Abstract: By the methods of sweep net, visual measurement, and hand catch, this paper studied the population structure and biodiversity of arthropods in the ecological nursing area and conventional management area of orange orchards in mountain area of Zhejiang Province, China. A total of 2851 individuals belonging to 2 classes, 11 orders, 60 families and 143 species in ecological nursing area and a total of 2311 individuals belonging to 2 classes, 11 orders, 50 families and 99 species in conventional management area were collected, respectively. Compared with those in conventional management area, the numbers and kinds of predatory, parasitic, and neutral arthropod sub-communities in ecological nursing area increased by 83.5%-330.7% and 123.9%-168%, respectively, and the dominant populations of predatory, parasitic, and neutral sub-communities increased while those of phytophagous sub-community had somewhat decrease. From March to October, the population dynamics of these sub-communities in ecological nursing area were relatively stable. The numbers of citrus red mite (Panonychus citri) and citrus aphid (Toxoptera citricidus) were always lower, while the number of citrus whitefly (Dialeurodes citri) was in reverse. Except that of phytophagous sub-community, the relative richness (P_i) of other sub-communities in ecological nursing area was all higher, and the dominant concentration degree (C) was all lower. The Shannon index (H) of total community, and of predatory, neutral and phytophagous sub-communities in ecological nursing area was higher than that in conventional management area, respectively, while the H of parasitic sub-community was 0.56 lower. Hill diversity indices N₁ and N₂ had the similar trend with H. The evenness index (J) of total community, and of neutral and phytophagous sub-communities in ecological nursing area was 0.01-0.21 higher than that in conventional management area, while the J of predatory and parasitic sub-communities was 0.03-0.04 lower. It was concluded that ecological nursing increased the diversity and stability of arthropod community in orange orchards, being an important means for sustainable pest management and citrus safety production.

Key words: Coated fertilizer, Controlled release membrane, Controlled release mechanism