Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Effects of novel P fertilizers on microbial abundance related to N and P cycling in two on-farm systems","authors":"Stefanie Katharina Thaqi ,&nbsp;Roberto Siani ,&nbsp;Akane Chiba ,&nbsp;Nora Vitow ,&nbsp;Christel Baum ,&nbsp;Peter Leinweber ,&nbsp;Kerstin Panten ,&nbsp;Michael Schloter ,&nbsp;Stefanie Schulz","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient element for plant growth and development. Its limited availability makes alternative P sources crucial for fertilizer production. This study investigated the effects of three recycling-derived fertilizers with varying P solubility on microbial nutrient turnover at two fields in central Germany, Kiebitzbreite and Schmatzfelder Breite, which differ in management practices and soil characteristics. Samples were collected during the stem elongation stage of winter wheat from bulk soil and rhizosphere. Fertilization treatments included traditional triple superphosphate (TSP) and a no-P control (P0) for comparison. The abundance of microorganisms involved in P and Nitrogen (N) turnover was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR. Potential acid and alkaline phosphatase activity, mycorrhizal colonization rate, Carbon (C) to P, N to P ratios in the soil and the plant, and water-extractable P were measured. Although all treatments received the same amount of P, the differing solubilities of the fertilizers significantly affected water-extractable P levels, while nutrient ratios in the plant biomass remained comparable among sites and fertilizer treatments. However, the microbial strategies for maintaining P levels varied significantly across the sites. At the Kiebitzbreite, the site with silty loam texture and deep plowing, high ratios of available C and N to P in the soil were accompanied by high alkaline phosphatase activity and a larger abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the rhizosphere. Conversely, P solubilization was more pronounced at Schmatzfelder Breite, a site with finer soil texture managed by deep chiseling. Notably, the fertilization treatments influenced not only the abundance of bacteria catalyzing P turnover but also those catalyzing major steps of the N cycle, especially at Schmatzfelder Breite, where higher P solubility led to increased bacteria involved in N mineralization. This non-targeted effect on N cycling underscores the importance of fertilizer type, beyond just P supply, in influencing broader nutrient turnover dynamics. Our findings suggest that recycling-derived P fertilizers are promising alternatives to conventional P sources, though their on-farm impacts on microbial nutrient turnover vary significantly with site conditions and management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109565"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143518983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-driven structural characteristics relate to epigeal arthropod communities in olive agroecosystems of the Atacama Desert","authors":"B.N. Wallberg ,&nbsp;J. Pizarro-Araya ,&nbsp;F.M. Alfaro ,&nbsp;J.E. Calderón ,&nbsp;A.P. Loayza","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109593","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109593","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intensive agriculture has led to a significant global decline of biodiversity. However, agroecosystems like olive groves can serve as biodiversity refuges, especially in arid environments, by acting as resource islands that promote the persistence of multiple species, including arthropods. The structural complexity and productivity of olive groves typically increase with age, enhancing their ability to sustain high biodiversity. In this study, we examined how epigeal arthropod diversity patterns vary across olive orchards of different ages in the Huasco Valley of Chile's Atacama Desert. We hypothesized that older olive orchards, with greater structural complexity and productivity, would harbor higher arthropod abundance, diversity, and distinct community compositions than a younger olive orchard. To test this hypothesis, we sampled epigeal arthropods in three olive orchards of different ages (young, intermediate, and centennial) using pitfall traps and characterized each orchard's structure and productivity (NDVI). Our findings indicate that olive orchard age is related to arthropod composition and abundance but not diversity. Young and intermediate olive orchards had higher arthropod abundance, dominated by isopods and hymenopterans, while entomophthorans and mites predominated in the centennial orchard. Each orchard harbored a unique arthropod community, with NDVI being a key factor in the centennial orchard, dry weed biomass in intermediate orchards, and leaf litter in young groves. These results suggest that the structural characteristics associated with olive orchard age play a crucial role in shaping arthropod communities in arid environments, highlighting the importance of habitat management within agroecosystems for promoting biodiversity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109593"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143527476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Crop diversity enhances drought tolerance and reduces environmental impact in commodity crops","authors":"Yamila Leguizamón ,&nbsp;Matías G. Goldenberg ,&nbsp;Esteban Jobbágy ,&nbsp;Juan I. Whitworth-Hulse ,&nbsp;Emilio Satorre ,&nbsp;María Paolini ,&nbsp;Gustavo Martini ,&nbsp;Jose Roberto Micheloud ,&nbsp;Lucas A. Garibaldi","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109585","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109585","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Key challenges in agriculture include enhancing tolerance to extreme climatic events and reducing environmental impacts. While diversified crop rotations and cover crops are known to reduce pest incidence and improve soil health, their combined effects on production, especially during extreme droughts, remain unclear. To examine the impact of crop rotation diversity and cover crops on grain yield and pesticide footprint (measured by the Environmental Impact Quotient, EIQ) of rainfed maize and soybean in both normal and extremely dry years, we applied mixed-effects models to data from 1777 fields in Argentina. Overall, increasing crop rotation diversity reduced field EIQ, with the impact on grain yield varying based on crop type, nitrogen fertilization, and year. Maize yield improved with crop rotation diversity in the dry year, particularly with low nitrogen fertilization, reaching yields similar to those in normal year. Soybean yield, instead, was unaffected by either crop rotation diversity or cover crops. While grain yields of crops following cover crops and fallow were comparable, fields with cover crops showed a reduction in EIQ of up to 20 %. Diversified crop rotations emerge as an effective management strategy to alleviate drought and low nitrogen fertilization’s adverse effects on maize yield. Additionally, cover crops help reduce agriculture’s environmental impact without diminishing maize and soybean production. Our findings underscore the importance of crop diversification in developing a more sustainable agricultural system with reduced inputs and enhanced drought resilience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109585"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143512475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Elevated ozone mitigates warming-induced methane emissions in a rice paddy field","authors":"Xin Zhong ,&nbsp;Evgenios Agathokleous ,&nbsp;Jianghua Wu ,&nbsp;Yujie Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuqing Zhou ,&nbsp;Yansen Xu ,&nbsp;Bo Shang ,&nbsp;Yang Ji ,&nbsp;Zhaozhong Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Global warming cooccurs with tropospheric ozone (O₃); however, their joined effect on methane (CH₄) emissions in agricultural ecosystems remains largely unknown. Here, a two-year field study was conducted to quantify the effects of elevated O₃ (1.5 ×ambient) and/or warming (ambient+2℃) on CH₄ emissions from paddy fields in a free-air O₃-concentration enrichment and warming system, and to clarify the main influencing factors. Four treatments were applied: (1) ambient O₃ and ambient temperature (CK), (2) elevated O₃ and ambient temperature (E-O₃), (3) ambient O₃ and elevated temperature (W), and (4) elevated O₃ and elevated temperature (E-O₃W). Results showed that elevated O₃ significantly inhibited or tended to inhibit CH₄ emissions from paddy fields at ambient temperature, especially at the jointing and booting stages of rice. Elevated O₃ mitigated the stimulatory effect of warming on CH₄ emissions. The effects of elevated O₃ concentration and warming on CH₄ emission were related to significant changes in soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and NH₄⁺ content, but not to the number of rice tillers, soil pH, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and NO₃^- content. Our study provides evidence that elevated O₃ concentration and warming have an antagonistic effect on CH₄ emissions from paddy fields. To accurately predict global change impacts, the effects of both elevated O₃ and warming should be incorporated within the CH₄ models for paddy fields.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109577"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fertilizer management modifies soil CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions in a Chernozem soil","authors":"Márton Dencső ,&nbsp;Zsófia Bakacsi ,&nbsp;Nándor Fodor ,&nbsp;Ágota Horel ,&nbsp;Marianna Magyar ,&nbsp;Eszter Tóth","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109580","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109580","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change is an emerging threat to global ecosystems, thus assessing human influences on soil carbon and nitrogen cycles is essential for mitigation policies. We evaluated the effects of different fertilizer applications on CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄ emissions of an Endocalcic Chernozem under maize cropping in a long-term experiment for two consecutive years. We examined soil temperature (Ts), soil water content (SWC), soil chemical parameters, yield and greenhouse gas intensity indexes (GHGI) in the control (C), the manure (M), the fertilized (NPK), and the combined (NPK+M) parcels. We found higher mean CO₂ emissions (0.056 ± 0.040 mg CO₂ m⁻²s⁻¹) in the M treatment compared to the NPK (0.048 ± 0.057 mg CO₂ m⁻²s⁻¹). CO₂ emission showed inconsistent results in both years, highlighting the importance of the duration of the investigations. N₂O emissions were higher under NPK or NPK+M treatments (0.014 ± 0.025 and 0.017 ± 0.026 µg N₂O m⁻² s⁻¹) than under M or control (0.003 ± 0.002 and 0.003 ± 0.002 µg N₂O m⁻² s⁻¹). These results can be attributed to the higher nitrogen contents and lower pH values in the NPK parcels. There were no significant CH₄ emissions under any treatments. Mean Ts and SWC were similar in each treatment indicating their influence on the emissions was rather temporal, than between treatments. Mean GHGI was the lowest in NPK+M, since the yields compensated the elevated emissions. This research highlights the benefits of combined fertilization for chernozem soils in terms of yield and GHGI, which can be useful for selecting proper fertilizer technologies in areas with similar soil characteristics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109580"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Well-designed multi-species grassland mixtures enhance both soil carbon inputs and aboveground productivity","authors":"Esben Øster Mortensen ,&nbsp;Diego Abalos ,&nbsp;Jim Rasmussen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109578","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109578","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing species diversity in managed grasslands may serve multiple environmental purposes, especially when legumes are included. Yet, how to design such legume-based grassland mixtures to increase soil C inputs remains unclear. This is particularly true for C inputs into deep soil layers, and via rhizodeposition. This field study investigated the effects of mixture design on root C and net-rhizodeposition to 1 m depth in managed grasslands with the aim to combine high soil C inputs with high aboveground productivity. Net-rhizodeposition was defined as accumulated C lost from roots, which remained in the soil at the end of the growing season. We used multiple-pulse isotopic labelling with ¹³C-CO₂ to quantify the soil C inputs from roots and rhizodeposition in a range of species mixtures fertilized with 75 kg N ha⁻¹, and in pure stand perennial ryegrass with different N fertilizer rates (75 vs 300 kg N ha⁻¹). Mixtures comprised productive legumes (<em>Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense</em>) with non-legumes (grasses: <em>Lolium perenne</em>, <em>Festuca arundinacea</em>; forbs: <em>Cichorium intybus</em>, <em>Plantago lanceolata</em>) in 2-species mixtures and in a 6-species mixture, and an 18-species mixture with additional species from the three functional groups. Our results showed increased belowground C input with species richness up to six without compromising aboveground yield, but when species richness increased further, root C was substantially reduced. Total net-rhizodeposition measured to 1 m depth was reduced with higher N availability (fertilizer or legume inclusion) independently of increasing root biomass. Within mixtures, the 2-species mixtures with red clover had lower rhizodeposition compared to white clover. Overall, the 6-species mixture represented the best option to balance both high root C with rhizodeposited C, as well as maintaining a high and stable aboveground yield similar to the high-fertilized pure stand grass. This study shows how species design of legume-based mixtures – not species richness per se – can increase belowground C input to depth in intensively managed grasslands without compromising aboveground productivity. Thus, our results reveal an agronomic option to steer soil C storage via rhizodeposition and root C, providing quantitative evidence to better understand the relevance of these pools for C cycling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109578"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Landscape context influences local management effects on birds and bats in Amazonian cacao agroforestry systems","authors":"Pablo Aycart-Lazo ,&nbsp;Blanca Ivañez-Ballesteros ,&nbsp;Carolina Ocampo-Ariza ,&nbsp;Johannes Wessely ,&nbsp;Stefan Dullinger ,&nbsp;Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter ,&nbsp;Evert Thomas ,&nbsp;Teja Tscharntke ,&nbsp;Bea Maas","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109545","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109545","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural expansion and intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss, particularly in tropical regions. Cacao agroforestry systems can both support and benefit from high levels of biodiversity via associated pest control services from birds and bats, although their potential to do so likely depends on local management and the landscape context. However, how interactions between local-scale agroforestry practices and landscape-scale habitat features shape bird and bat communities in these systems remains poorly understood. We studied birds and bats in 28 smallholder cacao agroforests in the Peruvian Amazon, comparing two regions with contrasting levels of agricultural intensification. We analyzed how local tree diversity and canopy cover interact with surrounding landscape tree cover and regional agricultural intensity to influence species richness and community composition. Results showed that local tree diversity increased bird richness, but only in the intensively farmed region. Local canopy cover had contrasting effects: it negatively impacted bird richness, abundance, and bat activity in more open landscapes (&lt;55 % tree cover), but positively in forested landscapes (&gt;80 % tree cover). Notably, these interactions were significant when considering the landscape tree cover at small spatial scales (250 m), but not at 500 m or 1000 m. Our findings highlight the importance of adapting cacao agroforestry management to the surrounding landscape. Retaining high local canopy cover supports flying vertebrate diversity and associated ecosystem services in forested landscapes, while restoration of landscape tree cover could enhance bird and bat populations that may contribute to pest suppression services in deforested areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109545"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143487204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant diversity expands dietary niche breadth but facilitates dietary niche partitioning of co-occurring cattle and sheep","authors":"Man Xu,&nbsp;Yueqing Song,&nbsp;Yizhen Wang,&nbsp;Yonghuan Yue,&nbsp;Haoran Yu,&nbsp;Huixian Meng,&nbsp;Ling Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109566","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109566","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extensive research has elucidated the effects of plant diversity on small invertebrate consumers; however, the corresponding impacts on large generalist herbivores remain comparatively under-explored. This gap is particularly notable in the context of dietary variations across different species of sympatric large generalist herbivores. Given the prevalence and crucial role of domestic herbivores in grassland ecosystems, our study experimentally investigated the dietary variation, either in terms of partitioning or overlap, between co-occurring cattle and sheep across a range of plant diversity gradients. Our results demonstrated a significant expansion in the dietary niche breadth of cattle and sheep with increased plant diversity. However, the dietary expansion of the two large herbivore species with available plant diversity did not increase interspecific overlap. Rather, cattle and sheep mainly exploited the same resources in different proportions by this augmented plant diversity, leading to significantly reduced dietary niche overlap and thereby facilitating dietary partitioning between them. Our results underscore the critical role of preserving high plant diversity in facilitating dietary partitioning among large herbivores. This could enhance the synergistic effects of cattle and sheep grazing on plant communities. Our study also has important implications for the management of livestock grazing, suggesting that adopting mixed grazing of cattle and sheep in grasslands with high plant diversity could be more beneficial than in low-diversity grasslands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109566"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143487009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil health responses to long-term grazing intensity gradients in two semiarid rangelands","authors":"Kalyn Taylor ,&nbsp;Justin D. Derner ,&nbsp;Daniel Liptzin ,&nbsp;Lauren M. Porensky ,&nbsp;Jocelyn M. Lavallee ,&nbsp;David J. Augustine ,&nbsp;David L. Hoover","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109548","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109548","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Semiarid rangelands constitute nearly 30 % of the world’s grassland ecosystems and livestock grazing is the most widespread land use in these ecosystems. These semiarid rangelands provide a variety of ecosystem goods and services, many of which may depend on soil health. While advances have been made with indicators of soil health for croplands, similar efforts for rangelands are lacking. The North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM) sampled soils to 15 cm from long-term (≥ 40 years) grazing treatments spanning a range of grazing intensity (ungrazed to heavy grazing) in two semiarid rangelands, shortgrass steppe (SGS) and northern mixed-grass prairie (NMP), in fall 2019. Soils were analyzed for chemical (permanganate oxidizable carbon [POXC] and soil organic carbon [SOC]), biological (mineralizable soil carbon [MinC], phospholipid fatty acids [PLFA], ACE protein, and β-glucosidase enzyme activity [BG]), and physical (saturated hydraulic conductivity [SHC], available water capacity [AWC], and aggregate stability) indicators of soil health. Light particulate organic carbon and mineral associated organic carbon fractions were also analyzed at the SGS. Additionally, annual net primary productivity and the relative production of warm-vs cool-season grasses were evaluated from 2010 to 2019. Soil health responses to grazing intensity treatments in these two semiarid rangeland ecosystems were generally inconsistent across and within chemical, biological, and physical indicators. For instance, POXC and SOC differed between the two rangeland ecosystems, but neither soil health response within a site was significantly affected by grazing intensity. MinC and saturated hydraulic conductivity consistently decreased as grazing intensity increased in both rangeland ecosystems, while all other biological and chemical indicators were either 1) solely influenced by rangeland ecosystem type, 2) the interaction between rangeland ecosystem and grazing intensity, or 3) unaffected by rangeland ecosystem or grazing intensity. At SGS, δ13 C values of both organic carbon fractions became less negative as grazing intensity increased, consistent with a greater proportion of warm-season perennial grasses and lower proportion of cool-season grasses. Our results suggest that generalizations about the effects of multi-decadal grazing intensity gradients in western Great Plains semiarid rangelands in North America on chemical, biological, and physical indicators of soil health remain elusive.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109548"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143487076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Simulating and mapping the risks and impact of fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda) and white grub (Holotrichia serrata) in maize production outlooks for Nigeria under climate change","authors":"Esther Shupel Ibrahim ,&nbsp;Claas Nendel ,&nbsp;Ayodele Ebenezer Ajayi ,&nbsp;Michael Berg-Mohnicke ,&nbsp;Susanne Schulz","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109534","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109534","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agriculture in many developing countries is expected to be severely affected by climate change. The majority of Africa’s population traditionally depends on maize for their livelihoods. The recent invasion and spread of the fall armyworm (FAW), white grubs and other maize pests in Africa is therefore one of the major factors hindering sustainable food security on the continent. Estimating the simultaneous impact of climate change and major pests on maize yields, its spatio-temporal pattern and narrow time windows is most useful for early warning, but is not addressed in the current literature. We present an approach based on remotely sensed climate and biophysical data and agro-system modelling to fill this gap, using Nigeria as an example. We start from a baseline maize yield simulation that produces mean yields of 800–1200 kg ha^–1, 1000–1700 kg ha^–1 and 1200–2300 kg ha^–1 under low, medium and high nitrogen supply, respectively. Potential pest impacts can be responsible for mean yield losses of up to 18–75 % and 8–73 % (USD 72.4 – 675.3 ha^–1) for white grub and FAW, respectively, under different severity thresholds, depending on locations and when maize was sown. Our findings further collaborates that yield losses due to pests outweigh the direct effects of climate change. Importantly, our findings reveal the influence of changing sowing windows on the magnitude of yield losses. Early sowing resulted in higher yield losses, while medium and late sowing generated lower yield losses for all simulated years. Our pest risk predictions show moderate to high growth index numbers for FAW to occur in Nigeria, especially in the 2021–2060 windows, and most favourable in the cropping seasons in all agro-ecological zones (AEZs). Favourable breeding conditions for FAW decreased over time and were almost absent in the savannahs by 2100. However, the risk projections show higher stress indices occurring from 2081 to 2100 and a decline in growth index counts. This information is key to understanding pest adaptation in Nigeria, and how crop management can support sustainable yield improvements. The findings can be used to improve organic crop management and facilitate policy formulation for future climate change adaptation and mitigation for optimised agricultural production, innovative chemical control, sustainable environmental management, progressive agribusiness and secure access to food in Nigeria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"385 ","pages":"Article 109534"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143480504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}