Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield
Biophysical evaluations of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) often overlook the potential interactions with and implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services, which are important determinants of food system resilience and sustainability. Drawing on a case study in the East Usambara Mountains, T...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.868870/full |
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| author | Hemant G. Tripathi Hemant G. Tripathi William E. Kunin Harriet E. Smith Susannah Mary Sallu Sixbert Maurice Suzan D. Machera Rhiannon Davies Mosha Florence Samuel Eze J. H. Galani Yamdeu J. H. Galani Yamdeu Steven Mark Sait |
| author_facet | Hemant G. Tripathi Hemant G. Tripathi William E. Kunin Harriet E. Smith Susannah Mary Sallu Sixbert Maurice Suzan D. Machera Rhiannon Davies Mosha Florence Samuel Eze J. H. Galani Yamdeu J. H. Galani Yamdeu Steven Mark Sait |
| author_sort | Hemant G. Tripathi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biophysical evaluations of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) often overlook the potential interactions with and implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services, which are important determinants of food system resilience and sustainability. Drawing on a case study in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, we compare the impacts of CSA with other agricultural management practices on invertebrate pest and natural enemy diversity, and the associated effects on crop damage and crop yield. We found that the most common CSA practices in the region, terracing and trenching with live and compost mulches, provided the best outcomes for crop production, pest suppression and agricultural income. However, greater diversity of pests was observed when neighboring fields planted improved crop varieties, suggesting that the use of improved varieties by farmers creates increased vulnerability to pest damage among neighboring farmers that used local varieties. Also, greater natural enemy diversity was found when neighboring fields were either intercropped or left fallow highlighting spatial flows of ecosystem services between fields. Landcover heterogeneity was positively correlated with pest diversity, whilst landcover richness was positively associated with higher pest volume, highlighting the importance of landscape characteristics in pest and natural enemy dynamics. Finally, we found that crop damage was most severe when pest communities had low species richness, suggesting that a small number of key crop pests contribute to most yield losses. Our findings illustrate that those varied combinations of agricultural management practices lead to heterogeneous biodiversity outcomes and trade-offs, and highlight the importance of local management, neighborhood effects and landscape characteristics. CSA evaluations must therefore look beyond productivity as a measure for success, as trade-offs with invertebrate biodiversity, food production, and environmental sustainability often interact and feedback in complex and unexpected ways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:35:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac8c6feb034346a88034fa722b30306b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-581X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:35:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac8c6feb034346a88034fa722b30306b2022-12-22T03:32:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2022-06-01610.3389/fsufs.2022.868870868870Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop YieldHemant G. Tripathi0Hemant G. Tripathi1William E. Kunin2Harriet E. Smith3Susannah Mary Sallu4Sixbert Maurice5Suzan D. Machera6Rhiannon Davies7Mosha Florence8Samuel Eze9J. H. Galani Yamdeu10J. H. Galani Yamdeu11Steven Mark Sait12UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge, United KingdomFaculty of Biological Sciences, School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomFaculty of Biological Sciences, School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomFaculty of Environment, School of Earth and Environment, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomFaculty of Environment, School of Earth and Environment, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomPest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, TanzaniaPest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, TanzaniaFaculty of Biological Sciences, School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomMuheza District Council, Tanga, TanzaniaDepartment of Life Sciences, College of Science, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United KingdomSection of Natural and Applied Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, United KingdomSchool of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomFaculty of Biological Sciences, School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United KingdomBiophysical evaluations of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) often overlook the potential interactions with and implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services, which are important determinants of food system resilience and sustainability. Drawing on a case study in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, we compare the impacts of CSA with other agricultural management practices on invertebrate pest and natural enemy diversity, and the associated effects on crop damage and crop yield. We found that the most common CSA practices in the region, terracing and trenching with live and compost mulches, provided the best outcomes for crop production, pest suppression and agricultural income. However, greater diversity of pests was observed when neighboring fields planted improved crop varieties, suggesting that the use of improved varieties by farmers creates increased vulnerability to pest damage among neighboring farmers that used local varieties. Also, greater natural enemy diversity was found when neighboring fields were either intercropped or left fallow highlighting spatial flows of ecosystem services between fields. Landcover heterogeneity was positively correlated with pest diversity, whilst landcover richness was positively associated with higher pest volume, highlighting the importance of landscape characteristics in pest and natural enemy dynamics. Finally, we found that crop damage was most severe when pest communities had low species richness, suggesting that a small number of key crop pests contribute to most yield losses. Our findings illustrate that those varied combinations of agricultural management practices lead to heterogeneous biodiversity outcomes and trade-offs, and highlight the importance of local management, neighborhood effects and landscape characteristics. CSA evaluations must therefore look beyond productivity as a measure for success, as trade-offs with invertebrate biodiversity, food production, and environmental sustainability often interact and feedback in complex and unexpected ways.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.868870/fullcrop pestsnatural enemiesfood securityneighborhood effectsEast Usambara MountainsTanzania |
| spellingShingle | Hemant G. Tripathi Hemant G. Tripathi William E. Kunin Harriet E. Smith Susannah Mary Sallu Sixbert Maurice Suzan D. Machera Rhiannon Davies Mosha Florence Samuel Eze J. H. Galani Yamdeu J. H. Galani Yamdeu Steven Mark Sait Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems crop pests natural enemies food security neighborhood effects East Usambara Mountains Tanzania |
| title | Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield |
| title_full | Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield |
| title_fullStr | Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield |
| title_short | Climate-Smart Agriculture and Trade-Offs With Biodiversity and Crop Yield |
| title_sort | climate smart agriculture and trade offs with biodiversity and crop yield |
| topic | crop pests natural enemies food security neighborhood effects East Usambara Mountains Tanzania |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.868870/full |
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