3: Orchards
Work package 3 aims to examine two ecosystem services (ESs) and their potential trade-offs (pollination and biocontrol) in macadamia systems. The influence of land use change and climate change will be tested through an experimental setup with 12 macadamia orchards (six pairs). The pairs will be arranged along a climatic gradient with one orchard being situated in an intensively farmed region, and the other in a region with a high share of semi-natural habitats. There will be enclosure experiments carried out on each orchard to quantify the ecosystem services of predators (24 cages to monitor birds and bats, 24 fences around controlled areas) and of pollinators (gauze bags around ten branches per tree for bees and other visitors). Furthermore, ten branches per tree will be hand-pollinated to determine the maximum potential yield, therefore assisting in the capture of related yield gaps.
1st Annual Meeting 2019
At the 1st Annual Meeting from September 9 to 13 2019 the different SALLnet working groups presented their progress reports and drew preliminary conclusions about their research.WP 3 - Nature’s bounty requires wise stewardship: Good Agricultural Practices in the macadamia industry can enhance economic gains
By Elsje Joubert, Peter John Taylor, Valerie Linden, Sina Weier, Teja Tscharntke & Ingo Grass
Integrated pest management, biological control of stink bugs through birds and bats, and exclusion of monkeys from the orchards can significantly increase macadamia yields.