Pollination and natural pest control
Field surveys of pollinators and natural enemies are combined with landscape maps to estimate where crops depend on habitat near fields, and how that dependence changes with land use.
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
Ecology explains the living systems that food depends on and affects: pollinators, natural enemies of pests, soil organisms, fisheries, wetlands and the landscapes around farms. It shows how land conversion, pesticides and simplified farming change those services, and where biodiversity loss feeds back into yields and resilience.
GCRI · Established · service level R0
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment. For food systems it explains the living services farms and fisheries depend on, such as pollination, natural pest control and soil biology, and how land conversion, pesticides and simplified farming weaken them and feed back into yields.
Ecology studies the interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, from populations to ecosystems. It explains how biodiversity loss and ecosystem change alter services such as pollination, water regulation and disease control. In food and agriculture, trade, resources and supply chains and climate and hazards, ecological assessment identifies dependencies of agriculture, water and health on natural systems. It supports nature-related disclosure and the evaluation of tipping-point risks. The canonical description is on the STEM Commons.
Field surveys of pollinators and natural enemies are combined with landscape maps to estimate where crops depend on habitat near fields, and how that dependence changes with land use.
Stock assessments and ecosystem models link catch, habitat condition, flows and temperature to the productivity of inland and coastal fisheries that supply protein to low-income households.
Species distribution models estimate where pests, weeds and invasive species can establish under current and projected climate, guiding surveillance near borders and along trade routes.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pollination service | The contribution of wild and managed pollinators to crop yield and quality. |
| Natural pest control | The suppression of crop pests by predators, parasitoids and pathogens living in and around fields. |
| Maximum sustainable yield | The largest catch that can be taken from a fish stock over time without reducing its productivity. |
Plains, deltas and basins, the corridors that carry food to ports, and how far each division sits from one, shown for the Nile Basin as an example geography for this subject.
Data from the source register feeds the methods; calibration and an independent test gate the estimate and its limits; the decision stays with the competent authority.
Fig. 01Nodes carry their type, metrics and state; connectors show what feeds what; the gates are the validation steps; the timeline is one application. Design of the method's use, not a record of a run.
Datasets and records used by ecology and biodiversity science on this platform, with the role each plays and the label its values carry. Sources are listed in the source register.
| Data | Role | Label |
|---|---|---|
| GBIF biodiversity occurrence records | Species distribution modelling | REPORTED |
| Field plots and transects | Abundance and service estimates | OBSERVED |
| Land cover maps | Habitat around farms | OBSERVED |
| Fisheries stock assessments | Status of fish populations | ESTIMATED |
Predictions are compared with independent survey data and long-term monitoring sites. Experimental manipulations and natural experiments test causal mechanisms.
| Check | How it is done |
|---|---|
| Independent survey validation | Distribution models are tested against survey sites withheld from fitting |
| Sampling bias correction | Occurrence records are corrected for uneven observer effort before mapping |
| Mechanism testing | Claims about a service are checked against experiments, such as exclusion trials, where they exist |
Ecosystems show nonlinear responses and thresholds that are hard to anticipate from past data. Sampling is uneven across regions and taxa.
Biodiversity Nexus stewards ecology and biodiversity science for the Consortium and reviews how it is applied across platforms.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.