Management trade-offs on ecosystem services in apple orchards across Europe: direct and indirect effects of organic production

1. Apple is considered the most important fruit crop in temperate areas and profitable production depends on multiple ecosystem services, including the reduction of pest damage and the provision of sufficient pollination levels. Management approaches present an inherent trade-off as each affects species differently.
2. We quantified the direct and indirect effects of management (organic versus integrated pest management (IPM)) on species richness, ecosystem services and fruit production in 85 apple orchards in three European countries. We also quantified how habit composition influenced these effects at three spatial scales: within orchards, adjacent to orchards and in the surrounding landscape.
3. Organic management resulted in 48% lower yield than IPM, but also that the variation between orchards was large with some organic orchards having a higher yield than the average yield of IPM orchards. The lower yield in organic orchards resulted directly from management practices, and from ...