Séminaire Ecobio - Alejandra Ester Munoz Gonzales

Most beneficial insects in agriculture, like pollinators and natural enemies of pests, require floral resources as adults. That is why establishing wildflower strips is one of the most used strategies to promote them in agroecosystems. The use of native flora species in wildflower strips presupposes several advantages, such s working with species adapted to local pedo-climatic conditions and native insectsx, and also contributes to local biological conservation. Central Chile concentrates the fruit production area of the country, which is embedded within a biodiversity hotspot. This area exhibits a great richness and high level of endemism of its vascular flora. However, it has suffered a significant transformation of its land by agriculture and forestry, among other uses, and the native flora is poorly represented in protected areas. In this scenario, previous investigations promoting beneficial insects and their services through establishing native flower strips in fruit crops in Chile are presented, as well as previous results of ongoing works, to discuss the challenges to aboard these issues finally.