The role of cultivar interactions with arthropods in integrated pest and pollinator management strategies for apple orchards

The diversification of floral resources is a pillar of pollinator conservation in agroecosystems, potentially also supporting biological control agents in Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM) frameworks. Given the necessity to reduce pesticide use for IPPM systems to work, ideally farmers should use crop cultivars that are not only highly attractive and dependent on pollinators, but also highly resistant to pests. Cultivar selection should thus be informed by a correct understanding of trade-offs and synergies between plant traits related to pollination and pest susceptibility.In the present exploratory study, we set 3 pairs of experimental apple orchards (agroecological vs. conventional management) in Northern Italy with the aim of i) assessing the effects of pollinator-friendly agroecological measures (cultivar diversification, flowering cover crops) on beneficial arthropods, and ii) investigating the interaction of individual apple cultivars with pollinators and pests, highlighting trade-offs and synergies between functions.The tested pollinator-friendly measures appeared to be useful multifunctional tools capable of increasing the abundance of pollinators and predatory arthropods. The 9 tested cultivars differed in terms of pollinator dependence and pest resistance, with some important trade-offs. Cultivars such as the commercially important ‘Pink Lady®’, which would especially benefit from increased pollination service, may be unfit for a fully agroecological management due to pest susceptibility.The management of non-crop vegetation is an important tool to support beneficial arthropods in apple orchards, but cultivar selection is a critical element for a truly successful IPPM system; given the observed trade-offs with pollination traits, pest-resistant cultivars should be prioritized.