Developing perennial wildflower strips for use in Mediterranean orchard systems

To support sustainable food production and the delivery of ecosystem services through ecological intensification, wildflower strips have become a popular strategy. Despite their success in temperate orchard systems, they remain understudied in Mediterranean ecosystems, which poses a significant barrier to uptake. In order to further promote their adoption, seed mixes must be optimised for commercial orchard systems and for the Mediterranean climate. Plant species should be selected for their consistent performance, while the availability of resources for ecosystem service providers determines the quality of the wildflower strip. In this study, the suitability of 12 native perennial forbs and two tussock-forming grass species for wildflower strips in commercial Citrus orchards was assessed over a three year period. Distinct resources for natural enemies according to the different plant growth stages was used an indicator of wildflower strip quality. The wildflower strips were managed und..., 1.1.  Site Description
The three year study was conducted in three commercial navel orange (Citrus sinensis) orchards in Huelva, Andalusia (Appendix A1, Figure A1): Madre del Agua (37°26'27.80\"N  7° 9'55.73\"W) and La Calvilla (37°24'10.95\"N  7° 3'42.67\"W) in southern Huelva and Montepinos (37°47’43.21”N 6°56’21.11”W) in northern Huelva.  All orchards were managed under Integrated Pest Management (IPM) guidelines (Llorens Climet and Martín Gil, 2014) and contained naturally occurring vegetation in alleyways, managed with regular cutting to a height of ≤5cm, four to five times annually (Figure A2).
1.2.  Study Design
A randomised block design was established with four complete replicate blocks in November 2016.  The experimental treatments were applied in 0.5 ha plots, separated by at least 150 m.  Each plot measured 100 m in length and 50 m wide and consisted of eight rows of orange trees and seven alleyways between rows (Figure 1).  The wildflower strips were sown in November to take ad..., , # Data from: Developing perennial wildflower strips for use in Mediterranean orchard systems.

## Alice Mockford; Alberto Urbaneja; Kate Ashbrook; & Duncan B. Westbury

The dataset contains 1. plant community composition data and 2. sward height data.
Community composition data was collected during May of 2017, 2018 and 2019 and sward height data collected from April to October of 2017 and 2019 and April to November of 2018.

### Site description and study design:

The three year study was conducted in three commercial navel orange (Citrus sinensis) orchards in Huelva, Andalusia. All orchards were managed under Integrated Pest Management (IPM) guidelines and contained naturally occurring vegetation in alleyways, managed with regular cutting to a height of 5cm, four to five times annually.
A randomised block design was established with four complete replicate blocks in November 2016. The experimental treatments were applied in 0.5 ha plots, separated by at least 150 m. Each plot m...