Dynamic of the arthropods community associated to strawberry crops with different plant ages in the North-West of Argentine

Abstract

In a strawberry monoculture management, the design of the plots with plants of different years of production, would lead to greater stability and resilience in the system, affecting differently both pests and their natural enemies. The objective of this work was to assess whether there are differences in the diversity and structure of the arthropod community, considering its temporal variation according to strawberry crop phenology in the flowering and fruiting periods in plots of similar dimensions with plants of the same and of different ages. The arthropod community was different in composition among the years analyzed. The most diverse community of arthropods was observed when the crop had strawberry plants of different ages in the same smallholding. The main pests and natural enemies present in this study varied among years and plots of plants of different ages. The results lead us to suggest that arthropod community in a crop of strawberries in the same field varies with age and plant crop phenology and among plots with different ages of implantation.