Biodiversity Commons^™

How Weeds Affect Insects In Mango Cultivation Of South Florida, Blaire Kleiman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of weeds as insectary plants is an emerging management tactic by agroecologists and entomologists to sustain beneficial insect species. Fallow lands have always been used by insects and are an important part of their diet in fragmented ecosystems. Weeds provide floral resources to beneficial insects such as pollinators, parasitoids, and predators and resources to keep them within a field in between crop flowering. Using weeds as a tool in tropical fruit production reliant on pollination like Mango (Mangifera indica) allows farmers to reduce herbicide use, increases the biodiversity of both plants and insects, and increases pollination of crops …

Developing Sustainable Soil Building Strategies For Tropical Fruit Groves Within The South Florida Redland, Ariel Freidenreich

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tropical fruit production has become a lucrative industry in Miami-Dade County. Consequently, developing sustainable farming practices to be applied to these systems to ensure healthy soils and economically viable fruit production is becoming increasingly important. The study is focused on the incorporation of cover cropping as a management strategy for perennial tropical fruit production and its applications for local growers. Cover crops are plants that are grown to cover soil to reduce erosion, increase soil fertility, and enhance farmland biodiversity. The project was specifically designed to test the impacts of highly prolific legumes sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) and …

Mangiferin As A Biomarker For Mango Anthracnose Resistance, Herma Pierre

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mangos (Mangifera indica L.) are tropical/subtropical fruits belonging to the plant family Anacardiaceae. Anthracnose is the most deleterious disease of mango both in the field and during postharvest handling. It is most commonly caused by the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides complex. Mangiferin, a xanthanoid compound found in at least twelve plant families worldwide (Luo et al., 2012), is present in large amounts of the leaves and edible mangos. Even though this compound plays a pivotal role in the plant’s defense against biotic and abiotic stressors, no correlations been made between the compound and mango anthracnose resistance.

Mangos were collected, grouped …