Complementary effects of pollination and biocontrol services enable ecological intensification in macadamia orchards.

ABSTRACT: In many crops, both pollination and biocontrol determine crop yield, whereby the relative importance of the two ecosystem services can be moderated by the landscape context. However, additive and interactive effects of pollination and biocontrol in different landscape contexts are still poorly understood. We examined both ecosystem services in South African macadamia orchards. Combining observations and experiments, we disentangled their relative additive and interactive effects on crop production with variation in orchard design and landscape context (i.e., cover of natural habitat and altitude). Insect pollination increased the nut set on average by 280% (initial nut set) and 525% (final nut set), while biocontrol provided by bats and birds reduced the insect damage on average by 40%. Po

SUBMITTER: Anders M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11610654 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature