The relative contribution of vertebrates and invertebrates to ecosystem services and disservices after cereal harvest

Abstract: Structural changes to agricultural landscapes due to agricultural intensification caused declines in biodiversity and abundance of animal groups providing ecosystem services and disservices to agriculture. Little is known about the relative contribution of animals to services and disservices after harvest and how these animal groups are affected by landscape configuration. Therefore, this study investigated the quantitative differences of ecosystem service and disservice provision by vertebrates and invertebrates in agricultural landscapes after harvest. Additionally, potential effects of the surrounding landscape complexity and a local habitat contrast were studied. The study was conducted with three sampling dates during an 11-week period between August 24 and September 11 in 2016 in Skåne, Sweden. Feeding preferences for vertebrates and invertebrates were investigated through resources (crop (wheat) versus arable weed (common hemp-nettle) seeds and beneficial (earthworm) versus pest (wireworm-like larvae) animal prey) experiment and exclusion treatments to differentiate between vertebrate and invertebrate predation. In addition, wildlife cameras were used to differentiate the visiting vertebrates. Eight landscapes were selected within a landscape complexity gradient and two spring-sown cereal fields were chosen in each landscape adjacent to either a semi-natural grassland or a crop field. Postharvest preferences for resource types differed between sampling dates and the majority of the resource resources were consumed by vertebrates. Vertebrates generally provided a disservice through predation on crop seeds and beneficial prey; however pest invertebrates and weed seeds were consumed as well. Birds were more often recorded at the resource trays in fields adjacent to semi-natural grasslands compared to resource trays in fields next to another crop field. Bird records generally declined later in the postharvest season. Camera records at resource trays were dominated by small rodent species (mice). These results give new insights into disservices and services provided by vertebrates and invertebrates and suggest that mice contribute most dominantly to disservices and that semi-natural grasslands affect the presence and functional role of birds in crop fields after harvest.