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| Open AccessMeta-analysis reveals that pollinator functional diversity and abundance enhance crop pollination and yield
Pollinator communities could have nuanced effects on crop yield depending on their species and functional trait compositions. Here, the authors use a meta-analysis to show that, in addition to pollinator abundance, functional trait divergence also positively impacts yield of oilseed rape crops.
- B. A. Woodcock
- , M. P. D. Garratt
- & R. F. Pywell
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Article
| Open AccessA global meta-analysis of yield stability in organic and conservation agriculture
Yields vary between different cropping systems, though their temporal stability has not been quantified. Here, Knapp and van der Heijden present a meta-analysis showing that yields in organic agriculture have, per unit food produced, a lower temporal stability.
- Samuel Knapp
- & Marcel G. A. van der Heijden
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Article
| Open AccessCarbon costs and benefits of Indonesian rainforest conversion to plantations
Rainforest conversion to plantations driven by global demand for agricultural products generates high environmental costs. Here, the authors show that the high oil palm plantation production efficiency is associated with decreased carbon storage and slower organic matter cycling that affect ecosystem services.
- Thomas Guillaume
- , Martyna M. Kotowska
- & Yakov Kuzyakov
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| Open AccessCauses and implications of the unforeseen 2016 extreme yield loss in the breadbasket of France
In France, the 2016 winter wheat harvest was at its lowest since over 50 years. Here, Ben-Ari et al. show the role of seasonal temperature and precipitation extremes in this loss, and accounting for both of these variables explains large, historical yield loss events.
- Tamara Ben-Ari
- , Julien Boé
- & David Makowski
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Article
| Open AccessTwo-thirds of global cropland area impacted by climate oscillations
Climate oscillations such as El Niño Southern Oscillation may impact global crop production. Here, the authors, using a unified framework of multiple climate oscillations, find that from 1961 to 2010 over two-thirds of the global cropland is located where crop productivity is influenced by climate oscillations.
- Matias Heino
- , Michael J. Puma
- & Matti Kummu
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Article
| Open AccessAgrochemicals increase risk of human schistosomiasis by supporting higher densities of intermediate hosts
Agrochemicals can affect the life cycle of human parasites in unexpected ways. Here, Halstead et al. show in mesocosm experiments that agrochemicals increase the density of snails hosting schistosome parasites, and modeling analysis suggests this could lead to increased risk of human schistosomiasis.
- Neal T. Halstead
- , Christopher M. Hoover
- & Jason R. Rohr
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Article
| Open AccessConsistent negative response of US crops to high temperatures in observations and crop models
Future agricultural productivity is threatened by high temperatures. Here, using 9 crop models, Schaubergeret al. find that yield losses due to temperatures >30 °C are captured by current models where yield losses by mild heat stress occur mainly due to water stress and can be buffered by irrigation.
- Bernhard Schauberger
- , Sotirios Archontoulis
- & Katja Frieler
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| Open AccessField warming experiments shed light on the wheat yield response to temperature in China
The degree to which wheat yield in China will respond to future warming remains uncertain. These authors compile data from warming experiments and process-based statistical models and show that warming increases yield only in regions where growing season mean temperature is low and water supply is not limiting.
- Chuang Zhao
- , Shilong Piao
- & Shushi Peng
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| Open AccessLand-use choices follow profitability at the expense of ecological functions in Indonesian smallholder landscapes
Small-scale farmers in Southeast Asia are increasingly turning to monocultures of oil palm and rubber to maximize income. Clough and colleagues demonstrate that this land-use change in Indonesia comes at a cost to a wide array of ecosystem functions and biodiversity.
- Yann Clough
- , Vijesh V. Krishna
- & Stefan Scheu
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| Open AccessImpacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population changes in wild bees in England
Neonicotinoid as insecticide on oilseed rape can reduce bee colony density, but its effect at a large geographical scale is unclear. This study describes 18-year long wild bee tracking data in England and show neonicotinoid use is correlated with wild bee population declines at real landscape scales.
- Ben A. Woodcock
- , Nicholas J. B. Isaac
- & Richard F. Pywell
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Article
| Open AccessReciprocal genomic evolution in the ant–fungus agricultural symbiosis
Attine ants, including the leaf-cutting ants, cultivate fungi as their sole source of food. Here, Nygaard et al. use whole genome and transcriptome sequences from seven ant species and their fungal cultivars to reconstruct the reciprocal genetic changes underlying the evolution of the ant-fungus mutualism.
- Sanne Nygaard
- , Haofu Hu
- & Jacobus J. Boomsma
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Article
| Open AccessUncertainty in soil data can outweigh climate impact signals in global crop yield simulations
Global gridded crop models are increasingly used to assess climate change impacts on food production. Here, the authors assess crop yield uncertainty associated with soil data input, reporting that soil type strongly influences yield estimates, and may either buffer or amplify climate-related impacts.
- Christian Folberth
- , Rastislav Skalský
- & Marijn van der Velde
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| Open AccessGlobal biomass production potentials exceed expected future demand without the need for cropland expansion
Global demand for agricultural biomass is expected to exceed potential supply over the next few decades. Here, Mauser et al. show that by improving the management and efficiency of farmlands, global biomass has the potential to substantially exceed these estimates without the need for cropland expansion.
- Wolfram Mauser
- , Gernot Klepper
- & Alvaro Calzadilla
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Article |
A 2,000-year reconstruction of the rain-fed maize agricultural niche in the US Southwest
Palaeoclimate research often focuses on continental, hemispheric and global scales, neglecting the local-scale changes of most importance to human adaptation. Here, the authors propose a new tree-ring-based methodology, capable of producing high-frequency, highly local climate-field reconstructions.
- R. Kyle Bocinsky
- & Timothy A. Kohler
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Article
| Open AccessAfforestation or intense pasturing improve the ecological and economic value of abandoned tropical farmlands
Restoration of abandoned farmlands has the potential to improve ecosystem functions and benefits. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Knoke et al. show that ecological and economic indicators favour either afforestation or intense pasturing of these abandoned areas in the tropical Andes.
- Thomas Knoke
- , Jörg Bendix
- & Erwin Beck