Data synthesis

Olive

Olive is a drought tolerant, long-lived species that exhibits little response to photoperiod with its distribution limited largely by low and high temperatures, and less so by soil water and other factors (Bongi 2002, Vitagliano and Sebastiani 2002, Fiorino 2003). Temperature affects nearly all aspects of olive’s biology (Fig. 1). Freezing temperature causes mortality to plant subunits and in the extreme to the whole plant (Denney et al. 1985).

The maximum number of flower buds in the current season is a function of the amount of fruit wood produced the previous season some of which may be killed by freezing temperatures. Approximately 450h < 7.3°C are required to stimulate fruit bud initiation (Hartmann and Opitz 1980, Mancuso et al. 2002, Orlandi et al. 2002, De Melo-Abreu et al. 2004) with the period of flowering being approximately a week. Approximately 500 degree-days (dd > 9.1°C) are required from bud swelling to flowering (Sanz-Cortés et al. 2002). Massive shedding of young post flower fruit occurs due to lack of pollination, cold weather (Proietti et al. 1994, Palese et al. 2000), and photosynthate supply-demand shortfalls. On average 1495dd are required from flowering to fruit maturation. Fruit becomes susceptible to olive fly when the seed begins to harden. The full set of model parameter values are given in Gutierrez et al. (2009). Each plant subunit is assumed to have the same thresholds.

Olive fly

This pest is endemic across the olive growing regions of the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East. It was first discovered in the Los Angeles basin of California in 1998, and is now widely distributed. The biology of the fly is closely linked to olive fruit availability (Fig. 1).

Adult flies over-winters in facultative reproductively-dormancy that break when the seed in olive fruit begins to harden (Fletcher et al. 1978, Girolami 1979, Ricci and Ambrosi 1981). Dormancy may also be induced during summer when fruit are in short supply (Delrio and Prota 1988), if mean temperatures fall below 15°C (Koveos 2001), and during periods of high summer temperatures (Bigler and Delucchi 1981a, b, Crovetti et al. 1981, Bigler 1982, Crovetti et al. 1982). Olive fly prefer to lay single eggs in unattacked fruit, but multiple attacks will occur when fruit are limiting. Dehisced fruit on the ground are also attacked, and play an important role in the fly’s dynamics as immature stages in them may continue development during winter after the tree has been harvested.

Temperature affects developmental rates, reproduction, as well as mortality of immature stages and adults is also affected by temperature (Zangheri et al. 1976, Girolami 1979, Crovetti et al. 1981, Pucci et al. 1981, Crovetti et al. 1982, Kapatos and Fletcher 1986, Delrio and Prota 1988, Zambetaki et al. 2000, Koveos 2001). Depending on temperature, several summer generations may develop (Zangheri et al. 1976) with 4-5 or more generations occurring in highly favorable areas (Delrio and Prota 1988).

Figure 1. Effects of temperature on: (a) vital rates and (b) mortality , and (c) the stylized phenology of olive fruiting and olive fly.

References

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