Coffee pollination and pest control are affected by edge diversity at local scales but multiscalar approaches and disservices can not be ignored

Context

Managing landscapes to increase multiple services provision in search of higher agricultural yield can be an alternative to agricultural intensification. Nonetheless, to properly guide management, we need to better understand how landscape structure affects multiple services at different scales.

Objectives

Focused on synergies and trade-offs in real-world landscapes, we investigated how and at which scale landscape features related to the supply, demand and flow of services act as a common driver of pollination and pest control in coffee plantations.

Methods

Considering landscapes in an important coffee-producing region in Brazil, we tested the effects of forest and coffee cover, distance to forest, forest-coffee edge density and coffee edge diversity at multiple scales on pollination and pest control by birds, bats and ants.

Results

Coffee edge diversity (number of land uses in contact with coffee) was an important driver of pollination and pest control, being consistently relevant at local scales (up to 300 m). However, services were also affected by other landscape features and the ‘scale of effect’ of these relationships varied. Additionally, results show the complex nature of pest control once the direction of effect revealed services and disservices.

Conclusions

Besides reinforcing the importance of known landscape effects, this study adds to previous studies by showcasing the relevance of diverse land uses around coffee crops as a common driver of pollination and pest control provision by different species. Moreover, we highlight how understanding the combined local and landscape effects may aid in offsetting disservices and tackling the variety of ‘scales of effect’ found.