Table_1_Wildflower strips in polytunnel cherry orchard alleyways support pest regulation services but do not counteract edge effects on pollination services.xlsx

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) production relies on modern growing practices like polytunnel coverings to improve yields but this may interrupt arthropod-mediated ecosystem services. The distribution of beneficial arthropods (natural enemies and flower visitors) and the ecosystem services they provide may be affected under polytunnel systems, especially at orchard edges. Across 10 commercial cherry orchards grown in polytunnels, we explored how wildflower strips mitigated edge effects on beneficial arthropods and pest regulation and pollination services. In each orchard, we established a standard wildflower strip (SWS; single cut at the end of the season) and an actively managed wildflower strip (AMWS; regularly cut at 20 cm height) between tree rows and compared this to a conventional control strip (CS). We recorded natural enemies in alleyways and cherry trees post-cherry anthesis (flowering) and flower visitors during and post-cherry anthesis at different distances from the orchard edge (2017–2019). In 2019, we deployed insect prey bait cards in trees to measure pest regulation services and recorded fruit quality (2017–2019) and fruit set (2018–2019) to measure pollination services. Distance from the orchard edge did not affect natural enemy density or diversity in any year or under any alleyway treatment, but pest regulation services decreased towards orchard centres with CS (by 33.0% reduction). Flower visitor density (−34% individuals) and diversity declined with distance from the edge during cherry anthesis. For post-cherry anthesis, marginal negative edge effects were observed for flower visitor density and diversity and behaviour. Overall, fruit set decreased towards the orchard centre while fruit quality increased. Our results suggest that wildflower strips are an effective tool to mitigate edge effects on pest regulation services but have limited effects on flower visitors and pollination.

欧洲甜樱桃（Prunus avium）的生产依赖于塑料大棚覆盖（polytunnel coverings）这类现代栽培措施以提升产量，但此类措施可能会阻断节肢动物介导的生态系统服务。棚室栽培系统下，有益节肢动物（beneficial arthropods，涵盖天敌类群与访花者类群）的分布及其提供的生态系统服务可能受到影响，尤其是在果园边缘区域。本研究针对10个商业化棚室栽培的樱桃果园，探究了野生花卉带对有益节肢动物边缘效应以及害虫调控、传粉服务的缓解作用。在每座果园的树行之间，分别设置标准化野生花卉带（standard wildflower strip, SWS，季末一次性刈割）、集约管理野生花卉带（actively managed wildflower strip, AMWS，定期刈割至20厘米高度），并以常规对照带（conventional control strip, CS）作为对照。2017至2019年，分别在樱桃开花期及开花后，在距离果园边缘不同距离的树行通道与樱桃树上记录天敌类群，并在同期调查访花者类群。2019年，我们于树上布设昆虫猎物诱集卡以评估害虫调控服务，并通过记录2017至2019年的果实品质与2018至2019年的坐果率来衡量传粉服务。数据分析显示，无论在哪一年或采用何种树行带处理，距离果园边缘的远近均未对天敌的种群密度或多样性产生显著影响；但采用常规对照带（CS）时，害虫调控服务随距果园中心距离的增加而下降，降幅达33.0%。在樱桃开花期，访花者的种群密度（个体数减少34%）与多样性均随距果园边缘距离的增加而降低。而在樱桃开花后，仅观察到访花者密度、多样性及行为存在微弱的边缘负效应。整体而言，坐果率随距果园中心距离的增加而下降，但果实品质则随之提升。本研究结果表明，野生花卉带可有效缓解害虫调控服务面临的边缘效应，但对访花者及传粉服务的改善作用有限。