'Tidy' and 'messy' management alters natural enemy communities and pest control in urban agroecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Agroecosystem management influences ecological interactions that underpin ecosystem services. In human-centered systems, people's values and preferences influence management decisions. For example, aesthetic preferences for 'tidy' agroecosystems may remove vegetation complexity with potential negative impacts on beneficial associated biodiversity and ecosystem function. This may produce trade-offs in aesthetic- versus production-based management for ecosystem service provision. Yet, it is unclear how such preferences influence the ecology of small-scale urban agroecosystems, where aesthetic preferences for 'tidiness' are prominent among some gardener demographics. We used urban community gardens as a model system to experimentally test how aesthetic preferences for a 'tidy garden' versus a

SUBMITTER: Egerer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9499222 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature