Effects of local management and landscape structure on multiple ecosystem services in vineyards

In the agricultural sector, humans have substantially altered ecosystem services provided by arthropods, such as pest regulation and pollination. Vineyards are among the most intensively managed agroecosystems, usually involving a high number of pesticide applications, soil tillage interventions and high landscape simplification; practices which are known to cause declines in biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. To counteract the negative effects of intensive farming, organic agriculture has been implemented worldwide. Organic farms generally have specific crop rotations, greater areas of semi‐natural vegetation and do not use synthetic pesticides. During the last decades, comparing the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by different types of agricultural management, such as organic vs. conventional, has been an often studied and discussed topic. More recently, it emerged clearly that also the surrounding landscapes can influence arthropod populations and their subsequent effects on the productive systems. The main objective of this Master thesis was to determine the effects of local management and landscape features on multiple ecosystem services provided by arthropods in vineyards. First, we characterized the agronomic practices linked to organic and conventional management of vineyards and their relationship with landscape configuration. For this, 38 different landscapes along the Italian peninsula, each composed by an organic and a conventional vineyard, were studied to characterize the agronomic practices linked to each type of management. Then, a field observational study was conducted with the purpose of determining the influence of management and landscape features on multiple ecosystem services provided by arthropods in organic and conventional vineyards. To achieve this aim, we measured the abundance and diversity of phytophagous arthropods, natural enemies and pollinators, the quantification of damage caused to vines, and the quantification of pest predation in 4 of the 38 landscapes, located in the province of Padova (northeast of Italy).