Abstract

Intensified agriculture, a driver of biodiversity loss, can diminish ecosystem functions and their stability. Biodiversity can increase functional redundancy and is expected to stabilize ecosystem functions. Few studies, however, have explored how agricultural intensity affects functional redundancy and its link with ecosystem function stability. Here, within a continental-wide study, we assess how functional redundancy of seed predation is affected by agricultural intensity and landscape simplification. By combining carabid abundances with molecular gut content data, functional redundancy of seed predation was quantified for 65 weed genera across 60 fields in four European countries. Across weed genera, functional redundancy was reduced with high field management intensity and simplified crop rotations. Moreover, functional redundancy increased the spatial stability of weed seed predation at the field scale. We found that ecosystem functions are vulnerable to disturbances in intensively managed agroecosystems, providing empirical evidence of the importance of biodiversity for stable ecosystem functions across space.Within a continent-wide study, we assess the impact of agricultural intensity and landscape simplification on the functional redundancy of weed seed predation. We found that functional redundancy was reduced with high field management intensity and simplified crop rotations. Additionally, high functional redundancy increased the spatial stability of weed seed predation, underscoring the importance of biodiversity in maintaining stable ecosystem functions across space in intensively managed agroecosystems.image

Keywords

arable plants; carabids; ecosystem services; hierarchical modelling of species communities

Published in

Ecology Letters
2024, Volume: 27, number: 4, article number: e14411
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Lamprini Daouti, Eirini

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bommarco, Riccardo

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Feit, Benjamin

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Vasconcelos, Sasha

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Jonsson, Mattias

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14411

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/129269