Data from: The importance of shrubland and local agroecological practices for pumpkin production in sub-Saharan smallholdings
Data files
Nov 13, 2023 version files 38.02 KB
-
household_AE_2020.csv
-
LULC_percentages_PU_PP.csv
-
pumpkin.harvest.csv
-
pumpkin.meta.csv
-
Pumpkin.sp_table.csv
-
README.md
Abstract
Land-use and local field management affect pollinators, pest damage, and ultimately crop yields. Agroecology is implemented as a sustainable alternative to conventional agricultural practices, but little is known about its potential for pollination and pest management. Sub-Saharan Africa is underrepresented in studies investigating the relative importance of pests and pollinators for crop productivity and how this might be influenced by surrounding landscapes or agroecological practices. In Malawi, we selected 24 smallholder farms differing in landscape-scale shrubland cover, implementation of manual pest removal as an indicator of an agroecological pest management practice, and the number of agroecological soil practices employed at the household level, such as mulching, intercropping, and soil conservation tillage. We established pumpkin plots and assessed the abundance and richness of flower visitors and damage of flowers (florivory) caused by pest herbivores on flowers. Using a full-factorial hand pollination and exclusion experiment on each plot, we investigated the relative contribution of pollination and florivory to pumpkin yield. Increasing shrubland cover decreased honeybee abundance but increased the abundance and richness of non-honeybee visitors. Manual removal of herbivores considered to be pests reduced flower visitors, whereas more agroecological soil management practices increased flower visitors. Neither shrubland cover nor agroecological management affected florivory. Pollinator limitation, but not florivory, constrained pumpkin fruit set, and increasing visitor richness decreased the relative differences between hand- and animal-pollinated flowers. We recommend improved protection of shrubland habitats and increasing agroecological soil practices to promote pollinator richness on smallholder farms.
README: Data from: The importance of shrubland and local agroecological practices for pumpkin production in sub-Saharan smallholdings
Datasets containing pollinator recordings, data on household agroecological practices, landcover data and data of pumpkin yield collected from 24 smallholder farms in Mzimba district, Malawi, from February to March 2020.
Data: pumpkin.meta
Metadata describing data, time, and conditions under which data was collected as well as the number of flowers and flower damage.
Village = unique village identifier
Transect.ID = unique transect identifier
Transect = transect number
Date = date
Time = time at the start of transect
Weather = description of the weather at the start of the transect
male.flowers = number of OPEN male flowers at the end of the transect
female.flowers = number of OPEN female flowers at the end of the transect
total.flowers = total number of flowers
veg.damage = number of flowers damaged on the vegetative organs (i.e., petals)
repr.damage = number of flowers damaged on the reproductive organs
Data: Pumpkin.sp_table
Data containing flower-visitor counts (bees, syrphids and tabanids) collected during 15 minute transects on standardised pumpkin plots.
Village = unique village identifier
Transect = transect number
Collumns C-R = counts of bee, syrphid or tabananid (morpho) species
Data:pumpkin.harvest
Data containing information on pumpkin fruit yield metrics.
Village = unique village identifier
Flower.ID = unique flower identifier. It reads village.treatment.flowernumber
Treatment = treatment to the flower
hand.poll = date of hand pollination (if applicable, if the treatment was not applied, it is indicated with 'NA')
bag.date = date the flower is bagged (if applicable, if the treatment was not applied, it is indicated with 'NA')
bag.removed = date the bag is removed (if applicable, if the treatment was not applied, it is indicated with 'NA')
beetle.damage = was beetle damage observed on the flower? 1 = yes, 0 = no. NA indicates bagged flowers, as it is impossible for bagged flowers to be damaged by beetles.
fruit.set = was there early fruit set? 1 = yes, 0 = no
fruit.harvest = was there a harvestable fruit produced? 1 = yes, 0 = no
fruit.measured = was this fruit measured for yield metrics? 1 = yes, 0 = no
fruit.girth = circumference of the fruits around the widest parts, in cm. NA indicates the fruit was not harvested (and therefore no girth can be measured).
weight = fruit weight in grams. NA indicates the fruit was not harvested.
n.seeds = number of seeds in this fruit. NA indicates the fruit was not harvested.
date = date yield metrics were measured.
notes = anything of note (i.e., why harvest data was not collected)
Data: LULC_percentages_PU_PP
Dataset containing semi-natural habitat cover surrounding pumpkin and pigeon pea fields (only the pumpkin fields were included in this study)
NAME = unique field identifier. It reads village.crop
crop = crop identity PU = pumpkin, PP = pigeon pea. Only pumpkin fields were included in this study.
Village = unique village identifier
scale = scale of the surrounding landscape cover buffer, in metres.
SNH_per = percentage of semi-natural habitat cover in the landscape buffer. Semi-natural habitat in our context includes forests, shrublands and grasslands.
Data: household_AE_2020
Dataset containing information on household agroecological practices surrounding the pumpkin plots.
Village = unique village identifier
PM.manual = did the household perform manual pest management (manual killing or removal of pests)? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.vetiver = did the household plant vetiver hedges? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.LS = did the household do soil conservation landscaping (i.e., box ridges, terracing, pit planting)? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.legumeIC = did the household perform legume intercropping? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.legumeresidue = did the household incorperate legume residue in the soil? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.legumerotation = did the household perform crop rotation with legumes (in the previous growing season)? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.compost = does the household apply compost to the soil? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.manure = does the household apply manure to the soil? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.agroforestry = does the household perform agroforestry? 1 = yes, 0 = no
soil.total = total number of agroecological soil practices applied in this household
hives = number of honeybee hives managed by this household