean Vineyards
Rattachement africain : es, it. Niveau de preuve : code pays fourni par la source.
Le résumé fourni par la source
Abstract Background Vineyards are regarded as one of the most intensively managed crops worldwide. Organic management is increasingly promoted as an ecologically friendly alternative to conventional farming and organic vineyards are expected to promote the abundance and diversity of arthropods and the associated ecosystem services. However, the effects of organic vineyards on arthropods show great variability depending on the local climate, landscape composition, and the considered taxon. Among arthropods, ants are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide, with a multifaceted role in agriculture. Ant responses to organic management in vineyards have rarely been studied. Methods We conducted this study in Italy, across 16 pairs of organic and conventional vineyards belonging to very different ecological and biogeographical settings, from Sicily to the southern Alps. We explored how ant communities were affected by organic management, inter-row vegetation cover, pesticide use, tillage intensity, mean annual temperature, and semi-natural habitats surrounding the vineyard. Moreover, we investigated whether ant communities showed geographic differentiation across Italy. Results Our results highlight a significant positive effect of organic farming on both ant abundance and species richness. Moreover, ant species richness and abundance increased in vineyards with reduced tillage and a high vegetation cover in the inter-rows. The effects were consistent across different climates and landscapes, despite ant communities being highly different across Italy and showing a strong geographic characterization. Conclusions Our study supports the positive role of organic agriculture, reduced tillage intensity, and spontaneous vegetation cover in protecting insect biodiversity. Among the diverse species pools that we identified, several species are known to play ecological roles and may provide services and disservices to winegrowers, encouraging further investigation to characterize ant role across different management systems and geographic areas. Implications for insect conservation Organic farming proved to have a positive role promoting both the species richness and the abundance of ants as compared to conventional management. The preservation of spontaneous vegetation and reduction of tillage were identified as key biodiversity-friendly practices. The ant fauna of vineyards was found to be very different across the geographic gradient that we explored, suggesting that the characteristics of the local fauna should be taken into consideration for management and conservation actions.
Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.
Le contrôle bibliographique ouvert
DOI retrouvé dans Crossref DOI retrouvé ; titre concordant.
- Titre Crossref
- Organic management, reduced tillage, and increased vegetation cover promote ant abundance and diversity in Mediterranean Vineyards
- Date Crossref
- 01/02/2026
- Éditeur
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Type
- journal-article
Ce recoupement confirme des métadonnées liées au DOI. Il ne confirme ni la méthode ni les conclusions de l’étude, et il ne compte pas comme une seconde source scientifique indépendante.
Où se fait cette recherche
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Institut de Biologia Evolutiva pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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University of Padua pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Department of Life Sciences pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Parma Department of Chemistry pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Fondazione Edmund Mach pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
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University of Trento Center Agriculture Food Environment pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Bologna pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Sassari Department of Agricultural Sciences pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Palermo Department of Agricultural pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Milan Department of Food pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Institute of Sciences of Food Production pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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University of Bari Aldo Moro Department of Soil pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, University of Padua et Department of Life Sciences — University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, avec 9 autres affiliations.
Une affiliation ne permet pas de déduire la nationalité d’un auteur.