TY - JOUR
T1 - Bird services and disservices to strawberry farming in Californian agricultural landscapes
AU - Gonthier, David J.
AU - Sciligo, Amber R.
AU - Karp, Daniel S.
AU - Lu, Adrian
AU - Garcia, Karina
AU - Juarez, Gila
AU - Chiba, Taiki
AU - Gennet, Sasha
AU - Kremen, Claire
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology © 2019 British Ecological Society
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Bird conservation in agricultural settings can be controversial. While some bird species damage some crops, others suppress insect pests. Few studies have simultaneously compared bird services and disservices to assess their net impact. Using an exclusion experiment in six California strawberry farms, we show that bird suppression of berry damage by insect pests (about 3.8% of berries) is similar in magnitude to the damage birds inflict on strawberries (about 3.2% of berries). Across 27 farms, we found that bird species richness and the relative abundance of insectivorous birds increased, while the relative abundance of strawberry-eating birds and bird damage decreased on farms with more semi-natural land cover in the surrounding landscapes (1000 m radius). Relative to homogeneous farms, those that implemented diversification practices, such as hedgerows, flower strips or increased crop diversity, had greater bird species richness, total relative abundance, insectivore abundance and strawberry-eating bird abundance. Synthesis and applications. Conserving semi-natural land cover in the surrounding landscape benefits bird species richness locally and aids farmers through reduced abundance of strawberry-eating birds and bird damage. These results highlight the need to consider both the services and disservices of birds when making management decisions.
AB - Bird conservation in agricultural settings can be controversial. While some bird species damage some crops, others suppress insect pests. Few studies have simultaneously compared bird services and disservices to assess their net impact. Using an exclusion experiment in six California strawberry farms, we show that bird suppression of berry damage by insect pests (about 3.8% of berries) is similar in magnitude to the damage birds inflict on strawberries (about 3.2% of berries). Across 27 farms, we found that bird species richness and the relative abundance of insectivorous birds increased, while the relative abundance of strawberry-eating birds and bird damage decreased on farms with more semi-natural land cover in the surrounding landscapes (1000 m radius). Relative to homogeneous farms, those that implemented diversification practices, such as hedgerows, flower strips or increased crop diversity, had greater bird species richness, total relative abundance, insectivore abundance and strawberry-eating bird abundance. Synthesis and applications. Conserving semi-natural land cover in the surrounding landscape benefits bird species richness locally and aids farmers through reduced abundance of strawberry-eating birds and bird damage. These results highlight the need to consider both the services and disservices of birds when making management decisions.
KW - agriculture
KW - agroecology
KW - bird
KW - diversified farming systems
KW - ecosystem services
KW - human-wildlife conflict
KW - pest suppression
KW - strawberry
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U2 - 10.1111/1365-2664.13422
DO - 10.1111/1365-2664.13422
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067492155
SN - 0021-8901
VL - 56
SP - 1948
EP - 1959
JO - Journal of Applied Ecology
JF - Journal of Applied Ecology
IS - 8
ER -