Data from: Forest fragments modulate the provision of multiple ecosystem services

1. Agricultural landscapes provide the essential ecosystem service of food
to growing human populations; at the same time, agricultural expansion to
increase crop production results in forest fragmentation, degrading many
other forest-dependent ecosystem services. However, surprisingly little is
known about the role that forest fragments play in the provision of
ecosystem services and how fragmentation affects landscape
multi-functionality at scales relevant to land management decisions. 2. We
measured the provision of six ecosystem services (crop production, pest
regulation, decomposition, carbon storage, soil fertility, and water
quality regulation) in soybean fields at different distances from adjacent
forest fragments that differed in isolation and size across an
agricultural landscape in Quebec, Canada. 3. We observed significant
effects of distance-from-forest, fragment isolation, and fragment size on
crop production, insect pest regulation, and decomposition. 4.
Distance-from-forest and fragment isolation had unique influences on
service provision for each of the ecosystem services we measured. For
example, pest regulation was maximized adjacent to forest fragments, while
crop production was maximized at intermediate distances-from-forest. As a
consequence, landscape multi-functionality depended on landscape
heterogeneity: the range of field and forest fragment types present. 5. We
also observed strong negative and positive relationships between ecosystem
services that were more prevalent at greater distances-from-forest. 6.
Synthesis and applications. Our study is one of the first to empirically
measure and model the effects of forest fragments on the simultaneous
provision of multiple ecosystem services in an agro-ecosystem at the
landscape and field scales relevant to land owners and managers. Our
results demonstrate that forest fragments, irrespective of their size, can
affect the provision of multiple ecosystem services in surrounding fields,
but that this effect is mediated by fragment isolation across the
landscape. Our results also suggest that managing habitat fragmentation
and landscape structure will improve our ability to optimize ecosystem
service provision and create multi-functional agricultural landscapes.