Document Type : Agricultural Zoology

Authors

• A. KHALEGHIZADEH
• M. NASERI
• M. E. SEHHATISABET

Researcher

Abstract

Kerman province has the highest area under walnut cultivation in Iran. In summer 2014, 422 specimens were collected in walnut orchards of Kerman province, of which 248 specimens (58.8%) were attributed to rodents, 70 (16.6%) were attributed to birds and the remaining 104 specimens (24.6%) were attributed to both rodents and birds. In summer 2015, in those orchards that previously experienced vertebrate damage, five orchards and 27 trees were randomly selected and walnut fruit specimens with signs of rodent and bird damage were collected in four different dates. The damage rate was between 10.5% and 96.2%, giving the average damage rate 34.5%. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed a significant difference of the damage rate among the selected orchards (p<0.05). The height of walnut trees measured 9.2 m, the diameter of trees 35.2 cm and the thickness of fruit 1.43 mm. The distance of trees from the nearest river or stream was measured 41.9 m, from buildings 421.7 m and from roads 449 m. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the damage rate had significant correlation with the height of and the diameter of walnut trees, the distance from buildings and roads (p<0.05) but it was not found a significant correlation with the thickness of fruits and the distance from rivers or streams (p>0.05).

Keywords

• Vertebrates
• Forest Dormouse
• Woodpeckers
• Damage
• walnut

Main Subjects

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