Native trees, birds and pest control in rice-based agroforestry
Field surveys of plants and birds across nine agroforestry sites, and statistical analysis in R linking biodiversity to pest control. Published in Biodiversity and Conservation.
The question
Native trees in and around rice fields could support birds that eat crop pests. If so, conserving those trees is part of sustainable agriculture, not a cost to it.
My work
- Field surveys across nine agroforestry sites in rice-based agroecosystems in Wayanad, recording 128 plant species and 101 bird species.
- Biodiversity census, field data collection and data management.
- Statistical analysis and ecological modelling in R, linking biodiversity to pest control.
- Contributed to drafting the manuscript.
- Took part in interactive sessions on bird survey methods and with tribal communities, whose knowledge of local trees and land use is part of how these agroecosystems are managed.
Publication
Lopus M, et al., Shafi S (2023). Conservation of native tree species in the agroforest of rice-based agroecosystems will contribute to sustainable agriculture. Biodiversity and Conservation. doi:10.1007/s10531-023-02738-0
What I took from it
Field ecology taught me to design sampling before collecting data, and to be careful about what a correlation across sites can and cannot show. The same caution applies when linking environmental resistance genes to their sources.