A global synthesis reveals biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production
Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield–related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for pollination; biological pest control; and final yields in the context of ongoing land-use change. Pollinator and enemy richness directly supported ecosystem services in addition to and independent of abundance and dominance. Up to 50% of the negative effects of landscape simplification on ecosystem services was due to richness losses of service-providing organisms, with negative consequences for crop yields. Maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystem service providers is therefore vital to sustain the flow of key agroecosystem benefits to society.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Science Advances
2018
|
| Subjects: | Biodiversidad||biodiversity||biodiversidade||biodiversité, Ecosistema||ecosystems||ecossistema||écosystème, Cultivo||crops||cultura||plante de culture, Polinizador||pollinators||polinizador||pollinisateur, Ecosystem services, Sede Central, |
| Online Access: | https://repositorio.iica.int/handle/11324/22907 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield–related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for pollination; biological pest control; and final yields in the context of ongoing land-use change. Pollinator and enemy richness directly supported ecosystem services in addition to and independent of abundance and dominance. Up to 50% of the negative effects of landscape simplification on ecosystem services was due to richness losses of service-providing organisms, with negative consequences for crop yields. Maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystem service providers is therefore vital to sustain the flow of key agroecosystem benefits to society. |
|---|