Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY submitted to NRP
ASSESSING BENEFITS, COSTS AND TRADE-OFFS OF BIOLOGICALLY-DIVERSIFIED FARMING SYSTEMS IN CALIFORNIA'S CENNTRAL COAST GROWING REGION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1005662
Grant No.
2015-67019-23147
Cumulative Award Amt.
$500,000.00
Proposal No.
2014-06827
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Feb 14, 2015
Project End Date
Feb 13, 2020
Grant Year
2015
Program Code
[A1451]- Renewable Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment: Agroecosystem Management
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
(N/A)
BERKELEY,CA 94720
Performing Department
Environmental Sci, Pol & Mgmt
Non Technical Summary
The way we grow food can either nurture and protect the health of our soils, water, air, wildlife, and human societies, or damage those same systems. Farming in ways that harm the environment can lead to burdensome, costly regulations for both farmers and taxpayers. Long-term this may also reduce ability to grow food in the future: soils can become less fertile and healthy populations of beneficial insects, pollinators, and soil microbes may be lost. Farming methods are needed that are highly productive and economically viable, yet promote the environment and the beneficial species it supports. "Diversified farming systems" might offer such an approach.Diversified farming practices include composting, green-manuring and cover-cropping to support beneficial soil microbes and soil fauna, as well as fostering fertile soils with excellent water-holding capacity. These practices can protect crops in times of drought or climate variability. By creating habitat for beneficial organisms, other practices such as growing multiple crops on one farm (polyculture), cover cropping, and planting hedgerows can disrupt cycles of pests and diseases, promote crop pollination, and boost yields. Such methods may help to reconcile food production with environmental concerns while also reducing input costs. However, little is known about the connection between these farming methods, beneficial biodiversity, and whether and how this improves overall production and/or enhances the livelihoods of growers. More research is needed to evaluate how diversified farming methods simultaneously affect the environment and farmer livelihoods, and to determine what barriers or opportunities exist for their broader adoption.Therefore our study will examine specific ways that diversified farming practices affect beneficial biodiversity and analyze how that in turn influences soil fertility, crop pollination, pest and disease control, and water and air quality. Working in California's highly productive Central Coast region, we will also evaluate how these practices affect crop yields, economic performance and the overall resilience of farm operations. We will seek to understand how growers perceive and experience the effects of diversification practices on beneficial biodiversity and their farming operations, and identify farmer perspectives on barriers to or opportunities for adoption of these practices. Our project will result in a comprehensive ecological, social, and economic understanding of diversified farming systems that will allow growers to make informed choices about farming practices. Additionally, this research will help inform decision-makers seeking to promote agricultural policies that are supportive of environmentally sound farming practices.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1366030106015%
2111122310015%
6050199106015%
6016030301015%
8036030308030%
9036099303010%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants; 803 - Sociological and Technological Change Affecting Individuals, Families, and Communities; 136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity; 605 - Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
1122 - Strawberry; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 0199 - Soil and land, general; 6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 3010 - Economics; 3080 - Sociology; 3030 - Information and communication; 3100 - Management;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this research is to elucidate the ecological, economic, socio-cultural, operational, and institutional drivers and impediments to implementing farm diversification practices.Using aninterdisciplinary, systems-level approachwe will study how ecological diversification affects biodiversity, ecosystem services, economic performance, and farmer perceptions and experiences in California's agriculturally productive and ecologically rich Central Coast. We focus on ecological diversification because it can be related mechanistically to the generation and regeneration of critical ecosystem services in the farm and surrounding landscape and because a spectrum of ecological diversification occurs across many types of agricultural systems, whether organic or conventional. Our findings will illuminate barriers to and opportunities for the adoption of diversified farm management practices. The results will be broadly disseminated and will inform grower practices and public policy.Our specific aims are to determine:Aim 1(Ecological): Determine how agricultural management strategies that promote ecological diversification influence ecosystem services and the biodiversity that support these services.Hypothesis 1a:Farms with more diversified and complex landscapes have increased biodiversity (both planned and colonizing).Hypothesis 1b:Farms with more diversified and complex landscapes have increased regulating ecosystem services flowing to the farm (e.g., pest control) and to surrounding environments (e.g., regulation of water quality).Aim 2(Economic): Determine how ecological diversification affects the yield and economic performance of farming operations.Hypothesis 2a: Ecosystem services generated on the farm increase the magnitude and stability of yields and decrease the inputs needed (e.g., pesticides), affecting management costs.Hypothesis 2b: A farm's management strategies and level of diversification affect its economic performance and resilience.Aim 3(Sociological): Determine how farmer perceive and experience the benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of farming techniques that promote ecological diversification.Hypothesis 3:Grower perceptions and experiences of the benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of diversified management strategies may influence how and whether growers adopt such strategies to a greater degree than the realized benefits, costs, and tradeoffs[1]of the strategies.[1] For example, growers may not adopt native hedgerows that promote beneficial insects, due to risks that such plantings might also promote pests. Evidence is developing to the contrary, but may not be widely known (20. Morandin LA, Long RL, Pease CG, Kremen C (2011) Hedgerows enhance beneficial insects on farms in California's Central Valley. California Agriculture. pp. 197-201.).
Project Methods
Overview of ApproachIn this interdisciplinary project, we will fully integrate ecological, economic and social data we collect on 30+ farms, located along a gradient of ecological diversification. Using observational and experimental data, we will relate measures of biodiversity and ecosystem services to the diversification gradient, and we will estimate the economic value of these ecosystem services. We will then assess the net economic benefits of economic and ecological diversification by comparing these estimates of ecosystem services values with cost and revenue data obtained on the same 30+ farms or in the region (using a survey of 200+ growers). Finally, we will estimate the effect of ecological and economic diversification on farm economic performance using linear regression (econometric) techniques on survey data and a state-wide dataset. Using data from in-depth interviews from the same 30+ farms, along with other data sources (interviews with experts, focus groups, grower survey), we will analyze how farmers evaluate risks, costs, benefits and tradeoffs in their management practices, and compare the perceived and realized impacts of diversification on ecological and economic performance. By linking ecological and socioeconomic data from the same farms and farming landscapes, the research will enable us to understand the ecological, economic, social, cultural and institutional drivers and obstacles for the implementation of diversification practices.Sequence of activities.In Year 1, we will develop an ecological diversification index from farm and landscape- level indicators, and use this to select 30+ sites for the ecological and in-depth sociological studies. Ecological, economic and social studies will be conducted in both Years 1 and 2, with data analysis beginning in Year 2. Analyses and writing will be finalized in Year 3.Study system:The work will be conducted in the Central Coast region of California in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito counties, which include the farming valleys of Pajaro and Salinas. Farming operations in this region range from small-scale diversified farms serving farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture, to large-scale industrial farms, both conventional and organic. Since our focus is on ecological diversification and not on source of inputs (i.e., organic versus synthetic fertilizers and pesticides), we will select farms under organic management to limit the number of potentially confounding variables.In order to have a uniform crop in which to compare pollination, pest, and pathogen control, and regulation of air and water quality services across the diversification gradient, we will select specialized (single crop) fields growing strawberry. On farms growing multiple crops, we will examine biodiversity measures and soil properties both within and outside the strawberry portion of the field.MethodsAim 1: Ecological StudiesThe aim of this component is to determine how biodiversity and species composition change across the local to landscape diversification gradient and how those changes in biodiversity correlate with ecosystem services.We will measure biodiversity, pollination, pest and pathogen control in each field, along experimental transects in farm site Along these transects we will allocate experimental plants, which we will use to survey fruit production affected by pollination services, natural pest control services and pathogens. We will assess soil based services by collecting soil samples across the fields in order to measure soil nutrient concentrations, availability and cycling. We will also measure both soil organic material and C/N ratios. We will evaluate greenhouse gas emissions before and after an irrigation event on each farm site.Aim 2: Economic StudiesThe aim of the economic component is to quantify the actual economic benefits and costs of ecological and economic diversification and compare these both to estimates of ecosystem service values based on the ecological dataand to perceived benefits and costs. We will employ a mixed methods approach, combining economic yield assessments and ecosystem service valuations from the field studies with analyses of regional socioeconomic survey and state-wide economic data. We can use the "ecological production function" to estimate a value for ecological diversification and then compare the estimated value of diversification on each farm against the estimated management costs incurred on that farm f(e.g. or pest control) based on the data obtained from the in-depth interviews,socioeconomic survey data , and other regional economic information on these practices.Aim 3: Sociological StudiesThe aim of the sociological component is to explore how farmer perceptions and experiences of DFS management practices influence their decision-making and farm management. The foundation of the sociological studies will be approximately 60 in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews with farmers and expert informants in the region. We will also collect data through direct observation at farm sites, asset-mapping and indicator-generating focus groups, and a socioeconomic survey that examines costs, benefits and experiences of diversified management practices. Data analysis and interpretation: While each of the specific aims will generate separate disciplinary analyses and publications on the effects of ecological diversification, a key goal of the project is to bring these data together in interdisciplinary analyses and syntheses.The sociological studies from Aim 3 will be crucial to this objective, as we examine the multiple ways in which farmer perceptions and experiences of the benefits, cost, and tradeoffs of diversified farming practice influence how and whether growers adopt ecologically diverse techniques. This topic requires integrating the qualitative data obtained through in-depth socioeconomic interviews and surveys with the quantitative measures and estimates from the ecological and economic studies in Aims 1 and 2, respectively. The economic work for Aim 2 further serves a bridging function. We will compare estimates of ecosystem service values based on ecological data against the costs of management practices and revenue structures identified in the interview and survey data. Insights from the regional analysis of the Central Coast farms and the state-wide analysis will be evaluated against the results of our in-depth interviews. Assessing the congruence among these various sets of data will also inform us aboutabout the potential generalizability of the results from the detailed field studies on 30+ Central Coast farms.Efforts &EvaluationThe interdisciplinary research team will meet biweekly (via conference call as needed) to plan and coordinate fieldwork occurring among the different teams, exchange information, problem-solve, discuss observations from the field and preliminary findings, and continue to refine and update our conceptual model with new knowledge. We will also conduct an all-project, all-day annual meeting for project evaluation and in-depth planning (Year 1), disciplinary and cross-disciplinary analyses (Year 2), and publications (Year 3). We will form an Advisory Group of growers to provide input to the project about its direction and feedback on outputs from the project. We will hold an annual meeting for this group and other grower-participants and partners, to share preliminary findings and observations, invite dialogue, and learn from each other (see Management Plan for further details).

Progress 02/14/15 to 02/13/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Academic scientists Ecological Society of America, August 2019 - symposium on Agroecology with communities: cross-disciplinary collaborations between agriculture, ecology, and social science. "Integrating social and ecological data to evaluate multifunctional benefits and costs of diversified agroecosystems in California". Claire Kremen, Kathryn DeMaster, Amber R. Sciligo, David Gonthier, Melissa Chapman, Carl Boettiger, Adrian Lu, Marc Los Huertos, Céline Pallud, Sasha Gennet and Milad Memarzadeh Ecological Society of America, August 2019- Biodiversity-productivity mutualism workshop. Presentation on role of diversification practices. Claire Kremen University of California Agriculture Natural Resources Annual Conference. April 2019. Presentation on role of diversified farming systems for sustainable agriculture. Claire Kremen] Farmers and General Public These three articles by project participant Amber Sciligo were sent to the recipients of The Organic Center newsletter recipients and the Organic Trade Association Newsletter, reaching 24000 people:? "When farmers are forced to choose: Exploring the tensions between farming for food safety and environmental sustainability" https://www.organic-center.org/research/when-farmers-are-forced-choose-exploring-tensions-between-farming-food-safety-and "Net benefit of birds increases on organic farms surrounded by more natural habitat" https://www.organic-center.org/research/net-benefit-birds-increases-organic-farms-surrounded-more-natural-habitat "Farmers experience tension between wildlife conservation and food safety risk management" https://www.organic-center.org/research/farmers-experience-tension-between-wildlife-conservation-and-food-safety-risk-management Student groups University of British Columbia, graduate seminar on research design, RES 602. "How to integrate social and ecological data to evaluate multifunctional benefits and costs of diversified agroecosystems. " Feb, 2020, Claire Kremen Cornell University, graduate seminar course, "Multifunctional Mavericks: Diversified Farming Systems in Practice,"March 4, 2019, Kathryn DeMaster Changes/Problems:We were not able to obtain data on farm-scale economics and thus were not able to complete Objective 2 of our study as written. However, we have instead been able to connect the social and environmental data in several distinct alternative analyses, which are on-going. 1.This past year, we have been working to integrate the soils data (i.e. physical and chemical properties), farm diversification index, and the interview data. Specifically, we are seeking to draw connections between farmer motivations and perceptions that drive diversified farming practices and, ultimately, soil properties such as soil organic matter. To move this along, we had planned to brief follow-ups with farmer participants to clarify some questions about their management related to soils but, unfortunately, this was postponed due to COVID-19. This work is being conducted by graduate student Aidee Guzman, with co-PIs DeMaster, Pallud and Kremen. 2. Contributions to a SESYNC (Socio-environmental Synthesis Center) Pursuit, "Can Enhancing Diversity Help Scale Up Agriculture's Benefits to People and the Environment?" (PIs: Mehrabi and Kremen). We have coded all of our data (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem services and socio-economic data) into the format used by a global synthesis project to assist in analyzing this question: What is the role of agroecological management, landscape context, social agency and structural conditions on trade-offs and synergies in social and environmental outcomes from farmlands? Our project served as a model for this project, and inspired seeking other similar projects for a quantitative synthesis examining the role of local and landscape scale diversification practices on biodiversity, ecosystem services and socio-economic outcomes. Several members of our team have participated in the development of this project (Kremen, DeMaster, Guzman). 3. We worked with a team of scientists at Cornell University to develop a national-scale survey for farmers on diversification practices. The survey has been administered and a significant portion of the data is from California. We will continue to work with this Cornell team on the analysis of this data. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided the opportunity for training a PhD student, Adrian Lu, in agroecological field studies and data analysis. Adrian Lu completed his dissertation at UC Berkeley this year. He wrote three research chapters that were entirely based on the results of this research program. These research results are reported in the previous section. Another PhD student, Aidee Guzman, is currentlyworking with several of the data streams from this project. These analyses and eventual manuscripts are in addition to her thesis work which she is conducting in a different study system. This additional research is helping her to develop skills in socio-ecological analysis and synthesis, ecological data analysis, and to increase the number and scope of publications, which will assist her in her career development. She is working with the SESYNC network described above for one of these studies, and therefore this work is also allowing her to expand her professional network. A postdoctoral researcher, Rassim Khelifa, is working with the biodiversity data sets from this project. Access to these datasets will allow him to conduct new types of analyses from his prior expertise and to develop a manuscript that will help him to build his academic portfolio. As both Aidee Guzman and Rassim Khelifa started working with these datasets after the project term of Feb 2020, their contributions are not recorded in the FTE. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have reported on dissemination of results under the section on target audience. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? AIM 1 Effects on arthropod communities and pest control services: Landscape composition and local diversification practices smay promote natural pest control by benefiting natural enemy communities on farms. Our study employs piecewise structural equation modeling (PSEM) to test causal hypotheses regarding the simultaneous effects of landscape composition and local diversification practices on arthropod communities and pest control ecosystem services. We sampled 37 distinct sites across two years, selected along orthogonal gradients of landscape composition (proportion woods and proportion grasslands within a 1 km-radius buffer) and local (farm-scale) diversification practices. We also tested the effects of two pest management practices (insecticide application and tractor-mounted vacuum). We sampled arthropod communities and performed sentinel prey experiments to estimate pest control levels on lygus nymphs. Proportion woods increased natural enemy abundance and proportion grassland increased pest abundance as the dry season progressed; diversification practices increased natural enemy diversity. Insecticides and tractor vacuuming decreased natural enemy abundance; while insecticides also decreased pest abundance, vacuuming did not. Natural enemy abundance and diversity increased pest control, while pest abundance decreased it. The PSEM results confirmed our hypotheses that all landscape and local effects on pest control are mediated through natural enemy and pest communities, giving growers and regional planners a clearer picture of the costs and benefits of their actions with respect to the arthropod communities that underlie pest control ecosystem services. These results also confirm our hypothesis 1a, but with additional nuances. Farms with more diversified and complex landscapes increased arthropod biodiversity, but local versus landscape level effects impacted components of biodiversity in different ways. These results also suggest some support for our hypothesis 1b that greater pest control services would occur on more diverse farms and/or farms in more complex landscapes via indirect effects mediated by the effects of these factors on the natural enemy community. This work was chapter 1 of Adrian Lu's PhD thesis and has been submitted to the Journal of Applied Ecology. In further work on the effects of arthropod damages directly on strawberry production, we found using PSEM that grassland proportion directly increased odds of crop damage. Tractor vacuum decreased natural enemy abundance but had no effect on lygus bug abundance, drawing into question its efficacy in preventing crop damage. Insecticide application reduced natural enemy and lygus abundance, which respectively decreased and increased crop damage odds. This work was chapter 2 of Adrian Lu's PhD thesis and is currently being prepared for submission to a journal . Finally, using bi-directional traps established on 5 farms, each with paired weedy and woody field edges, we observed that lygus bugs moved from weedy patches into crop fields more than they did from woody patches, and that natural enemies including spiders and wasps tended to display the opposite pattern, moving more from woods into crops than they did from weeds. This work was chapter 3 of Adrian Lu's PhD thesis and will be prepared for submission to a journal in the coming year.? Effects on greenhouse gas emissions from soils: Intensive agricultural systems are often associated with monoculture crops that include a high proportion of external inputs, low biodiversity, and the disruption of ecosystem services. Biologically diversified farming systems support a wide range of ecosystem services, such as pollination, natural pest control, and diverse bird assemblages. While agricultural soils are dominant source of anthropogenic N2O, the mitigation potential of biologically diversified farming systems has not been previously eval- uated. We measured N2O fluxes during a single irrigation event on 46 organic strawberry fields along an above-ground plant diversity gradient. The median N2O flux from highly diversified farms was 16% of the emis- sions from low diversity systems (65.4 versus 10.2 μg N2O-N m−2 hr−1, p < 0.01). Although N2O varied with soil order, the emissions were highest at the low diversity farms within each soil order. In addition, the high diversity farms buffered the increase in N2O during irrigation events. Us- ing mixed effects models, we found N2O flux depended on differences in available irrigation, soil C:N, and their interactions with farm diversifica- tion. Thus, our results suggest biologically diversified farming systems can mitigate N2O emissions, as well as supporting other ecosystem services. This work is in manuscript and is being finalized for submission to a journal for publication. Effects on soil properties: Across both sampling years and two soil depth intervals sampled, we found strong positive associations between increasing diversification and soil carbon content, total N content, cation-exchange capacity and some soil nutrients. There were also transitive associations between increasing diversification and water retention capacity and infiltration rates as both were strongly correlated to soil organic matter content. Consistent trends were seen between crop rotation and soil carbon content, total N content, and CEC, along with nutrients such as potassium, calcium, and zinc. We are in the process of measuring soil texture and structure (aggregate stability), and finalizing these analyses. AIM 3 Diversified farming systems (DFS) use management practices that foster beneficial agroecological interactions and are considered more regenerative and resilient than simplified, monocultural farming systems, potentially enhancing farmers' capacity to adapt to environmental or market shocks. However, despite their potential benefits, DFS has not been widely adopted in the US. Moreover, few studies have examined the links between presumed benefits of DFS practices and actual farmer experiences. Our research seeks to remedy this gap by drawing on in-depth interviews with 24 California Central Coast organic strawberry farmers engaged in a range of DFS practices. We query these farmers about their perceptions and experiences of DFS and ask: what specific motivations, constraints, and opportunities influence their adoption of DFS? Our findings indicate that diversified organic growers associate DFS practices with agroecological benefits, particularly in relation to soil health and pest control. Growers also describe being strongly motivated by the innovative nature of farming with diversified practices. However, growers also reported structural constraints that likely impede broader adoption of DFS, including limited land access and insecure tenure, diminishing labor availability, and new food safety regulations. Nevertheless, other factors demonstrate potential to facilitate DFS adoption, including institutional supports, increasing demand for organic strawberry production due to changing regulations, and the "maverick" identity of many growers. We argue that targeted incentives to address structural constraints and facilitate opportunities could enhance the adoption of DFS practices. We conclude our analysis by discussing opportunities not fully captured by farmers practicing DFS in the region, including increased farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange and potential innovations such as land and grower cooperatives. Our case offers insights for facilitating the "scaling up" of DFS practices in California's Central Coast specifically, as well as other regions generally. This work is in manuscript and is being prepared for submission to Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gonthier, D., Sciligo, A.R., Karp, D.S., Lu, A., Garcia, K., Juarez, G., Chiba, T., Gennet, S. & Kremen, C. (2019) Bird services and disservices to strawberry farming in Californian agricultural landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56, 19481959.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: Lu, Adrian; Gonthier, David; Sciligo, Amber; Chiba, Taiki; Garcia, Karina; Juarez, Gila; Kremen, Claire. 2020. Landscape composition and local management effects on pest control services are mediated through changes in arthropod communities in organically managed strawberry crops. Journal of Applied Ecology.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Olimpi, E. M., K. Garcia, D. J. Gonthier, K. T. De Master, A. Echeverri, C. Kremen, A. R. Sciligo, W. E. Snyder, E. E. Wilson-Rankin, and D. S. Karp. 2020. Shifts in species interactions and farming contexts mediate net effects of birds in agroecosystems. Ecological Applications 30(5):e02115. 10.1002/eap.2115
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: Margiana Petersen-Rockney*, Patrick Baur*, Aidee Guzman, S. Franz Bender, Adam Calo, Federico Castillo, Kathryn De Master, Antoinette Dumont, Kenzo Esquivel, Claire Kremen, James LaChance, Maria Mooshammer, Joanna Ory, Mindy J. Price, Yvonne Socolar, Paige Stanley, Alastair Iles, Timothy Bowles. Adaptive Capacity Emerges from Diversifying Farming Systems. In review with Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. *Co-lead authors.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2020 Citation: De Master, Kathryn, Claire Kremen, David Gonthier, and Amber Sciligo. Multifunctional Mavericks on the Monocultural Margins: Diversified Farming Practices Among Californias Central Coast Organic Strawberry Growers. In preparation for submission to Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Olimpi EM, Baur P, Echeverri A, Gonthier D, Karp DS, Kremen C, Sciligo A and De Master KT (2019) Evolving Food Safety Pressures in California's Central Coast Region. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 3:102. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00102
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Conservation Biological Control in Organic Strawberry Crops: The Effects of Landscape Composition, Farm-Scale Diversification, and Non-Crop Vegetation on Arthropod Communities, Pest Control Levels, and Crop Damage


Progress 02/14/17 to 02/13/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Our efforts in this reporting period have reached these communities: 1) Farmers from our study region as well as those from other parts of CA and the US 2) Commodity group members and leaders in all agricultural industries? 3) NGOs and government agencies ? 4) General public 5) Student groups including those from undergraduate and graduate levels? 6) University scientists (faculty and staff) from many different universities across the US (by means of national conference participation) DETAILED LIST BELOW: SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES: Oct 2017. "Assessing the benefits, costs, barriers and opportunities for diversified farming systems," USDA-NIFA conference, Florida. Oct 2017. Poster: "Managing the services and disservices of birds in California farmlands," Poster session, USDA-NIFA conference, Florida. November 2017. "Effects of landscape and local farm complexity on pollination and natural pest control services," Entomological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. November 2017. "Defining crop phylogenies and landscapes to test the phylogenetic resource concentration hypothesis." Entomology Society of America. Denver, Colorado. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS- EXTERNAL: January 2018. "The phylogenetic diversification of agriculture for pest and disease suppression." University of California, Davis. Department of Entomology. PUBLIC LECTURES AND PUBLIC POLICY WORKSHOP: April 2017 Panel discussion on science communications regarding food systems. CalScience Public Event Talks, University of California Berkeley. May 2017, "What is the future of farming?" Cal Futures Forum, University of California, Berkeley. Video of this talk can be found at: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/video/calfutureforum/claire-kremen May 2017 "Assessing benefits, costs and trade-offs of increasing biodiversity on California's Central Coast farms" Organic Confluences Summit: Making Research Count, Washington D.C. July 2017, "Assessing the benefits, costs, barriers and opportunities for diversified farming systems," California Department of Food and Agriculture, Public Forum for Environmental Farming Act Scientific Advisory Panel , University of California, Berkeley. Changes/Problems:Major problems or delays that may have a significant impact on the rate of expenditure: This year we requested and received a no cost extension in order to have more time to complete farmer interviews and surveys (in collaboration with Cornell and TNC as described in "Products: Collaborations and Networking") and analyses of both of these components. More time was needed to complete interviews as the overlap in availability of research team and farmers was limited. More time was also needed to develop a survey since we switched collaborators from the UC Davis economics team to the Cornell team. Significant deviations from research schedule or goals: 1 year no cost extension granted. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided many professional development opportunities for faculty, postdocs and graduate students including: - Training and mentoring of 11 student interns, (both paid and volunteer through various undergraduate research programs)at UC Berkeley. Undergraduate research interns have learned many skills including how to organize field data on farms, specimen processing and identification, and GIS mapping as a result of this study. Faculty and postdocs have learned about new analytical methods, including multifunctionality analyses (Byrnes J.E., et al. 2014. Investigating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality: challenges and solutions. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5(2):111-124), and Markhov Decision Process modeling (Williams, B. K. 2009. Markov decision processes in natural resources management: Observability and uncertainty. Ecological Modeling 220:830-840.) Some team members had the opportunity to work with farmers and NGO and state agency employees, and all team members have become more versed in building interdisciplinary relationships across multiple stakeholder levels. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1) Outreach/ results dissemination to farmers, and NGOs 2) Outreach/oral presentations to general public audiences 3) Scientific conferences and internal/external university department seminars 4) Public policy and environmental workshops Detailed list below: SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES: Oct 2017. "Assessing the benefits, costs, barriers and opportunities for diversified farming systems," USDA-NIFA conference, Florida. Oct 2017. Poster: "Managing the services and disservices of birds in California farmlands," Poster session, USDA-NIFA conference, Florida. November 2017. "Effects of landscape and local farm complexity on pollination and natural pest control services," Entomological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. November 2017. "Defining crop phylogenies and landscapes to test the phylogenetic resource concentration hypothesis." Entomology Society of America. Denver, Colorado. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS- EXTERNAL: January 2018. "The phylogenetic diversification of agriculture for pest and disease suppression." University of California, Davis. Department of Entomology. PUBLIC LECTURES AND PUBLIC POLICY WORKSHOP: April 2017. Panel discussion on science communications regarding food systems. CalScience Public Event Talks, University of California Berkeley. May 2017. "What is the future of farming?" Cal Futures Forum, University of California, Berkeley. Video of this talk can be found at: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/video/calfutureforum/claire-kremen May 2017. "Assessing benefits, costs and trade-offs of increasing biodiversity on California's Central Coast farms" Organic Confluences Summit: Making Research Count, Washington D.C. July 2017. "Assessing the benefits, costs, barriers and opportunities for diversified farming systems," California Department of Food and Agriculture, Public Forum for Environmental Farming Act Scientific Advisory Panel, University of California, Berkeley. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1) Continue to process pollinator samples (finalize sorting, identifications labeling and entering into database) 2) Continue to work on data analysis and manuscript development. 3) Finalize social science interviews and develop and analyze socioeconomic survey data collected from survey collaboration with Cornell and The Nature Conservancy. 4) Continue working closely with all researchers from the grant to write up and publish the results in the summer and fall of 2018

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For Aim 1: Farm management effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services Given the large amounts of data collected and the need to identify insect specimens in the lab, the finalization of our databases is still in progress, though nearly complete (we are only missing the identification of bee species) and analyses are beginning on most of the biodiversity and ecosystem service data. We report in the Products section (Other- Results summary/Preliminary analyses)results from three experiments for which preliminary or final analyses are completed, as well as the many additional databases that we have updated in orderto be analyzed and published in the coming year and beyond.These results are: the abundances of arthropod pests and natural enemies and the amount of damage caused to berries by various pest groups. the summary of our submitted manuscript on birds as pest control agents and as pests themselves. the soil chemical properties determined for each farm. For preliminary analyses reported in Products, we created 4 categories of farm types based on local diversity (monoculture versus diversified cropping system) and landscape level diversity (high amount of natural habitat: >30% in 1km radius around farm boundaries versus low: <5% natural habitat in 1km radius). The four categories were: monoculture/low, monoculture/high, diversified/low, diversified/high. In all cases we present means and standard errors, but no significance tests at this point. For Aim 2: Socio-economic analyses--how diversification affects yields and economic performance As reported in the Products section under survey instruments, our teamworked together with a Cornell University team and The Nature Conservancyto develop a national socio-economic survey that explores barriers and incentives for adoption of diversification practices.The survey is now being broadly disseminated andadministered to farmers in multiple states.See details in the Products section. As reported in the Products section under Preliminary Analyses: Markhov Decision Process modeling,our research team is collaborating with others at UC Berkeley to model how farm management practices affect ecosystem services and the feedback to both farmer economics and farmer decision making, as informed by data and expert opinion gained from this project. Aim 3-Initial analysis of interview data (23/27 completed) regarding farmer motivations, barriers, and incentives for diversified farming systems practices has been conducted. Details have been reported in the Products section under Preliminary Analyses.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gonthier DJ, Sciligo A, Lu A, Garcia K, Chiba T, Juarez G, Karp D, Kremen C. Managing the services and disservices of birds in California farmlands. In Review at the Journal of Applied Ecology


Progress 02/14/16 to 02/13/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience Our efforts in this reporting period have reached these communities: 1) Farmers from our study region as well as those from other parts of CA and the US west coast, with an emphasis on inclusion of Latino farmers. 2) Commodity group members and leaders in berry industries and other business leaders 3) NGOs and government agencies, including specialists at Regional Conservation Districts Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties 4) General public including potential donors and hobbyists/enthusiasts (gardeners, beekeepers) 5) Student groups including those from high school, undergraduate and graduate levels 6) University scientists (faculty and staff) from many different universities across the US (by means of national conference participation) Detailed list below: FARMER CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS January 2017 Assessing benefits, costs and trade-offs of biologically-diversified farming. Ecofarm Conference: Workshop title "Conserving biodiversity using organic practices." Asilomar, California. November 2016. 2nd Annual Latino Farmers Conference, Booth with spanish translations of preliminary results and research program methods and goals: -"Resumen de investigacion: Comprender los beneficios, costos, y compensaciones de los sistemas agricolas biologicamente diversificadas en la costa central de California" - "¿Cómo afecta la vegetación no cultivada cerca de los cultivos de fresas a la presencia de Lygus y a sus enemigos naturales? " -"Efectos de hábitat natural y diversidad de cultivos sobre control de lygus" -"Efectos de hábitat natural y diversidad de cultivos sobre polinización" PUBLIC LECTURES October 2016 "Assessing benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems in California's Central Coast." Center for Diversified Farming Systems Lecture Series, Berkeley, CA. May 2016 Rediversifying intensive agricultural landscapes to promote native pollinatorsat the "Keeping Bees Healthy" Symposium, Robert Mondavi Center, UC Davis July 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture. San Mateo Beekeeper's Association. Sept 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture.Mt. Diablo Beekeeper's Association Oct 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture.Marin County Beekeeper's Association Nov 2016. Chicago Field Museum, Women in Science Program, 35thAnniversary of the Macarthur Foundation. February 2017. Restoring pollinator and crop pollination services in agricultural landscapes, Plan Bee Symposium, Association for Advancement in Science, Bost, MA. SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES October 2016 "Effects of Agroecosystem Irrigation on Denitrification and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Organic Strawberry Farms." SACNAS National Conference, Long Beach, CA. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL December 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." University of Kentucky, Department of Entomology., Lexington, KY November 2016. "Assessing benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems in California's Central Coast." Ecolunch lecture series, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. September 2016. "Effects of Agroecosystem Irrigation on Denitrification and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Organic Strawberry Farms." Pomona Summer Poster Conference. Pomona College, CA. April 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." Cornell University, Department of Horticulture, Ithaca, New York. Feb 2017, Rediversifying agricultural landscapes for native pollinators and pollination services, Dept Seminar, Tufts University March 2017. Through the bee's eyes: seeking food system sustainability Departmental seminar, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainabilityseminar, University of British Columbia Undergraduate lectures (Spring 2017: ESPM 15 Introduction to Environmental SciencesESPM 192 Senior Capstone Seminar, Molecular Environmental BiologyMalcolm Potts: Survival 101. PUBLIC POLICY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORKSHOPS May 2016. "Crop diversity effects on pollinator abundance, diversity and pollination services." Organic Confluences Summit, Hall of the States, Washington DC. August 2016. "Conservation Biological Control Ecosystem Services in Strawberry Crops of California's Central Coast," Xerces Society Conservation Biological Control Training Workshop, Salinas, CA. POPULAR PIECE PUBLICATIONS January 2017 Interview: "The Millennial Face of Organic," published in Organic Trade Association (OTA) Organic report magazine. July 2016 "U-pick Musings, "High Ground Organics Farm CSA newsletter Changes/Problems:Major problems or delays that may have a significant impact on the rate of expenditure; It has been challenging to move forward without involvement from our economics PI. We will overcome this problem and delay and have taken steps to foster a new collaboration with Cornell University that will assist us in gathering important economic data. We found the accounting procedures between Pomona College and UC Berkeley to inhibit some timely hires. Since UCB has a well-established Office of Sponsored Projects, we have been working the with Pomona administration to develop more effective grant management capacity. Significant change has already been made, but some of the subaward was not spent because of these delays. Significant deviations from research schedule or goals; We needed to adapt carefully to farmer work schedules that are incredibly busy during the strawberry season. For the work conducted by Pomona College on greenhouse gas emissions, the major challenge was getting access to the farms at appropriate times -- before irrigation had begun but on days when irrigation would be occurring. In spite of the challenges, we were able to obtain greenhouse gas emissions data from the great majority of farms before, during and after irrigation. In some cases, the number of samples before irrigation was limited and will limit the power of our analysis. Nevertheless, the coordination and effort to work with farmers was one of the most successful of all the projects that co-PI Los Huertos had participated in previously. The soils team extracted DNA from collected soils to further analyze how management influences below-ground processes. Since this component was not included in our original proposal/budget, the team intends to seek additional funding to analyze these data. Protocol and research goal changes: Biodiversity, pollination and pest control services: After reviewing the ratios of output to input for data collection in the field we decided to make some changes in our sampling efforts and directions. For instance, we did not gain enough information regarding biodiversity of arthropods by implementing pitfall and pan traps to make the sampling effort worth the labor; therefore we dropped these techniques in the 2nd year of the sample while maintaining the bug vacuum collection and berry survey. For pollination services, we did not conduct another pollinator exclusion experiment (and related studies on berry quality as it relates to pollination) because after initial data exploration we found the same pattern of results as a past two-year study conducted on some of the same farms in the region by Postdoc Sciligo in 2011-2012. However, our first field season suggested that strawberries may be relatively unattractive as a floral resource compared to other types of flowering crops or non-crop vegetation. We therefore decided it was important to add pollinator surveys on the whole farm to try to get a better representation of the pollinator community on the whole farm, not just on strawberry. By sampling these other flowering plants, when present, we can get a more accurate picture of how diversification on farms affects pollinator abundance and richness, and how co-flowering crop and non-crop vegetation may affect pollinator visitation to strawberry. We removed the disease survey of strawberry plants because conversations with UCCE specialists, with confirmation by soil testing, indicated that this visual survey was not an accurate determination of specific soil and foliar diseases. After conversations with farmers throughout the first field season and preliminary results dissemination, we added two small pilot studies to explore food safety risks through bird fecal contamination and food waste as affected by different market access and the related berry quality standards imposed on farmers. To explore food safety we added a simple transect survey to each farm to count the number of bird droppings and identify their locations (on the berry, near the berry on the plastic, on the ground in the furrows). To assess food waste, we sampled 6 farms: 3 with direct market access (farmers markets) versus contract growers selling wholesale. Farmers on the selected farms agreed to have one of their pickers keep separate the berries they would normally cull from each box of marketable berries. They did this for 2 boxes per farm. From this we were able to measure percent culled and record the berry quality characteristics of the fruit that was sold versus culled for each of the market access groups. Soils/GHG: We collected soils and extracted DNA to further analyze how management influences below-ground processes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided many professional development opportunities for faculty, postdocs and graduate students including: - Training and mentoring of 27 student interns, 20 at UC Berkeley and % at Pomona College (undergraduate research interns have learned many skills related to field collections, how to organize and collect field data on farms, greenhouse experiments and specimen processing as a result of this study). Twenty of the 27 undergraduate students were fromunderrepresented populations in science. All five Pomona students were not only from underrepresented groups, but alsofrom urban populations, thus learning about and conducting fieldwork in a rural environment promoted a cross-cultural experience. - Three undergraduate students from Pomona Collegein 2016-2017 have produced senior theses as a result of their work on this project. - 18 presentations at conferences, workshops, and public lecture series - Working collaboratively to develop new interdisciplinary components of our project, such as, development of interview questions for farmers, and multifunctionality analyses from ecological, economic and social science perspectives. - Some team members had the opportunity to work with farmers and NGO and state agency employees, and all team members have become more versed in building interdisciplinary relationships across multiple stakeholder levels How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1) Farmer conference workshop and booth. One conference was entirely directed to a Latino farmer audience. 2) Consultations to farmers and industry members/leaders for berry industry 3) Outreach/ results dissemination to farmers, beekeepers, NGOs 4) Outreach/ oral presentations to general public audiences 5) Scientific conferences and internal/external university department seminars 6) Public policy and environmental workshops 7) Public piece publications: blog entry and Organic Trade Association magazine interview Detailed list below: FARMER CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS January 2017 Assessing benefits, costs and trade-offs of biologically-diversified farming. Ecofarm Conference: Workshop title "Conserving biodiversity using organic practices." Asilomar, California. November 2016. 2nd Annual Latino Farmers Conference, Booth with spanish translations of preliminary results and research program methods and goals: -"Resumen de investigacion: Comprender los beneficios, costos, y compensaciones de los sistemas agricolas biologicamente diversificadas en la costa central de California" - "¿Cómo afecta la vegetación no cultivada cerca de los cultivos de fresas a la presencia de Lygus y a sus enemigos naturales? " -"Efectos de hábitat natural y diversidad de cultivos sobre control de lygus" -"Efectos de hábitat natural y diversidad de cultivos sobre polinización" PUBLIC LECTURES October 2016 "Assessing benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems in California's Central Coast." Center for Diversified Farming Systems Lecture Series, Berkeley, CA. May 2016 Rediversifying intensive agricultural landscapes to promote native pollinatorsat the "Keeping Bees Healthy" Symposium, Robert Mondavi Center, UC Davis July 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture. San Mateo Beekeeper's Association. Sept 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture.Mt. Diablo Beekeeper's Association Oct 2016 Native pollinators and sustainable agriculture.Marin County Beekeeper's Association Nov 2016. Chicago Field Museum, Women in Science Program, 35th Anniversary of the Macarthur Foundation. February 2017. Restoring pollinator and crop pollination services in agricultural landscapes, Plan Bee Symposium, Association for Advancement in Science, Bost, MA. SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES October 2016 "Effects of Agroecosystem Irrigation on Denitrification and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Organic Strawberry Farms." SACNAS National Conference, Long Beach, CA. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL December 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." University of Kentucky, Department of Entomology., Lexington, KY November 2016. "Assessing benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems in California's Central Coast." Ecolunch lecture series, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. September 2016. "Effects of Agroecosystem Irrigation on Denitrification and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Organic Strawberry Farms." Pomona Summer Poster Conference. Pomona College, CA. April 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." Cornell University, Department of Horticulture, Ithaca, New York. Feb 2017, Rediversifying agricultural landscapes for native pollinators and pollination services, Dept Seminar, Tufts University March 2017. Through the bee's eyes: seeking food system sustainability Departmental seminar, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainabilityseminar, University of British Columbia Undergraduate lectures (Spring 2017: ESPM 15 Introduction to Environmental SciencesESPM 192 Senior Capstone Seminar, Molecular Environmental BiologyMalcolm Potts: Survival 101. PUBLIC POLICY AND ENVIRONMENTAL WORKSHOPS May 2016. "Crop diversity effects on pollinator abundance, diversity and pollination services." Organic Confluences Summit, Hall of the States, Washington DC. August 2016. "Conservation Biological Control Ecosystem Services in Strawberry Crops of California's Central Coast," Xerces Society Conservation Biological Control Training Workshop, Salinas, CA. POPULAR PIECE PUBLICATIONS January 2017 Interview: "The Millennial Face of Organic," published in Organic Trade Association (OTA) Organic report magazine. July 2016 "U-pick Musings, "High Ground Organics Farm CSA newsletter What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1) Continue to process pollinator samples (finalize sorting, identifications labelling and entering into database) 2) Continue to work on data entry and analysis, and manuscript development. 3) Finalize social science interviews and develop and conduct socioeconomic survey. 4) Continue monthly meetings with whole grant team until results analysis is completed. 5) Continue working closely with all researchers from the grant to write up and publish the results in the summer and fall of 2017

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For Aim 1: Given the large amounts of data collected and the need to identify insect specimens in the lab, the finalization of our databases is still in progress, and analyses have yet to begin on most of the biodiversity and ecosystem service data. We report below on results from three experiments for which preliminary or final analyses are completed, and in the Products section on the many additional databases that we are building that will be analyzed in the coming year and beyond. 1. Pest control, insects: Sentinel experiments showed a statistically significant higher predation rates in non-crop vegetation in field edges compared to within strawberry crops. Preliminary analysis indicates that higher local (farm-scale) diversity can decrease that difference in predation rates, which means that farmers may be able to increase levels of natural pest control by implementing on-farm diversification methods. Preliminary analyses also show that a pest and disease index(including information on Lygus bug, bird damage, powdery mildew, angular leaf spot, spider mites and thrips) is significantly lower on farms in the "high diversification cluster" and significantly lower with the number of crops planted. 2. Pest control, birds: Last year we reported on results from an exclosure experiment showing that the amount of damage from pest birds is roughly equivalent to the amount of pest control that insectivorous bird species provide. We have since refined these analyses and also show how local management and landscape diversification affect pest bird, insectivorous birds, all birds and bird damage (see abstract). We have prepared a manuscript that we will submit by June 2017 to Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences. ABSTRACT Bird management in agriculture is highly controversial. While birds are important pests of fruit crops, birds can also improve production through the suppression of insect pests. However, few have simultaneously compared the services and disservices provided by birds. Using a bird exclusion experiment in strawberry farms in California's Central Coast, we show that birds suppress berry damage by insect pests (about 3.8% of berries) in a similar magnitude to the damage birds inflict on strawberries (about 2.4% of berries). We show that greater amounts of semi-natural habitat in the landscape surrounding farms are associated with increased bird species richness and the abundance of insectivorous birds. However, pest birds and bird damage declined with semi-natural habitat within in homogenous farms, while diversified farms maintained pest birds across the gradient of semi-natural habitat. Local diversification practices on farms, like hedgerows, flower strips or increased crop diversity, also independently increased bird richness and total abundance compared to farms lacking such practices. Finally, practices intended to reduce birds (such as sound cannons) had no impact on the total bird abundance, pest birds or bird damage, suggesting such practices are not effective. Importantly, our data suggest that growers wishing to reduce pest bird abundance and bird damage to strawberries should not remove bird habitat and would instead benefit from maintaining or restoring natural habitat in and around California agricultural areas. 3. Greenhouse gas emissions Agriculture is one of the key contributors to global climate change through land use change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A clear goal for future agricultural pract ices is to reduce GHG emissions, while maintaining agricultural productivity and improve food security. Here, we investigated how GHG (CO2, N2O, and CH4) emissions varied across our 27 farms, with respect to the diversity of on-farm practices, the diversity of the landscape, and other co-factors such as soil texture and topography. Using cavity ring-down spectroscopy we measured real-time, trace gas fluxes from five chambers, randomly placed along a 50 m transect within a strawberry plot. Our preliminary analyses suggest the following findings: Our general finding is that management practices and farm characteristics do not alone explain changes in GHG emissions in these strawberry farms. Instead, our findings suggest that a combination of management practices and farm characteristics, e.g. soil properties such as soil texture, organic matter, etc, influence soil biogeochemistry (N and C dynamics) explain GHG emissions. Since nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, we investigated it further. Using regression analysis, we did not find significant effects of nitrate concentration, soil particle size distribution or soil respiration rates on nitrous oxide emissions. However, taking into account soil texture and its co-variate hill slope, we found that that farm management practices, i.e. irrigation and farm diversification, may influence NO2 emissions. Our results suggest that farm management practices, including diversification, may be used to reduce N2O emissions. For Aim 2: Last year, we were excited about a new collaboration and sub-contract that we developed with Professor Dan Sumner at University of California Davis, which was to accomplish the economic component of the work and was to generate a new product (not originally in our proposal) of a cost-study of a typical diversified farm from our region. However, unfortunately, Dr. Sumner and his team were not able to begin the work, and we were obliged to end the sub-contract. Instead, we are planning to develop the economic evaluations of ecosystem services on our own, and to glean as much economic information as possible from the socio-economic survey that we will be conducting. Further, fortuitously, we have formed an informal collaboration with a team of sociologists and economists from Cornell University, who are conducting a similar survey regarding farm management practices, but focused on cole crops at a nation-wide scale. We are collaborating with this team to develop our survey instrument, so that we may benefit from their expertise on developing socio-economic surveys. For Aim 3, Hypothesis 3: While we have not reached definitive conclusions to date concerning our hypothesis 3, we have learned more about grower perceptions and experiences. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with growers thus far (18/27 completed), we are learning that grower perceptions and experiences of DFS appear strongly influenced by grower entrepreneurial attitudes that are linked not only to economic outcomes but also to the quality of their work life, personal values and opinions concerning produce quality, and personal identity. To measure the realized benefits, costs, and tradeoffs, we would need to have better access to economic data, but this may not be possible due to grower unwillingness to share such information. We will attempt to get more general economic data through a socio-economic survey, which we will conduct in Year 3.

Publications


    Progress 02/14/15 to 02/13/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Target Audience Our efforts in this reporting periodhave reached these communities: 1) Farmers from our study region as well as those from other parts of CA and the US west coast, with an emphasis on inclusion of Latino farmers. 2) Commodity group members and leaders in berry and lettuce industries and other business leaders (e.g. Costco) 3) UCCE specialists 4) NGOs and government agencies,including specialists at Regional Conservation Districts Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, 5) General public including potential donorsand hobbyists/enthusiasts 6) Student groups including those from high school, undergraduate and graduate levels 6) University scientists (faculty and staff) from many different universities across the US (by means of nationalconference participation) Efforts included: 1) Farmer conference workshop and poster presentations. One conference was entirely directed to a Latino farmer audience: 2) Consultations to farmers and industry members/leaders for berry and lettuce industries 3) Outreach/ results dissemination to farmers, NGO's and UCCE specialists 4) Outreach/ oral presentations to general public audiences 5) Scientific conferences and internal/external university department seminars 6) Panel participation, formal classroom instructions, laboratory instruction, internships and experiential learning opportunities for multiple student groups Detailed list of events to demonstrate efforts to reach target audiences (listed in reverse chronological order): FARMER CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS January 2016. "Assessing benefits, costs and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems." Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar, CA January 2016. Poster presentation: "Factors controlling birds in diversified strawberry farms in the Central Coast of California. Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar, CA. January 2016. Poster presentation: Preliminary sentinel pest results at Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar CA. January 2016. Workshop members. "Biodiversity: stories from the farm," EcoFarm conference, Asilomar CA October 2015. "Factores agrícolas que afectan a los pájaros dañinos en la producción de fresas." 1st conference for Latino Growers. Poster (in Spanish). April 2015. UC Davis IPM workshop, Davis, CA "Pollinator diversity: Why it's important and how to conserve" PUBLIC LECTURES March 2016. "Pollinator diversity: Why we need it and how to support it." Garden Club of America Carmel Chapter meeting, Carmel, CA Oct 2015. Three lectures for Costco Company on Organic Agriculture. April 2015."A bee's eye view towards food system sustainability".E Paul Catts Memorial Lecture. Washington State University. Pullman, WA. March 2015."A bee's eye view towards food system sustainability"Strickland Memorial Lecture, Dept. of Entomology, University of Alberta, Canada. SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES November 2015. "Crop diversity effects on pollination and natural pest control services: Is ecological evidence enough to promote food security?" Entomological Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN November 2015. "Managing biodiversity in agriculture." UC President's Lake Arrowhead Retreat. UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. October 2015. "Pollinators, diversified farming systems and research priorities." USDA NIFA Science Outcome Committee, Waterfront Center, Washington, DC. August 2015. "Managing for ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes." Invited Speaker, Ecological Society of America Vice President's Center Centennial Session: Frontiers in Science, Education, Management, and Policy to Address Environmental Issues. Baltimore, MD. August 2015. "Managing ecosystem services in agriculture." Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Baltimore. June 2015. "Alternative futures: the case for agroecology", Keynote Speech, Food Systems Summit, University of Vermont, Rochester, VT March 2015. "Why Does the Middle Matter? Transitioning to Just Food Systems for Rural American Farmers." Harvard Just Food Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL March 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." - Cornell University, Department of Horticulture. - UC Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. February 2016. "Managing biodiversity in agriculture." -UC Merced, Sustainability Symposium Series. - UC Santa Cruz, Department of Environmental Studies. January 2016. "Managing biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture." UC Riverside, Department of Entomology. January 2016. Pollinators as ambassadors for diversified farming systems. Mini-Symposium on "Diversifying Agriculture - Impacts on Crop Pollination and Ecoservuces," Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden. December 2015. "Why Does the Middle Matter? Fostering a Diversified U.S. Agriculture." UC Santa Cruz, Department of Environmental Studies Seminar Series November 2015. "Cultivating conservation on a farmed planet." UC Berkeley, Conservation, Wildlife, & Fisheries Seminar. November 2015. "Applied phylogenetics: historical approaches as pest suppression tools in agriculture." UC Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management Departmental Seminar Series. September 2015. "Agriculture, Society, and Food Sovereignty: Transitioning to Just Food Systems for Rural American Farmers." UC Berkeley Learning in Retirement Series. PANELS April 2016. The True Cost of American Food - Panel on Integrated Farming Systems -- Talk title "The advantages of diverse integrated farming systems" March 2016. ESPM 201A: Panel on interdisciplinary in agricultural research, UC Berkeley, (3 grant team members) December 2015. Berkeley Connect: Interdisciplinary Research Showcase Panel, UC Berkeley, CA November 2015. Feeding a Growing Planet: Challenges, Impacts, and Taboos. UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. May 2015. Sustainable Foods Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium (2 grant team members). April 2015. Pollinators and Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Valley, Berkeley CA Changes/Problems:We developed a new collaboration with Professor Dan Sumner from UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center. Dr Sumner is replacing Dr Max Aufhammer as our economist on the team. In addition to the grant deliverables that were already planned, we now also plan to conduct a cost study of a diversified farm as an additional project deliverable. We believe that this cost study will both provide a useful benchmark that may assist us in obtaining economic information from highly diversified growers in our sample, as well as providing a useful outreach product for existing growers wishing to diversify their farm operation, or for new farmers that want to adopt this farming style. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided many professional development opportunities forfaculty, postdocs and graduate students including: - Management and training of student interns (undergraduate research interns have learned many skills related to field collections,greenhouse experimentsand specimen processing as a result of this study) - Presentations at conferences, workshops, and public lecture series - Working collaboratively to develop new interdisciplinary components of our project, such as. lygus vs. pollinator damage greenhouse experiment, development of interview questions for farmers, and multifunctionality analyses from ecological, economic and social science perspectives. - Some team members had the opportunity to work with farmers and NGO and state agency employees, and all team members have become more versed in building interdisciplinary relationships across multiple stakeholder levels How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The following is the same list of events as presented in the Target Audience section: FARMER CONFERENCES/ WORKSHOPS January 2016. "Assessing benefits, costs and tradeoffs of biologically diversified farming systems." Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar, CA January 2016. Poster presentation: "Factors controlling birds in diversified strawberry farms in the Central Coast of California. Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar, CA. January 2016. Poster presentation: Preliminary sentinel pest results at Organic Agriculture Research Symposium, Asilomar CA. January 2016. Workshop members. "Biodiversity: stories from the farm," EcoFarm conference, Asilomar CA October 2015. "Factores agrícolas que afectan a los pájaros dañinos en la producción de fresas." 1stconference for Latino Growers. Poster (in Spanish). April 2015. UC Davis IPM workshop, Davis, CA "Pollinator diversity: Why it's important and how to conserve" PUBLIC LECTURES March 2016. "Pollinator diversity: Why we need it and how to support it." Garden Club of America Carmel Chapter meeting, Carmel, CA Oct 2015. Three lectures for Costco Company on Organic Agriculture. April 2015."A bee's eye view towards food system sustainability".E Paul Catts Memorial Lecture. Washington State University. Pullman, WA. March 2015."A bee's eye view towards food system sustainability"Strickland Memorial Lecture, Dept. of Entomology, University of Alberta, Canada. SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES November 2015. "Crop diversity effects on pollination and natural pest control services: Is ecological evidence enough to promote food security?" Entomological Society of America Conference, Minneapolis, MN November 2015. "Managing biodiversity in agriculture." UC President's Lake Arrowhead Retreat. UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. October 2015. "Pollinators, diversified farming systems and research priorities." USDA NIFA Science Outcome Committee, Waterfront Center, Washington, DC. August 2015. "Managing for ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes." Invited Speaker, Ecological Society of America Vice President's Center Centennial Session: Frontiers in Science, Education, Management, and Policy to Address Environmental Issues. Baltimore, MD. August 2015. "Managing ecosystem services in agriculture." Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Baltimore. June 2015. "Alternative futures: the case for agroecology", Keynote Speech, Food Systems Summit, University of Vermont, Rochester, VT March 2015. "Why Does the Middle Matter? Transitioning to Just Food Systems for Rural American Farmers." Harvard Just Food Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts. UNIVERSITY SEMINARS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL March 2016. "Managing agricultural biodiversity for pest control services." - Cornell University, Department of Horticulture. - UC Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management. February 2016. "Managing biodiversity in agriculture." -UC Merced, Sustainability Symposium Series. - UC Santa Cruz, Department of Environmental Studies. January 2016. "Managing biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture." UC Riverside, Department of Entomology. January 2016. Pollinators as ambassadors for diversified farming systems. Mini-Symposium on "Diversifying Agriculture - Impacts on Crop Pollination and Ecoservuces," Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden. December 2015. "Why Does the Middle Matter? Fostering a Diversified U.S. Agriculture." UC Santa Cruz, Department of Environmental Studies Seminar Series November 2015. "Cultivating conservation on a farmed planet." UC Berkeley, Conservation, Wildlife, & Fisheries Seminar. November 2015. "Applied phylogenetics: historical approaches as pest suppression tools in agriculture." UC Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management Departmental Seminar Series. September 2015. "Agriculture, Society, and Food Sovereignty: Transitioning to Just Food Systems for Rural American Farmers." UC Berkeley Learning in Retirement Series. PANELS April 2016. The True Cost of American Food - Panel on Integrated Farming Systems -- Talk title "The advantages of diverse integrated farming systems" March 2016. ESPM 201A: Panel on interdisciplinary in agricultural research, UC Berkeley, (3 grant team members) December 2015. Berkeley Connect: Interdisciplinary Research Showcase Panel, UC Berkeley, CA November 2015. Feeding a Growing Planet: Challenges, Impacts, and Taboos. UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. May 2015. Sustainable Foods Institute, Monterey Bay Aquarium (2 grant team members). April 2015. Pollinators and Sustainable Agriculture, Organic Valley, Berkeley CA What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1) Continue field collections for a second year from May 15-August 15. - Sample processing should be completed before the upcoming field season 2) Continue to work on data entry and analysis during second field season. 3) Finish conducting social science interviews during second field season. 4) Continue building and expanding farmernetwork in the study region for site selection and outreach 5) Work with economics team to collect andanalyse production cost vs. gains data and complete diversified farming cost study. 6)Continue bi-weekly meetings with whole grant team after field season is completed.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? For Aim 1: Given the large amounts of data collected and the need to identify insect specimens in the lab, the finalization of our databases is still in progress, and analyses have not yet begun on most of the biodiversity and ecosystem service data. For this reason, we focus on our progress in obtaining and processing data and report on results from only one experiment for which analyses are completed (see below). Birds as pests and pest control agents on diversified to specialized strawberry fields. On 6 farm sites, we set up exclosures to prevent birds from acting as either pests of strawberry or pest control agents. Certain bird species (red-winged blackbird, Brewer's blackbird, house finch and European starling) eat strawberries, damaging the fruit, while other birds (insectivorous species) may help to control insect pests on strawberries, such as Lygus hesperus, the Western tarnished plant bug. Exclosures prevented both pest and pest control actions by birds. On each farm we established three 0.9 m by 1.5 m exclosures (~12 strawberry plants) along one strawberry row, with an adjacent control plot of the same size. We monitored plots weekly for signs of bird or Lygus damage. Overall, we found that the amount of damage caused by birds, about 2% (range: <1%-7%) more in open than closed plots, was roughly equivalent to the amount of Lygus pest suppression due to birds. Confirming this result, we found significantly more Lygus in the exclosures then in the open controls. Drawing on our bird and berry survey results from across the 27 farms, we further found that diversified farms had significantly greater bird diversity than specialized farms, and that bird diversity also increased on both farm types as the surrounding landscape contained a higher proportion of natural habitat (more complex). Furthermore, we found that pest birds were more prevalent in simplified landscapes (low natural habitat), whereas insectivorous birds were more prevalent both on diversified farms, and in more complex landscapes. Thus, the balance between the pest and pest control functions of bird communities is likely to shift towards pest control on more diversified farms. Confirming this expectation, we found significantlymore bird damage marks on farms in more simplified landscapes. --------------- We developed a new collaboration and sub-contract with Professor Dan Sumner at University of California Davis and began planning the economic component of the work to address Aim 2 in collaboration with his team. A new product from this collaboration will be a cost-study of a typical diversified farm from our region. For Aim 3, we developed the interview questions and are currently conducting interviews with each growers, with12 of 27completed to date.

    Publications