Increasing plant diversity with border crops reduces insecticide use and increases crop yield in urban agriculture
Nian-Feng Wan,
You-Ming Cai,
Yan-Jun Shen,
Xiang-Yun Ji,
Xiang-Wen Wu,
Xiang-Rong Zheng,
Wei Cheng,
Jun Li,
Yao-Pei Jiang,
Xin Chen,
Jacob Weiner,
Jie-Xian Jiang,
Ming Nie,
Rui-Ting Ju,
Tao Yuan,
Jian-Jun Tang,
Wei-Dong Tian,
Hao Zhang,
Bo Li
Affiliations
Nian-Feng Wan
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
You-Ming Cai
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China
Yan-Jun Shen
Chongming Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Shanghai, China
Xiang-Yun Ji
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China
Xiang-Wen Wu
Shanghai Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Shanghai, China
Xiang-Rong Zheng
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Wei Cheng
Shanghai Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Shanghai, China
Jun Li
Climate Center of Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Yao-Pei Jiang
Shanghai Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Shanghai, China
Xin Chen
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China
Ming Nie
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Rui-Ting Ju
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Tao Yuan
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China
Jian-Jun Tang
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Wei-Dong Tian
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Hao Zhang
Eco-environmental Protection Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Protected Horticultural Technology, Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Low-carbon Agriculture, Shanghai, China
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Shanghai Chongming Dongtan Wetland Ecosystem Research Station, Institute of Biostatistics, Shanghai Institute of Eco-Chongming, (SIEC), Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Urban agriculture is making an increasing contribution to food security in large cities around the world. The potential contribution of biodiversity to ecological intensification in urban agricultural systems has not been investigated. We present monitoring data collected from rice fields in 34 community farms in mega-urban Shanghai, China, from 2001 to 2015, and show that the presence of a border crop of soybeans and neighboring crops (maize, eggplant and Chinese cabbage), both without weed control, increased invertebrate predator abundance, decreased the abundance of pests and dependence on insecticides, and increased grain yield and economic profits. Two 2 year randomized experiments with the low and high diversity practices in the same locations confirmed these results. Our study shows that diversifying farming practices can make an important contribution to ecological intensification and the sustainable use of associated ecosystem services in an urban ecosystem.
