Enhancing citrus windbreak habitat attractiveness to pollinators and predators via insectary plantings

Insectary plantings can diversify and improve habitats around crop fields and groves for arthropods which provide valuable ecosystem services. Flowers augment the diets of beneficial arthropods like pollinators and pest predators through their nectar and pollen. Additionally, more diverse plant architecture in fields may provide alternative hosts or habitats to beneficial arthropods. Our goal was to determine whether florally enhanced windbreak tree lines in Florida citrus groves positively influence the abundance of pollinators, predators, as well as the citrus pest, Asian citrus psyllid. To test this, we compared arthropod abundance between treatments of native flowering species with varying structural complexity (the wildflower Coreopsis sp., the vine Lonicera sempervirens, and the bush Cephalanthus occidentalis) planted next to windbreaks at the edges of a grove. By sampling arthropods at citrus trees at increasing distances from the flowers, we tested whether the attractiveness of our plantings translated into increased beneficial insect abundanceand decreased pest abundance towards the center of a grove. Overall, this study explores how increasing the function of existing windbreak systems in Florida citrus groves through insectary plantings can fulfil conservation biocontrol objectives.