BIODIVERSIFYING your farm

摘要

Knowing what pests you have will help you choose the right plants to attract beneficials. Biodiversity can help with a host of environment-related issues, but if you plant the right species, it can also provide food and shelter for beneficial insects.When approaching the concept of biodiversity, defined as the diversity of plants and animals in a particular habitat, Gwendolyn Ellen wants growers to think of their farm as an ecological landscape or a "farmscape." Ellen, who is outreach educator for Oregon State University's Integrated Plant Protection Center, suggests growers take a 360-degree view of their farm, looking for areas that are already biologically diverse and areas that can be enhanced. A variety of plants encourage habitat by diverse insect and animal species, including native trees, cover crops, perennial shrubs, weedy patches, and insec-tary strips, borders, or blocks.