Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:08:59.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Managing vertebrates in cover crops: A first study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

K. Shawn Smallwood
K. Shawn Smallwood
Affiliation:
Systems Ecologist, Consulting in the Public Interest, 109 Luz Place, Davis, CA 95616.
Get access

Abstract

Little is known of how vertebrate pest and beneficial species respond to cover crops in vineyards and orchards. During spring 19941 interviewed 22 people who work with cover crops in California and searched for vertebrates and their signs in 36 field plots where cover crops were grown. Farmers usually relaxed concern for vertebrate pests after planting cover crops. But cover crops were thought to increase venebrate damage to trees and vines when planted continuously across the rows or grown in orchards and vineyards less than three years old. Vertebrates usually were not abundant or harmful to the commercial crops and cover crops I examined. Gophers were most abundant in older, uneven, scrappy, or weedy cover crops. They preferred beneficial and insectary blends and Cahaba white vetch, and were least abundant in grasses, subclover mixes, and bur medic. Voles preferred nontillage clover mixes, but avoided bare ground under vine and tree rows. All small mammals were more numerous near streams and recently tilled fields. Cover crops attracted many predatory vertebrates, which improve the aesthetic quality of the farm and might keep animal damage to economically acceptable levels. Cover crops can contribute to wildlife conservation in California, especially if the area in cover crops continues to increase.

Keywords

Californiaconservationgophersvolespest managementorchardsvineyards
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 155 - 160
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Abaturov, B.D. 1972. The role of burrowing animals in the transport of mineral substances in the soil. Pedobiologia 12:261–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Adams, T.E., and Weitkamp, W.H.. 1992. Gophers love oak — to death. California Agriculture 46:27–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Baker, J.A., and Brooks, R.J.. 1981. Distribution patterns of raptors in relation to density of meadow voles. Condor 83:42–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Bandoli, J.H. 1981. Factors influencing seasonal burrowing activity in the pocket gopher, Thomomys bottae. Journal of Mammalogy 62:293–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Birney, E.C., Grant, W.E., and Baird, D.D.. 1976. Importance of vegetative cover to cycles of Microtus populations. Ecology 57:1043–1051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Bugg, R.L., and Waddington, C.. 1994. Using cover crops to manage arthropod pests of orchards: a review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 50:11–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Byers, R.E., and Young, R.S.. 1974. Cultural management of pine voles in apple orchards. HortScience 9:445–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Fitzpatrick, K.J. 1996. Birds of prey and their use of agricultural fields. In Lockeretz, W. (ed). Environmental Enhancement through Agriculture. School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, pp. 103–112.Google Scholar
9.Garsd, A., and Howard, W.E.. 1982. Microtine population fluctuations: an ecosystem approach based on time-series analysis. J. Animal Ecology 51:225–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Godfrey, M.E.R. 1986. Cultural practices affecting montane voles in Washington apple orchards. In Richards, C.G.J. and Ku, T.Y. (eds). Control of Mammal Pests. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London, England, pp. 127–131.Google Scholar
11.Hill, S.B. 1990. Pest control in sustainable agriculture. Proceedings, Entomological Soc. Ontario 121:5–12.Google Scholar
12.Hole, F.D. 1981. Effects of animals on soils. Geoderma 25:75–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Huntly, N., and Inouye, R.. 1988. Pocket gophers in ecosystems: Patterns and mechanisms. Bioscience 38:786–793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Ingels, C. 1992. Birds of prey assist farmers. Sustainable Agriculture 5:5–8. University of California.Google Scholar
15.Krebs, C.J., and Myers, J.H.. 1974. Population cycles in small mammals. Advances in Ecological Research 9:267–399. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Laycock, W.A., and Richardson, B.Z.. 1975. Long-term effects of pocket gopher control on vegetation and soils of a subalpine grassland. J. Range Management 28:458–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Mielke, H.W. 1977. Mound building by pocket gophers (Geomyidae): Their impact on soils and vegetation in North America. J. Biogeography 4:171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Miller, P.R., Graves, W.L., Williams, W.A., and Madson, B.A.. 1989. Covercrops for California agriculture. Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, Oakland.Google Scholar
19.Pearson, O.P. 1971. Additional measurements of the impact of carnivores on California voles (Microtus californicus). J. Mammalogy 52:41–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Smallwood, K.S., and Erickson, W.A.. 1995. Estimating gopher populations and their abatement in forest plantations. Forest Science 41:284–296.Google Scholar
21.Smallwood, K.S., and Geng, S.. 1993a. Management of pocket gophers in Sacramento Valley alfalfa. California Alfalfa Symposium 23:86–89.Google Scholar
22.Smallwood, K.S., and Geng, S.. 1993b. Alfalfa as wildlife habitat. California Alfalfa Symposium 23:105–108.Google Scholar
23.Smallwood, K.S., and Geng, S.. 1994. Landscape strategies for biological control and IPM. In Dehai, W. (ed). Proceedings, International Conference on Integrated Resource Management for Sustainable Agriculture.Beijing Agricultural University,Beijing, China, pp. 454–464.Google Scholar
24.Smallwood, K.S., Nakamoto, B.J., and Geng, S.. 1996. Association analysis of raptors on an agricultural landscape. In Bird, D.M., Varland, D., and Negro, J.J. (eds). Raptors Adapting to Human-Altered Environments. Academic Press, New York, N.Y. pp. 177–190.Google Scholar
25.Sullivan, T.R. 1986. Understanding the resiliency of small mammals to population reduction: poison or population dynamics? In Richards, C.G.J. and Ku, T.Y. (eds). Control of Mammal Pests. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London, England, pp. 69–82.Google Scholar
26.Sullivan, T.P., and Hogue, E.J.. 1987. Influence of orchard floor management on vole and pocket gopher populations and damage in apple orchards. J. Amer. Soc. Horticultural Sci. 112:972–977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Sullivan, T.P., Krebs, J.A., and Kluge, H.A.. 1987. Survey of mammal damage to tree fruit orchards in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Northwest Science 61:23–31.Google Scholar
28.Van Vuren, D., and Smallwood, K.S.. 1996. Ecological management of vertebrate pests in agricultural systems. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture 12:39–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Vaughan, T.A. 1961. Vertebrates inhabiting pocket gopher burrows in Colorado. J. Mammalogy 42:171–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar