Combined effects of agrochemicals and ecosystem services on crop yield across Europe

Download

[thumbnail of Gagic et al. 2017 Ecol. Letts Author final ms.pdf]

Text - Accepted Version
· Restricted to Repository staff only
· The Copyright of this document has not been checked yet. This may affect its availability.

Restricted to Repository staff only

Advice

Please see our End User Agreement.

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

Tools

Lists

Gagic, V., Kleijn, D., Báldic, A., Boros, G., Bracht Jorgensen, H., Elek, Z., Garratt, M. P. D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0196-6013, De Grootx, G. A., Hedlund, K., Kovács-Hostyánszki, A., Marini, L., Martin, E., Pevere, I., Potts, S. G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2045-980X, Redlich, S., Senapathi, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8883-1583, Steffan-Dewenter, I., Świtek, S., Smith, H., Takács, V., Tryjanowski, P., van der Putten, W. H., van Gils, S. and Bommarco, R. (2017) Combined effects of agrochemicals and ecosystem services on crop yield across Europe. Ecology Letters, 20 (11). pp. 1427-1436. ISSN 1461-0248 doi: 10.1111/ele.12850

Abstract/Summary

Simultaneously enhancing ecosystem services provided by biodiversity below and above ground is recommended to reduce dependence on chemical pesticides and mineral fertilizers in agriculture. However, consequences for crop yield have been poorly evaluated. Above ground, increased landscape complexity is assumed to enhance biological pest control, whereas below ground, soil organic carbon (SOC) is a proxy for several yield-supporting services. In a field experiment replicated in 114 fields across Europe, we found that fertilization had the strongest positive effect on yield, but hindered simultaneous harnessing of below- and above-ground ecosystem services. We furthermore show that enhancing natural enemies and pest control through increasing landscape complexity can prove disappointing in fields with low soil services or in intensively cropped regions. Thus, understanding ecological interdependences between land-use, ecosystem services and yield is necessary to promote more environmentally friendly farming by identifying situations where ecosystem services are maximized and agrochemical inputs can be reduced.

Altmetric Badge

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/72282
Identification Number/DOI	10.1111/ele.12850
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Wiley
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item

Funded Project

Funders:	European Commission	The sponsoring bodies who contributed funding for the creation of this item. Example: NERC Example: The Royal Society of Chemistry A pick list of funders may appear as you type in the funder's name in full or as an acronym. Select a correct match to complete the field or type in a new entry in full. For new entries, the full name is preferred.
Projects:	Linking farmland Biodiversity to Ecosystem services for effective eco-functional intensification (LIBERATION) Funded by: European Commission (311781 - £325,390) Local Lead (PI): Simon Potts 1 February 2013 - 31 January 2017	Click Add to select your project (received at Reading) from an autocomplete list.

Deposit Details

Date Deposited:	07 Sep 2017 09:22	Date item deposited into CentAUR
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2025 02:30	Date item last modified

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Search Google Scholar