The Kellogg Experimental Apple Orchard is four-acres in size and was planted in the spring of 1983. The orchard has 300 trees. Three varieties of dwarf, scab resistant trees (Redfree, Pricilla and Liberty) were planted into three blocks with inter-tree spacing of 3.6, 7.2 and 11.5 meters respectively. Within the northwest three rows of trees, asparagus was planted. Space between the tree rows provides an opportunity to plant other species. This experimental orchard provides a pesticide-free ecosystem where a variety of questions can be asked and hypotheses tested regarding insect-plant-environmental interactions. Over the years an array of interplantings have ocurred within the tree rows. These include tomatoes, potatoes and flowering plants to attract beneficial insects. The KBS Orchard's primary productivty has been the graduate students who have worked there as part of their degree program. They include: Bill Roltsch, Janice Bossart, Jan Ryan, Marian Lennington, and Sean Clark
The General Objectives: To investigate the ecological relationships between insects and their host plants in an intercropped environment by:
- monitoring the seasonal populations of insects and their natural predators on different host crops to determine long term trends in pest and beneficial insect population density and damage to host plants
- offering an array of different plants to provide a source of food for natural enemies of primary and secondary host plants to enhance biological control of pest organisms;
- monitoring the microhabitat to determine environmental differences in different pest and host habitats;
- conducting experimental manipulations on a vegetable and evaluating the effects on insect levels and feeding behavior;
- intercropping host plants and determining the interactions between intercropped and non-intercropped plants; and
- eliminating the use of hard pesticides and using alternate strategies to produce a viable apple crop.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP |
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