Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms

Global conversion of patches of natural vegetation into agricultural land is reducing the ecosystem services provided by natural patches dwelling species to farmers. For sub-Saharan African subsistence farmers, such a reduction in pest control services by birds may be a significant disadvantage. Her...

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Autores principales:	Murna Tela, Will Cresswell, Hazel Chapman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2021
Materias:	subsistence maize farm exclosure experiment birds pest control services crop productivity Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2c78e33b60f544e886577b22eaec95fc
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2c78e33b60f544e886577b22eaec95fc2021-11-19T10:59:17ZAssessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms0972-492310.4103/cs.cs_213_20https://doaj.org/article/2c78e33b60f544e886577b22eaec95fc2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2021;volume=19;issue=4;spage=218;epage=224;aulast=Telahttps://doaj.org/toc/0972-4923Global conversion of patches of natural vegetation into agricultural land is reducing the ecosystem services provided by natural patches dwelling species to farmers. For sub-Saharan African subsistence farmers, such a reduction in pest control services by birds may be a significant disadvantage. Here we explored to what extent birds provide pest control services to the staple crop maize (Zea mays) on small subsistence farms on the Mambilla Plateau of Taraba State, Nigeria. We used exclosure experiments (maize crops with and without birds) to model how birds influenced crop yield. We found that excluding birds from maize significantly reduces crop yield, although the lack of a direct correlation between bird abundance and crop yield suggests that other taxa, such as bats, may also be important pest predators. Our results suggest that in this subsistence farming landscape, natural pest control of maize from vertebrates does occur, but further research is needed to understand the specific control agents and the role of patches of natural vegetation as habitat for them.Murna TelaWill CresswellHazel ChapmanWolters Kluwer Medknow Publicationsarticlesubsistence maize farmexclosure experimentbirdspest control servicescrop productivityEcologyQH540-549.5ENConservation & Society, Vol 19, Iss 4, Pp 218-224 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	subsistence maize farm exclosure experiment birds pest control services crop productivity Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	subsistence maize farm exclosure experiment birds pest control services crop productivity Ecology QH540-549.5 Murna Tela Will Cresswell Hazel Chapman Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
description	Global conversion of patches of natural vegetation into agricultural land is reducing the ecosystem services provided by natural patches dwelling species to farmers. For sub-Saharan African subsistence farmers, such a reduction in pest control services by birds may be a significant disadvantage. Here we explored to what extent birds provide pest control services to the staple crop maize (Zea mays) on small subsistence farms on the Mambilla Plateau of Taraba State, Nigeria. We used exclosure experiments (maize crops with and without birds) to model how birds influenced crop yield. We found that excluding birds from maize significantly reduces crop yield, although the lack of a direct correlation between bird abundance and crop yield suggests that other taxa, such as bats, may also be important pest predators. Our results suggest that in this subsistence farming landscape, natural pest control of maize from vertebrates does occur, but further research is needed to understand the specific control agents and the role of patches of natural vegetation as habitat for them.
format	article
author	Murna Tela Will Cresswell Hazel Chapman
author_facet	Murna Tela Will Cresswell Hazel Chapman
author_sort	Murna Tela
title	Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
title_short	Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
title_full	Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
title_fullStr	Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
title_full_unstemmed	Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms
title_sort	assessment of pest control services by vertebrates in nigerian subsistence maize farms
publisher	Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2c78e33b60f544e886577b22eaec95fc
work_keys_str_mv	AT murnatela assessmentofpestcontrolservicesbyvertebratesinnigeriansubsistencemaizefarms AT willcresswell assessmentofpestcontrolservicesbyvertebratesinnigeriansubsistencemaizefarms AT hazelchapman assessmentofpestcontrolservicesbyvertebratesinnigeriansubsistencemaizefarms
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Assessment of Pest Control Services by Vertebrates in Nigerian Subsistence Maize Farms

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