TY - JOUR

T1 - Interactive effects among ecosystem services and management practices on crop production

T2 - Pollination in coffee agroforestry systems

AU - Boreux, V.

AU - Kushalappa, Cheppudira G.

AU - Vaast, Philippe

AU - Ghazoul, Jaboury

PY - 2013/5/21

Y1 - 2013/5/21

N2 - Crop productivity is improved by ecosystem services, including pollination, but this should be set in the context of trade-offs among multiple management practices.We investigated the impact of pollination services on coffee production, considering variation in fertilization, irrigation, shade cover, and environmental variables such as rainfall (which stimulates coffee flowering across all plantations), soil pH, and nitrogen availability. After accounting for management interventions, bee abundance improved coffee production (number of berries harvested). Some management interventions, such as irrigation, used once to trigger asynchronous flowering, dramatically increased bee abundance at coffee trees. Others, such as the extent and type of tree cover, revealed interacting effects on pollination and, ultimately, crop production. The effects of management interventions, notably irrigation and addition of lime, had, however, far more substantial positive effects on coffee production than tree cover. These results suggest that pollination services matter, but managing the asynchrony of flowering was a more effective tool for securing good pollination than maintaining high shade tree densities as pollinator habitat. Complex interactions across farm and landscape scales, including both management practices and environmental conditions, shape pollination outcomes. Effective production systems therefore require the integrated consideration of management practices in the context of the surrounding habitat structure. This paper points toward a more strategic use of ecosystem services in agricultural systems, where ecosystem services are shaped by the coupling of management interventions and environmental variables.

AB - Crop productivity is improved by ecosystem services, including pollination, but this should be set in the context of trade-offs among multiple management practices.We investigated the impact of pollination services on coffee production, considering variation in fertilization, irrigation, shade cover, and environmental variables such as rainfall (which stimulates coffee flowering across all plantations), soil pH, and nitrogen availability. After accounting for management interventions, bee abundance improved coffee production (number of berries harvested). Some management interventions, such as irrigation, used once to trigger asynchronous flowering, dramatically increased bee abundance at coffee trees. Others, such as the extent and type of tree cover, revealed interacting effects on pollination and, ultimately, crop production. The effects of management interventions, notably irrigation and addition of lime, had, however, far more substantial positive effects on coffee production than tree cover. These results suggest that pollination services matter, but managing the asynchrony of flowering was a more effective tool for securing good pollination than maintaining high shade tree densities as pollinator habitat. Complex interactions across farm and landscape scales, including both management practices and environmental conditions, shape pollination outcomes. Effective production systems therefore require the integrated consideration of management practices in the context of the surrounding habitat structure. This paper points toward a more strategic use of ecosystem services in agricultural systems, where ecosystem services are shaped by the coupling of management interventions and environmental variables.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Apis

KW - Coffea canephora

KW - India

KW - Tetragonula

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84878157708&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1210590110

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1210590110

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 23671073

AN - SCOPUS:84878157708

VL - 110

SP - 8387

EP - 8392

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA)

SN - 0027-8424

IS - 21

ER -