Analysis and comparison of three Coleoptera families in organic and conventional orchards within the Etna Regional Park (Catania, Sicily)

The objective of this work was to compare two agricultural management systems, organic and conventional, in the Etna Regional Park. The influence in both spatial and temporal dimensions, that natural habitats adjacent to these two different managed agricultural systems have on Coleoptera biocoenosis in orchards was also studied. This comparison was done through standardised data and multivariate analysis using a multi-taxa approach. Specifically, three families of the Order Coleoptera, namely Carabidae, Tenebrionidae and Staphylinidae (excluding Aleocharinae and Scydmaeninae) were studied.peer-reviewe