Flower intercropping for natural refugia in organic systems - OFRF-funded project report by G. Sieving-Jones

Project Highlights		Funded Projects
PEST MANAGEMENT IN VEGETABLE PRODUCTION Intercropping to create local refugia for natural enemies of arthropod pests: flowers and birds in organic agroecosystems Gregory Jones and Kathryn Sieving, University of Florida - Gainesville		The following links provide more information about this project:
Gainesville, FL - This study tested the hypothesis that sunflower rows in vegetable cropping systems may serve as predator refugia. It was predicted that fields including rows of flowers would have greater densities of insect-eating birds, and that greater foraging by birds would be observed in fields with flower intercrops than fields without.		OFRF project report summary, 4 pp [pdf] Table 1. List of 68 bird species observed in cropped fields Table 2. List of beneficial insects observed in sunflower plots Gregory Jones' complete project report, 38 pp [pdf]
	Multi-branching sunflower varieties were planted at 1 or 2 rows per acre between vegetable rows to attract birds and beneficial insects into cropped fields. Here, a row of sunflowers is planted between rows of tomatoes.
In observations on 10 certified organic farms, sunflower treatment plots exhibited significantly greater mean densities of birds in the cropped fields than control plots. Those plots having just 1 sunflower row per acre exhibited greater mean densities of birds than control plots in both years. Foraging observations and time budget analysis indicated that the presence of sunflower rows significantly increased presence and foraging activity of insectivorous birds in vegetable or row-crops compared to control plots. Visual observations and gut content samples of birds (obtained by non-lethal measures) captured after foraging in crop vegetation confirmed that economically important pest insects were consumed. For more information please download OFRF's complete project report summary.
Principal Investigators: Gregory A. Jones, Ph.D. Candidate Dr. Kathryn E. Sieving, Associate Professor Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation 303 Newins-Ziegler Hall, University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611-0430 Cooperating Investigators: Dr. Kenneth Buhr, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Agronomy, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Jennifer Gillett, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Plant Pathology, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Farmer Avisors: Marty Mesh, Director, Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, Inc., Gainesville, FL Lois Milton & Tommy Simmons, Bellevue Gardens Organic Farm, Archer FL Bill Ogle and Bill Allen, Govinda’s Garden Organic Farm, Alachua FL Rosalie Koenig, Rosie’s Organics, Gainesville, FL Donald Appelbaum, Phoenix Rising Organic Farms, Alachua, FL Ed Parker, Serenity Organic Farms, Bell, FL Charles Andrews, Hammock Hollow Organic Herb Farm, Island Grove, FL Joe Durando, Possum Hollow Organic Farm, Alachua, FL		OFRF Funding: Total OFRF project funding: $7,870 Grant awards: $4,470 spring 2003 $3,130 fall 2001 Project Period: 2002-2003 Reported: September 2003