The DOI matches its Crossref record; 159 of the 159 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Positive but variable effects of crop diversification on biodiversity and ecosystem services
Abstract
Ecological theory suggests that biodiversity has a positive and stabilizing effect on the delivery of ecosystem services. Yet, the impacts of increasing the diversity of cultivated crop species or varieties in agroecosystems are still under scrutiny. The available empirical evidence is scattered in scope, agronomic and geographic contexts, and impacts on ecosystem services may depend on the type of diversification strategy used. To robustly assess the effects of crop diversification in agroecosystems, we compiled the results of 95 meta‐analyses integrating 5156 experiments conducted over 84 experimental years and representing more than 54,500 paired observations on 120 crop species in 85 countries. Overall, our synthesis of experimental data from across the globe shows that crop diversification enhances not only crop production (median effect +14%) but also the associated biodiversity (+24%, i.e., the biodiversity of non‐cultivated plants and animals), and several supporting and regulating ecosystem services including water quality (+51%), pest and disease control (+63%) and soil quality (+11%). However, there was substantial variability in the results for each individual ecosystem service between different diversification strategies such as agroforestry, intercropping, cover crops, crop rotation or variety mixtures. Agroforestry is particularly effective in delivering multiple ecosystem services, that is, water regulation and quality, pest and diseases regulation, associated biodiversity, long‐term soil productivity and quality. Variety mixtures, instead, provide the lowest benefits, whereas the other strategies show intermediate results. Our results highlight that while increasing the diversity of cultivated crop species or varieties in agroecosystems represents a very promising strategy for more sustainable land management, contributing to enhanced yields, enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem services, some crop diversification strategies are more effective than others in supporting key ecosystem services.
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“Such simplified systems are known to substantially reduce both biodiversity and ecosystem services relative to more diversified forms of agriculture ( 127 -129 )”
From Environmental impacts of genetically modified crops (2024) · cites this paper as [127]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Beillouin, D., Ben‐Ari, T., Malézieux, E., Seufert, V., & Makowski, D.
- Affiliations
- Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR)
- UMR 211 INRAE AgroParisTech Université Paris‐Saclay Thiverval‐Grignon France
- CIRAD UPR HORTSYS Montpellier France
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- AgroParisTech (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Beillouin, Damien
- Venue
- Global Change Biology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-07-16
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 4697-4710
- ISSN
- 1354-1013 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2486
- OpenAlex
- W3171470222
- Cited by
- 590
- References
- 158
- Citations by year
- 2026: 142 · 2025: 140 · 2024: 110 · 2023: 123 · 2022: 68 · 2021: 7
- FWCI
- 87.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Global Change Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Agritrop (Cirad) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission (727482)
- Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant and soil sciences
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Forestry › Agroforestry and silvopastoral systems
- Keywords
- crop diversification, agroecosystems, biodiversity, ecosystem services, agroforestry, intercropping, cover crops, crop rotation, varietal mixtures, crop yield, water quality, pest and disease control, soil quality, sustainable land management
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Animals, Soil, Ecosystem, Crops, Agricultural, Biodiversity
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