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Increasing human impact on the environment is causing drastic changes in disturbance regimes and how they prevail over time. Of increasing relevance is to further our understanding on biological responses to pulse disturbances (short duration) and how they interact with other ongoing press disturbances (constantly present). Because the temporal and spatial contexts of single experiments often limi
Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield-related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for
Soil organic matter (SOM) stores the largest quantity of C in terrestrial ecosystems. Most SOM can be decomposed by microorganisms and released as CO2 into the atmosphere. The remaining fraction of SOM can be resistant against microbial decomposition over centuries to millennia. Changes in the magnitude of this stable SOM pool can have a substantial effect on the atmospheric CO2 concentration and
Nature-based solutions (NBS) is the latest contribution to the green concept family. NBS is defined as actions based in nature addressing societal challenges. In this study, we lean on the concept boundary object, broken down into three analytical categories: use, core ideas and granularities, to explore the cohesive and fragmenting powers of the NBS concept, and discuss its future role in green s
The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity
There is widespread concern regarding declines in bee populations given their importance for the functioning of both natural and managed ecosystems. An increasing number of studies find negative relations between bee species richness and simplification of agricultural landscapes, but the role of land-use intensity and its relative importance compared to landscape simplification remain less clear.
Insect-mediated pollination increases yields of many crop species and some evidence suggests that it also influences crop quality. However, the mechanistic linkages between insect-mediated pollination and crop quality are poorly known. In this study, we explored how different pollination treatments affected fruit set, dry matter content (DMC), mineral content and storability of apples. Apple flowe
Pollen analysis is an important tool in many fields, including pollination ecology, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, honey quality control, and even medicine and forensics. However, labour‐intensive manual pollen analysis often constrains the number of samples processed or the number of pollen analysed per sample. Thus, there is a desire to develop reliable, high‐throughput, automated systems. We p
While an increasing number of studies indicate that the range, diversity and abundance of many wild pollinators has declined, the global area of pollinator-dependent crops has significantly increased over the last few decades. Crop pollination studies to date have mainly focused on either identifying different guilds pollinating various crops, or on factors driving spatial changes and turnover obs
A large fraction of nitrogen (N) in forest soils is present in mineral-associated proteinaceous compounds. The strong association between proteins and minerals limits microbial accessibility to this source, which is a relatively stable reservoir of soil N. We have shown that the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungus Paxillus involutus can acquire N from iron oxide-associated proteins. Using tightly control
Effective weed control in agricultural crop fields increases yields, but simultaneously reduces floral resources for pollinators because many weed species provide pollen and nectar. Consequently, efforts to enhance crop yields on organic farms by using effective weed control methods risk compromising positive effects of organic farming on pollinating insects. Thus, it is important to find manageme
Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) to benefit biodiversity became mandatory in intensively farmed landscapes after the reform of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2013. The implementation of EFAs as uncropped field margins has been criticized as ineffective but created a window of opportunity to test if augmenting them with annual flower strips can benefit biodiversity. In this study, we
This paper systematically reviews the literature on how to reduce nutrient emissions to the Baltic Sea cost-effectively and considerations for allocating these costs fairly among countries. The literature shows conclusively that the reduction targets of the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) could be achieved at considerably lower cost, if countries would cooperate to implement the least costly abateme
In this perspective article, we provide recommendations for strengthening the policy framework for protecting the Baltic Sea from agricultural nutrient pollution. The most striking weakness is the lax implementation of prescribed abatement measures, particularly concerning manure management, in most countries. Institutions of the EU should also be leveraged for achieving Baltic Sea Action Plan (BS
Agricultural management practices and extreme weather events associated with climate change can influence the diversity and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) with potential consequences for crop production. However, the importance of the interactive effects of long-term agricultural management and extreme weather events on AMF communities in agricultural soils is not yet fully explor
Yield loss caused by insect pests remains a substantial problem in agriculture. Chemical control, with potential negative effects on non-target organisms, is still the main tool for pest management. For pest species with limited dispersal capacity, rotation of the crop in time and space has potential as an alternative management measure. This is particularly important in organic farming, where mos
Pollinators face multiple pressures and there is evidence of populations in decline. As demand for insect-pollinated crops increases, crop production is threatened by shortfalls in pollination services. Understanding the extent of current yield deficits due to pollination and identifying opportunities to protect or improve crop yield and quality through pollination management is therefore of inter
