Insectivore diet and abundance determine the contribution of bird species to services and disservices in an agricultural ecosystem
Data files
Jan 20, 2025 version files 217.39 KB
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Birds_traits.xlsx
10.84 KB
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Birds_wPOO.xlsx
204.39 KB
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README.md
2.16 KB
Abstract
Insectivorous birds provide an essential ecosystem service in agriculture by feeding on arthropods considered pests but can also consume arthropods considered to be natural enemies of such pests. Therefore, depending on the dietary composition of the birds, intraguild predation could outweigh pest control services. This study addressed the agronomic quality, defined as the trade-off between ecosystem services (pest control) and disservices (intraguild predation), of 26 insectivorous bird species in culturally and economically important cider apple orchards in northern Spain. We used DNA-metabarcoding techniques to analyze bird’ diets. First, we examined whether the trophic position of bird species can be inferred from functional traits related to foraging and movement behavior and from the degree of insectivory in their diets. Then, we tested whether bird abundance and trophic position influenced agronomic quality, based on the proportion of arthropod crop pests and natural enemies in their diet. Finally, we combined bird abundance, insectivory and agronomic quality to infer the potential contribution of each bird species to pest control. Bird trophic position was positively related to the degree of insectivory, with this effect being modulated by traits related to body size. The trophic position of birds was inversely related to their agronomic quality. Nevertheless, the agronomic quality only slightly affected the differential contribution of bird species to the whole assemblage effect. Overall, we found the potential of insectivorous bird species to control pests can be estimated based on their trophic position. Yet, in agroecosystems with uneven avian species abundance, the potential contribution of bird species to pest-control services may be driven by their quantitative contribution rather than by the bird’s per capita, qualitative effects. Finally, our results suggest that rare insectivorous birds may have a redundant role in pest control, due to the overwhelming functional dominance of common species.
README: Insectivore diet and abundance determine the contribution of bird species to services and disservices in an agricultural ecosystem
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hx7
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset contains the data and code necessary to replicate analyses in Jiménez-Albarral et al (2025). The study addresses the agronomic quality, defined as the trade-off between ecosystem services (pest control) and disservices (intraguild predation), of 26 insectivorous bird species in culturally and economically important cider apple orchards in northern Spain.
Files and variables
File: Birds_traits.xlsx
Description: Trait values of bird species captured in three study apple orchards of Asturias (northern Spain)
Variables
- Species: Scientific name of the bird species
- Sp: Species name Acronym
- RAB: Relative abundance, the proportion of individuals recorded across orchards and censuses over the year
- TAB: Total abundance, number of individuals recorded across orchards and censuses over the year
- INSEC: Degree of insectivory
- WEIGHT: Weight (gr)
- GAPE: Gape width (mm)
- TARSUS: Tarsus length (mm)
- KIPP: Kipp’s index (Kipp's distance divided by wing length)
- BEAK: Beak length (mm)
- TAIL: Tail length (mm)
File: Birds_wPOO.xlsx
Description: Weighted percentage of occurrence (wPOO) values of prey taxa by bird species in three study apple orchards of Asturias (N Spain)
Variables
- Prey: Scientific name of the prey taxa
- Eco_Role: Ecological prey category
- Agro_Role: Agronomic prey category
- From Aegithalos caudatus onwards: Scientific name of the bird species
Code/software
File: Jiménez-Albarra_et_al__script.R
Description: The R script to calculate the trade-off estimators of insectivorous birds (trophic position, agronomic quality and proportion of apple pest species consumed) and the potential contribution of bird species to pest control services. It also contains the code to make the PCoA of the traits, to build the models used to analyze the data and to visualize the results.