Insecticides in Olive Groves Decrease Arthropod Abundance and Biodiversity
The study looked at how different ways of managing olive trees affect the bugs living in the trees. They compared conventional methods with organic methods. They found that using insecticides reduced the number of plant-eating bugs, while organic methods had more bugs overall. The diversity of bugs didn't change much between the two methods. However, the food webs in organic groves were more complex and had more predators. The time of year didn't affect the bug populations much, but after the trees bloomed, there were more predators and plant-eating bugs.