Governments have developed legislation to regulate and support olive groves cultivated under sustainable practices,by controlling pesticides and fertilizers release. This has created a need for reliable estimating and monitoring the quality and sustainability status of agro-ecosystems.
Biological indicators of farming practices have been indicated as suitable tools for management and political purposes within agricultural landscapes but there is a considerable lack of indicator species for sustainability evaluation. This project aims to fill this gap and contribute for the development of biological indicators as tools for assessing the quality and sustainability of the olive grove.
Potentially,the results could lead to improve viability of sustainable systems,mainly if included into organic olive production,as demand for organically grown olive products is rising and consumers are willing to pay higher prices for superior quality olive oil. Better marketing of olive oil might in this way,constitute an important driver for the development of biological indicators based on arthropod community,as assessment tools of the sustainability of this agro-ecosystem.