How does wireworm damage in potato fields correlate with elaterid speciesas well as environmental and cultivation parameters?

Abstract: Wireworm damages are one of the major recent plant protection problems in organicas well as in conventional potato farming. This study aimed at identifying parameters ofenvironment and cultivation that correlate with wireworm damages in potato as well as theoccurrence of Agriotes species. From 2007 to 2009, 29 organic potato fields, located in EasternAustria were investigated by wireworm-bait traps and damage ratings. Crop rotation andcultivation methods were interrogated from the farmers for each field. Site-specific soil, climateand landscape parameters were collected from databases. Relevant parameters were selected byPrincipal Component Analysis and then correlated with the damage height and the number ofbaited wireworms. The greatest differences between the research sites were caused by a regionalfactor. The severity of damage seemed to increase alongside a regional gradient from the lowerwarm-dry Marchfeld over central Weinviertel, both Lower Austria, towards the higher, coolhumidand densely-wooded Wald- and Mühlviertel, Lower and Upper Austria, respectively.Higher air temperatures in July and August seemed to diminish the damage. Single wirewormspecies of the main pest-genus Agriotes showed differences in regional distribution. OnlyAgriotes obscurus and Agriotes sputator correlated with the damage height.