H2020 EcoStack Project: Stacking ecosystem services: mechanisms and interactions for optimal crop protection, improved pollination, and productivity
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2018 -2024
- Assigned Budget 9.963.866,00 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Proyecto EcoStack
EcoStack will provide European farmers with the knowledge and tools needed to maximize ecosystem services for crop production, while minimizing the environmental impact of agriculture and ensuring its profitability. These objectives will be achieved by integrating ecosystem services to synergistically enhance effective interactions between service providers. Previous attempts to achieve this have proven ineffective due to uncertainty about the exchange of pollinators and natural enemies between crop types and habitats, as well as farmers' reluctance to establish refuges for natural enemies and pollinators. In EcoStack, we will focus on managing beneficial organisms within the field, rather than attempting to manage external influx. We will leverage the knowledge gained on interactions between trophic levels (microbe-plant-herbivore-natural enemy/pollinator) and manage and evaluate the functional benefits of biodiversity at different levels (within and between species, fields, landscapes), combining them to maximize benefits for farmers and system resilience.
Our research covers conventional and organic cropping systems; arable, horticultural, and permanent crops; pastoral and mixed systems; and all pedoclimatic production zones in Europe. We specifically focus on rapeseed, wheat, and potato; field tomato; orchards (olive and fruit trees) and vineyards; and grasslands. Advanced molecular tools and other techniques are used to determine source populations of beneficial organisms, as well as to monitor and record their movements and interactions. A comprehensive work package will address relevant socioeconomic issues, including farmer adoption, and a dedicated precision agriculture data-driven tool will be developed to enable farmers to link inputs (including functional biodiversity) with outputs (yield maps), based on data from their own fields. We have access to comprehensive farming networks spanning Europe to implement and demonstrate our results.
THE ROLE OF THE LANDSCAPE: Using farmer-collected yield monitoring data, we showed that yield declines at the crop edge can be mitigated by semi-natural habitats (SNH) outside the crop, such as hedgerows. Pollinators were more abundant, and pest-regulating services were greater in crops adjacent to SNH than in other crops. Molecular and imaging-based tools have been developed and tested to help understand species interactions and how they are affected by SNH. The positive impact of SNH has been widely disseminated.
CROP INTERVENTIONS: In-crop agronomic practices, such as variety mixtures, intercropping, and the use of organic mulches, can significantly improve the provision of ecosystem services within the crop. We have found that certain variety mixtures reduce aphid performance, and that companion planting (intercropping, trap crops, interseeding) and organic mulches reduce pests while favoring beneficial insects. Results from crop trials designed through consultation with commercial growers and other stakeholders show how these measures can be successfully implemented in barley, wheat, rapeseed, and potato crops. BIO-INSPIRED PLANT PROTECTION: The efficacy of strategies to promote antagonists of both natural and introduced pests and pathogens was assessed, and results were communicated to growers and crop protection companies. Production of candidate biopesticide molecules was scaled up, and efficacy and biosafety testing were conducted. Plant signaling molecules were identified to enhance defense against insect pests and pathogens.
ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT: Data on the biology and ecology of key PES species were collected for modeling studies; their sensitivity to selected insecticides and their combinations of the main pest and pollinator control agents was assessed in different European countries. The collected data indicate a high probability of unacceptable effects of the tested insecticides on PES communities. However, no significant synergistic interactions were found between the tested plant protection products.
MODELING AND SCALING UP: Landscape models continued to be developed to support PES simulation in collaboration with other H2020 projects. Landscape models were completed for nine countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). ESP development is ongoing: a new subpopulation approach has been added to ALMaSS to model numerous species (e.g., aphids) and the development of Northern European beetle, solitary bee, and spider species. The subpopulation model is complete; all Northern European aphid models are calibrated and tested. SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT – For the socioeconomic assessment of the EcoStack strategies, cost-benefit calculations were performed for most individual farm-level measures. The implementation of the "realistic adoption" accumulation scenario in ALMaSS demonstrated the potential range of changes in impacts on ecosystem services considered that could occur if restrictions were applied to the measures considered in the "maximum adoption" scenario. The assessment of EcoStack's socioeconomic impacts in selected EU countries, based on cost-benefit analyses, showed that EcoStack measures generally benefit ecosystem services and, in many cases, are also economically viable at the farm level.
The intensification of agricultural practices to meet the demands of a growing global population presents a significant challenge in balancing productivity with environmental preservation.
The conversion of natural habitats into farmland and the intensive use of synthetic agrochemicals have detrimental effects on the environment and biodiversity, prompting the implementation of EU agri-environment policies and directives. Addressing this challenge is not only an ethical imperative but also a social necessity. With the projected increase in the global population, it is crucial to develop agricultural production methods that minimize environmental impact while meeting food demand. Furthermore, these methods must be aligned with climate change mitigation objectives.
Agroecosystems, although artificially managed, depend on ecosystem services provided by various organisms for pest control, pollination, nutrient recycling, and biodiversity conservation. The EcoStack project seeks to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems in Europe by optimizing biodiversity management and using biologically inspired tools for crop protection. In conclusion, EcoStack addressed the urgent issue of reconciling agricultural productivity with environmental protection. By promoting and evaluating new landscape management approaches and various innovative crop strategies, EcoStack has significantly contributed to the resilience of agroecosystems.
These results have been successfully integrated with naturally inspired plant protection tools, defining broader strategies with a modeling approach, thereby achieving maximum ecological, economic, and social sustainability. EcoStack's results contribute significantly to food security while preserving natural resources and biodiversity for future generations.
EcoStack will provide European farmers with the knowledge and tools needed to maximize ecosystem services for crop production, while minimizing the environmental impacts of agriculture and ensuring agricultural profitability. These objectives will be achieved by accumulating ecosystem services to synergistically enhance the effective interaction of service providers.
Previous attempts to achieve this have been ineffective due to uncertainty about the exchange of pollinators and natural enemies between crop types and habitats, as well as growers' reluctance to establish refuges for natural enemies and pollinators. At EcoStack, we will focus on managing beneficial organisms within the field, rather than attempting to manage external influx. We will take full advantage of the increased knowledge of interactions between trophic levels (microbe-plant-herbivore-natural enemy/pollinator) and manage and assess the functional benefits of biodiversity at different levels (within and between species, fields, landscapes) and accumulate them to maximize benefits for farmers and system resilience. Our research covers: conventional and organic cropping systems; arable, horticultural, and permanent crops; pastoral and mixed systems; and all pedoclimatic production zones in Europe.
Particular attention is paid to rapeseed, wheat, and potato; field tomato; orchards (olive, fruit trees) and vineyards; and grasslands/pastures. Molecular and other advanced technical tools are used to determine the source populations of beneficial organisms and to monitor and record movements and interactions. A comprehensive work package will address relevant socioeconomic issues, including farmer acceptance, and a dedicated precision agriculture data-driven tool will be developed to enable farmers to link inputs (including functional biodiversity) to output (yield maps), based on data from their own fields. We have access to comprehensive agricultural networks spanning all of Europe to implement and demonstrate our results.
Empirical research and modeling have led to improved crop production and protection protocols based on the combination of ecosystem services and bio-inspired pest control tools and strategies. Food and agricultural systems face unprecedented challenges in meeting current and future global food needs. Among the many reasons are the increasing demand for food from a growing population, the adverse effects of climate change, the overexploitation of natural resources, and the loss of biodiversity. Sustainable agricultural practices increase food security while ensuring environmental, social, and economic protection and stability.
The EU-funded EcoStack project was designed to improve the sustainability of agricultural production systems in Europe by reconciling agricultural productivity with sustainable environmental protection. This was achieved through “ecocostacking”—the accumulation of ecosystem services in a way that synergistically increases their contribution to agricultural profitability and sustainable environmental protection. The project focused on optimizing functional biodiversity management and using bio-inspired tools and strategies for crop protection as part of integrated pest management. Enhancing the Contributions of Ecosystem Service Providers “Although often artificially managed, agroecosystems depend on the ecosystem services provided by functional biodiversity,” explains Francesco Pennacchio, project coordinator at the University of Naples Federico II. The most relevant ecosystem services for farmers are natural biocontrol of pests and diseases, pollination, and maintaining soil fertility.
These are provided by ecosystem service providers, such as natural antagonists of pests and diseases, pollinating insects, soil microbiota, soil fauna, and plant microbiota. Co-design of empirical interventions and new models “The study of the molecular mechanisms underlying trophic interactions between organisms revealed unexpected roles of the microbiomes of interacting organisms in resource allocation,” Pennacchio notes. EcoStack has leveraged this knowledge in its new plant protection strategies. These are based on pest suppression mechanisms used by natural plant antagonists or on the induction of plant defense barriers—which can be highly specific—with minimal or no impact on non-target species. “In other words, we learned new pest control methods from nature,” Pennacchio explains. In addition, EcoStack developed a new modeling approach to define the most effective and sustainable eco-provisioning of complementary intervention measures.
This approach, supported by detailed landscape modeling to provide contextual specificity, optimally addresses the needs dictated by different scenarios. EcoStack intervention strategies and tools, both off-crop (around the cultivated area) and on-crop (within the cultivated area), are easily accessible to diverse end-user groups through the Knowledge Bank. “The Knowledge Bank compiles the knowledge of farmers and other stakeholders and integrates it with the scientific learning achieved by the EcoStack project, providing information and manuals to practitioners,” Pennacchio notes. Informative videos are available in the website’s Resource Center. Understanding the Complexity of Multitrophic Interactions “The results of EcoStack highlight the importance of understanding the mechanisms underlying complex trophic interactions for the controlled management of functional biodiversity, in order to achieve greater food security,” Pennacchio states.
Furthermore, the project provided rigorous scientific evidence supporting the importance of complementary and synergistic eco-accommodation measures, given the complexity and diversity of the world and its challenges. Finally, EcoStack highlighted the pressing need to overcome the current limitations of purely empirical research, which cannot address complexity, by developing a deep understanding of the mechanisms underlying resource allocation in food webs as a basis for developing modeling approaches that predict the response of agroecosystems to disturbances. The scientific results, tools, and reports will foster dialogue, understanding, research, and practical application, leading to more sustainable agricultural practices.
- UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II (UNINA)
Related projects
