Cientifico

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 97 (2003) 353–356
Short communication
Differences in leaves of olive trees under organic,
integrated and conventional pest management
F. Ruanoa,b,∗, M.Camposb, J.J. Soler c
a Depto. Biolog´ıa Animal y Ecolog´ıa, Facultad de Ciencias, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
b Estación Experimental del Zaid´ın, CSIC, C/Profesor Albareda 1, 18008Granada, Spain
c Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC, C/General Segura 1, 04001 Almer´ıa, Spain
Received 16 September 2002; received in revised form 7 February 2003; accepted 14 February 2003Abstract
Differences in pest management of olive orchards may affect the development of olive trees and may be reflected in terms
of absolute and relative asymmetry, mass, and quality of theleaves. Leaf mass and residual leaf mass of olive trees were
significantly greater under organic management than other pest management regimes. The analysis revealed that leaves from
trees under differentpest management regimes differed, a result that may have practical applications.
© 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Olive tree; Developmental stability; Pest managementregimes; Asymmetry; Leaf mass; Leaf quality.

1. Introduction
Olive trees have great international importance,
both from a social and from an economic point of
view (Claridge and Walton, 1992). Aseries of insect species live at the expense of olive tree, three of which are likely to cause permanent economic damage (Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae), Prays oleae (Bernard)(Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), and Saissetia oleae (Olivier) (Homoptera: Coccidae) (Bellido, 1975; Campos, 1976; Briales, 1984; Civantos, 1995)).
Different pest management systems have been developed for oliveorchards. The aim of the present work was to ascertain whether different pest management regimes (organic, integrated and conventional) produced variations in biometric measurements of the ∗...