Pest control potential of adjacent agri-environment schemes varies with crop type and is shaped by landscape context and within-field position

Increasing natural pest control in agricultural fields is an important aim of ecological intensification. Combined effects of landscape context and local placement of agri-environmental schemes on natural pest control and within field distance functions of natural pest control agents have rarely been addressed but might affect the distribution of biocontrol providers. Importantly, it is currently unknown whether ecosystem services provided by adjacent agri-environmental schemes (AES) are consistent for different crop types during crop rotation.
In this study, we assessed whether crop rotation from oilseed rape to cereals altered within-field distance functions of ground dwelling predators from adjacent agri-environmental fields along a gradient in landscape context. Additionally we recorded crop pests, predation rates, parasitoids as well as crop yields on a total of 30 study sites.
Distance functions varied between trophic levels: Carabid richness decreased while densities of ca...