abstract
- The authors would like to thank all farmers who allowed our access to their olive groves. This work and the writing of this manuscript was funded by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project PTDC/AGR-PRO/111123/2009 (The use of biological indicators as tools for assessing the impact of agricultural practices in sustainability of olive grove) and the project BiodivERsA/001/2014 (ECOSERVE − Sustainable provisioning of multiple ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes). P. Martins da Silva was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BPD/ 109511/2015). The authors are indebted to two anonymous reviewers who helped to improve a previous version of this study.
- The effects of land-use management and environmental features at different scales on carabid beetle diversity and trait structure were assessed across olive groves in northeastern Portugal. We selected organic and integrated olive groves that were distinct in terms of specific management practices, local linear features and landscape configurations. Besides the management intensification levels, differences in carabid diversity and community traits were mainly due to local habitat and ecological linear structures at a finer spatial scale. Carabid community traits related to disturbance, namely traits of body size and species dispersal ability, responded to land-use intensity and particular olive grove features were influencing diversity patterns. Within the olive grove patches, larger and brachypterous species were associated to plots with more dense vegetation cover while macropterous and small-sized species were more associated to open areas. Also, larger carabid species benefitted from higher patch size heterogeneity within the landscape mosaics. Our findings indicate that the effects of farming system is contingent on the specific management practices, local and linear features present in agroecosystems such as olive groves. Particularly, the influence of local features on carabid diversity patterns and community traits linked to dispersal and movement may be crucial in maintaining pest control at a landscape scale.