Unexpected lack of influence of tree rows on the dynamics of wheat aphids and their natural enemies in a temperate agroforestry system

Smits, Nathalie; Dupraz, Christian; Dufour, Lydie

doi:10.1007/s10457-011-9473-5

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…There is a substantial amount of AF research in Europe. Most studies deal with ecological aspects, such as carbon sequestration, nutrient competition, root length and root interaction of trees and crop (Quinkenstein et al, 2009;Plieninger, 2011;Smits et al, 2012;Upson and Burgess, 2013;Cardinael et al, 2015a,b;Medinski et al, 2015). A recent study of Torralba et al (2016) showed a beneficial effect of AF on biodiversity and ecosystem services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop Yields in European Agroforestry Systems: A Meta-Analysis

Ivezić¹,

Yu²,

Werf³

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Agroforestry is the practice of integrating woody vegetation with crops and/or livestock production in order to strengthen ecological services on farmland and achieve a more multi-functional agricultural system. Crop yields determine economic outcomes when trees are young, but information on yields is scattered in the literature and a quantitative overview of crop yields in European agroforestry systems is lacking. We therefore synthesized published information on crop yields in European agroforestry systems, using meta-analysis. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, highlighting quantitative information on yields is available only for traditional Dehesa systems in Spain and Portugal and for modern alley cropping experiments, mostly in northern Europe. Relative cereal crop yields in alley cropping systems (systems with tree rows with interspersed crop strips) were 96% of sole crop yield at tree planting. Crop yields in alley cropping decreased on average with 2.6% per year over the first 21 years of the tree stand, indicating increasing competitive effects of the trees with their age. On the other hand, studies in traditional Dehesa and Montado systems in Southern Europe showed no negative influence of the trees on crop production, indicating that competition between crops and trees plays a less important role in those systems than in alley cropping. Overall, the systematic review showed a need for more experimental data to further substantiate the benefits of agroforestry and elucidate optimal agroforestry practices under European conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop Yields in European Agroforestry Systems: A Meta-Analysis

Ivezić¹,

Yu²,

Werf³

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…In a study of three invertebrate taxa across three UK silvoarable systems, higher numbers of spiders and fewer slugs were captured in arable alleys adjacent to understoreys sown with a grass-clover mix than unvegetated understoreys, while the responses of carabid beetles varied according to species and site [25]. In a subsequent study in a silvoarable system in France, understoreys sown with a flower mix had no observable effect on grain aphid colonies or their natural enemies in the adjacent crop, although the flower mix did not establish as intended [26]. However, there remains a lack of evidence for the effects of these various understorey management options on both biodiversity and, of more relevance to farmers, financial outputs [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management to Promote Flowering Understoreys Benefits Natural Enemy Diversity, Aphid Suppression and Income in an Agroforestry System

et al. 2021

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Agroforestry systems, where productive trees are integrated into agricultural land, can deliver benefits to biodiversity, natural pest control, and pollination, but the effects are highly variable. Recent advances in our understanding of flower strips in agricultural systems suggest that the management of the tree row understorey could be an important contributor to this variation. Here, we compare two cutting regimes for an understorey, originally seeded with the same flower mix, in the tree rows of an apple-arable agroforestry system: (i) uncut vegetation to promote a flowering understorey, and (ii) regularly mown vegetation. We recorded the effects of management on invertebrate pests, natural enemies, and pollinators, in both the apple and arable components. Apple trees above flowering understoreys supported significantly: (i) more natural enemies early in the season, (ii) fewer aphid colonies, (iii) fewer aphid-damaged fruits, and (iv) higher pollinator visitation, compared with those above mown understoreys. In the arable crop alleys, both the taxonomic richness and Shannon diversity of ground-based natural enemies were significantly higher adjacent to flowering understoreys, compared with those adjacent to mown understoreys, early in the season. Financial modelling based on aphid damage to apples, mowing costs, and income from Countryside Stewardship grants, indicated that flowering understoreys increased farm income by GBP 231.02 per ha of agroforestry compared with mown understoreys. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that management to promote flowering understoreys in agroforestry systems can be a win-win option to improve invertebrate diversity, associated ecosystem services, and farm income.

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“…In a well-managed agroforestry system, growing crops like wheat under tree canopies (e.g. Eucalyptus) provides favorable microclimatic conditions for the crops [ 17 , 76 , 77 ]. Tree canopy structure and distance from crops affects crop performance [ 21 , 19 , 23 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling Undercover Cropland Inside Forests Using Landscape Variables: A Supplement to Remote Sensing Image Classification

et al. 2015

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The worldwide demand for food has been increasing due to the rapidly growing global population, and agricultural lands have increased in extent to produce more food crops. The pattern of cropland varies among different regions depending on the traditional knowledge of farmers and availability of uncultivated land. Satellite images can be used to map cropland in open areas but have limitations for detecting undergrowth inside forests. Classification results are often biased and need to be supplemented with field observations. Undercover cropland inside forests in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia was assessed using field observed percentage cover of land use/land cover classes, and topographic and location parameters. The most influential factors were identified using Boosted Regression Trees and used to map undercover cropland area. Elevation, slope, easterly aspect, distance to settlements, and distance to national park were found to be the most influential factors determining undercover cropland area. When there is very high demand for growing food crops, constrained under restricted rights for clearing forest, cultivation could take place within forests as an undercover. Further research on the impact of undercover cropland on ecosystem services and challenges in sustainable management is thus essential.

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Unexpected lack of influence of tree rows on the dynamics of wheat aphids and their natural enemies in a temperate agroforestry system

Cited by 14 publications

References 64 publications

Crop Yields in European Agroforestry Systems: A Meta-Analysis

Crop Yields in European Agroforestry Systems: A Meta-Analysis

Management to Promote Flowering Understoreys Benefits Natural Enemy Diversity, Aphid Suppression and Income in an Agroforestry System

Unveiling Undercover Cropland Inside Forests Using Landscape Variables: A Supplement to Remote Sensing Image Classification

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