Measuring biocontrol services in Michigan apple orchards

Obtaining quantitative measurements of ecosystem services to agriculture is one of the cornerstones of a sustainable food production system. We have measured mortality of sentinel codling moth eggs and larvae in apple orchards for two field seasons in Michigan. We used video observation data to identify the causal agents of sentinel prey mortality and estimate their relative contribution to biocontrol of this economically important pest. We also compared biocontrol services between paired organically and non-organically managed orchards in order to provide growers with estimates of expected biocontrol services under different management regimes. In addition to video data, arthropod natural enemy populations were estimated with yellow sticky traps and pitfall traps in study orchards. Yellow sticky trap samples captured similar numbers of natural enemies across management regimes. In pitfall traps, significantly more natural enemies were captured in organic orchards. Video observations in organic orchards also captured more predation events than observations in conventional orchards.