TY - JOUR A1 - Dainese, Matteo A1 - Schneider, Gudrun A1 - Krauss, Jochen A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Complementarity among natural enemies enhances pest suppression JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Natural enemies have been shown to be effective agents for controlling insect pests in crops. However, it remains unclear how different natural enemy guilds contribute to the regulation of pests and how this might be modulated by landscape context. In a field exclusion experiment in oilseed rape (OSR), we found that parasitoids and ground-dwelling predators acted in a complementary way to suppress pollen beetles, suggesting that pest control by multiple enemies attacking a pest during different periods of its occurrence in the field improves biological control efficacy. The density of pollen beetle significantly decreased with an increased proportion of non-crop habitats in the landscape. Parasitism had a strong effect on pollen beetle numbers in landscapes with a low or intermediate proportion of non-crop habitats, but not in complex landscapes. Our results underline the importance of different natural enemy guilds to pest regulation in crops, and demonstrate how biological control can be strengthened by complementarity among natural enemies. The optimization of natural pest control by adoption of specific management practices at local and landscape scales, such as establishing non-crop areas, low-impact tillage, and temporal crop rotation, could significantly reduce dependence on pesticides and foster yield stability through ecological intensification in agriculture. KW - ecosystem services KW - agroecology Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-158621 VL - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kleijn, David A1 - Winfree, Rachael A1 - Bartomeus, Ignasi A1 - Carvalheiro, Luísa G. A1 - Henry, Mickael A1 - Isaacs, Rufus A1 - Klein, Alexandra-Maria A1 - Kremen, Claire A1 - M'Gonigle, Leithen K. A1 - Rader, Romina A1 - Ricketts, Taylor H. A1 - Williams, Neal M. A1 - Adamson, Nancy Lee A1 - Ascher, John S. A1 - Báldi, András A1 - Batáry, Péter A1 - Benjamin, Faye A1 - Biesmeijer, Jacobus C. A1 - Blitzer, Eleanor J. A1 - Bommarco, Riccardo A1 - Brand, Mariette R. A1 - Bretagnolle, Vincent A1 - Button, Lindsey A1 - Cariveau, Daniel P. A1 - Chifflet, Rémy A1 - Colville, Jonathan F. A1 - Danforth, Bryan N. A1 - Elle, Elizabeth A1 - Garratt, Michael P. D. A1 - Herzog, Felix A1 - Holzschuh, Andrea A1 - Howlett, Brad G. A1 - Jauker, Frank A1 - Jha, Shalene A1 - Knop, Eva A1 - Krewenka, Kristin M. A1 - Le Féon, Violette A1 - Mandelik, Yael A1 - May, Emily A. A1 - Park, Mia G. A1 - Pisanty, Gideon A1 - Reemer, Menno A1 - Riedinger, Verena A1 - Rollin, Orianne A1 - Rundlöf, Maj A1 - Sardiñas, Hillary S. A1 - Scheper, Jeroen A1 - Sciligo, Amber R. A1 - Smith, Henrik G. A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf A1 - Thorp, Robbin A1 - Tscharntke, Teja A1 - Verhulst, Jort A1 - Viana, Blandina F. A1 - Vaissière, Bernard E. A1 - Veldtman, Ruan A1 - Ward, Kimiora L. A1 - Westphal, Catrin A1 - Potts, Simon G. T1 - Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation JF - Nature Communications N2 - There is compelling evidence that more diverse ecosystems deliver greater benefits to people, and these ecosystem services have become a key argument for biodiversity conservation. However, it is unclear how much biodiversity is needed to deliver ecosystem services in a cost- effective way. Here we show that, while the contribution of wild bees to crop production is significant, service delivery is restricted to a limited subset of all known bee species. Across crops, years and biogeographical regions, crop-visiting wild bee communities are dominated by a small number of common species, and threatened species are rarely observed on crops. Dominant crop pollinators persist under agricultural expansion and many are easily enhanced by simple conservation measures, suggesting that cost- effective management strategies to promote crop pollination should target a different set of species than management strategies to promote threatened bees. Conserving the biological diversity of bees therefore requires more than just ecosystem-service-based arguments. KW - ecosystem services KW - european countries KW - abundance KW - native bees KW - biodiversity conservation KW - plant diversity KW - fruit set KW - productivity KW - decline KW - pollen Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151879 VL - 6 IS - 7414 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Redlich, Sarah A1 - Martin, Emily A. A1 - Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Sustainable landscape, soil and crop management practices enhance biodiversity and yield in conventional cereal systems JF - Journal of Applied Ecology N2 - Input‐driven, modern agriculture is commonly associated with large‐scale threats to biodiversity, the disruption of ecosystem services and long‐term risks to food security and human health. A switch to more sustainable yet highly productive farming practices seems unavoidable. However, an integrative evaluation of targeted management schemes at field and landscape scales is currently lacking. Furthermore, the often‐disproportionate influence of soil conditions and agrochemicals on yields may mask the benefits of biodiversity‐driven ecosystem services. Here, we used a real‐world ecosystem approach to identify sustainable management practices for enhanced functional biodiversity and yield on 28 temperate wheat fields. Using path analysis, we assessed direct and indirect links between soil, crop and landscape management with natural enemies and pests, as well as follow‐on effects on yield quantity and quality. A paired‐field design with a crossed insecticide‐fertilizer experiment allowed us to control for the relative influence of soil characteristics and agrochemical inputs. We demonstrate that biodiversity‐enhancing management options such as reduced tillage, crop rotation diversity and small field size can enhance natural enemies without relying on agrochemical inputs. Similarly, we show that in this system controlling pests and weeds by agrochemical means is less relevant than expected for final crop productivity. Synthesis and applications. Our study highlights soil, crop and landscape management practices that can enhance beneficial biodiversity while reducing agrochemical usage and negative environmental impacts of conventional agriculture. The diversification of cropping systems and conservation tillage are practical measures most farmers can implement without productivity losses. Combining local measures with improved landscape management may also strengthen the sustainability and resilience of cropping systems in light of future global change. KW - crop management KW - ecological intensification KW - landscape heterogeneity KW - natural enemies KW - pests KW - soil characteristics KW - sustainable intensification KW - wheat yield Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-228345 VL - 58 IS - 3 SP - 507 EP - 517 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Redlich, Sarah A1 - Martin, Emily A. A1 - Wende, Beate A1 - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf T1 - Landscape heterogeneity rather than crop diversity mediates bird diversity in agricultural landscapes JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Crop diversification has been proposed as farm management tool that could mitigate the externalities of conventional farming while reducing productivity-biodiversity trade-offs. Yet evidence for the acclaimed biodiversity benefits of landscape-level crop diversity is ambiguous. Effects may strongly depend on spatial scale and the level of landscape heterogeneity (e.g. overall habitat diversity). At the same time, contrasting within-taxon responses obscure benefits to specific functional groups (i.e. species with shared characteristics or requirements) if studied at the community level. The objectives of this study were to 1) disentangle the relative effects of crop diversity and landscape heterogeneity on avian species richness across five spatial scales ranging from 250 to 3000 m radii around focal winter wheat fields; and 2) assess whether functional groups (feeding guild, conservation status, habitat preference, nesting behaviour) determine the strength and direction of responses to crop diversity and landscape heterogeneity. In central Germany, 14 landscapes were selected along independent gradients of crop diversity (annual arable crops) and landscape heterogeneity. Bird species richness in each landscape was estimated using four point counts throughout the breeding season. We found no effects of landscape-level crop diversity on bird richness and functional groups. Instead, landscape heterogeneity was strongly associated with increased total bird richness across all spatial scales. In particular, insect-feeding and non-farmland birds were favoured in heterogeneous landscapes, as were species not classified as endangered or vulnerable on the regional Red List. Crop-nesting farmland birds, however, were less species-rich in these landscapes. Accordingly, crop diversification may be less suitable for conserving avian diversity and associated ecosystem services (e.g. biological pest control), although confounding interactions with management intensity need yet to be confirmed. In contrast, enhancement of landscape heterogeneity by increasing perennial habitat diversity, reducing field sizes and the amount of cropland has the potential to benefit overall bird richness. Specialist farmland birds, however, may require more targeted management approaches. KW - bird diversity KW - crop diversity KW - landscape heterogeneity Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177110 VL - 13 IS - 8 ER -