Data from: Decreasing predation rates and shifting predator compositions along a land-use gradient in Madagascar’s vanilla landscapes

1. Land-use change is the main driver of deforestation and land
degradation resulting in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning in north-eastern Madagascar. Vanilla, the region’s main cash
crop, is grown in agroforestry systems and may provide an opportunity for
the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. 2. We used
dummy caterpillars to assess predation rates and predator communities
along a land-use gradient including unburned old-growth and forest
fragments, herbaceous and woody fallows after shifting cultivation with
fire usage, as well as rice paddies. The studied vanilla agroforests were
either forest-derived or fallow-derived. Besides land-use type, we
considered the effects of land-use history (unburned/burned), plot-level
parameters and the landscape composition to conclude on management
recommendations. 3. Old-growth forest and forest fragments exhibited
highest predation rates, which decreased with land-use intensity. Overall,
predation was higher in unburned land-use types than in more open,
previously burned habitats and rice paddies. High stem and vegetation
densities were positively related to predation rates, but decreased with
land-use intensity. High forest cover in the surrounding landscape led to
higher predation rates, while local structural parameters remained more
important. 4. The predator community was arthropod-dominated across all
land-use types with ants responsible for between 33 % and
69 % of all predation events. Overall predator composition in
old-growth and forest fragments differed from all other land-use types.
Predation by Gryllacrididae (Orthoptera) was lower in all land-use types,
including forest-derived vanilla, than in old-growth forest and forest
fragments, where they were important contributors to total predation.
Vertebrate predation was low throughout. Synthesis and applications:
Forested habitats feature higher predation rates and different predator
compositions than other land-use systems. Maintaining or restoring tree-
and understory-rich vanilla agroforestry represents a viable tool in
landscape conservation programmes as it has the potential to contribute to
the conservation of predation as an important ecosystem function in both
forest- and fallow-derived agroforests. However, vanilla agroforestry has
limited value in conserving forest-specialised predator communities. While
the establishment of tree-rich agroforests on former fallow land is
favourable for conservation ecosystem functioning, further forest
transformation should be avoided.