African Journal of
Agricultural Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Agric. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1991-637X
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJAR
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 6863

Full Length Research Paper

The impact of animals on crop yields in Malawian rural villages

Jessica Weyell
  • Jessica Weyell
  • Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
  • Google Scholar
Felix Eigenbrod
  • Felix Eigenbrod
  • Centre for Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
  • Google Scholar
Malcolm Hudson
  • Malcolm Hudson
  • Centre for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
  • Google Scholar
Dalitso Kafumbata
  • Dalitso Kafumbata
  • Lead Southern and Eastern Africa, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi.
  • Google Scholar
Mathews Tsirizeni
  • Mathews Tsirizeni
  • Lead Southern and Eastern Africa, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi.
  • Google Scholar
Sosten Chiotha
  • Sosten Chiotha
  • Lead Southern and Eastern Africa, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi.
  • Google Scholar
Guy Poppy
  • Guy Poppy
  • Centre for Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
  • Google Scholar
Simon Willcock
  • Simon Willcock
  • Centre for Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 02 July 2015
  •  Accepted: 21 July 2015
  •  Published: 30 July 2015

References

Adams CT, Banks WA, Lofgren CS, Smittle BJ, Harlan DP (1983). Impact of the Red Imported Fire Ant, (Hymenoptera:Formicidae), on the Growth and Yield of Soybeans. J. Econ. Entomol. 76(5):1129-1132.
Crossref
 
Altieri MA (1999). The ecological role of biodiversity in agroecosystems. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 74(1-3):19 - 31.
Crossref
 
Bender DJ, Contreras TA, Fahrig L (1998). Habitat Loss and Population Decline: A meta-analysis of the patch size effect. Ecol. 79(2):517-533.
Crossref
 
Bengtsson J, Ahnstrom J, Weibull AC (2005). The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: a meta-analysis. Ecol. 42:261-269.
Crossref
 
Byrne A, Fitzpatrick Ú (2009). Bee conservation policy at the global, regional and national levels. Apidologie 40(3):194-210.
Crossref
 
Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, Hooper DU, Perrings C, Venail P, Naeem S (2012). Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 486(7401):59-67.
Crossref
 
Cerkal R, Vejrazka K, Kamler J, Dvorak J (2009). Game browse and its impact on selected grain crops. Plant Soil Environ. 55(5):181-186.
 
Chambers R (1994). The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal. World Dev. 22(7):953-969.
Crossref
 
Chaplin-Kramer R, O'Rourke ME, Blitzer EJ, Kremen C (2011). A meta-analysis of crop pest and natural enemy response to landscape complexity. Ecol. Lett. 14(9):922-932.
Crossref
 
de Groot RS, Alkemade R, Braat L, Hein L, Willemen L (2010). Challenges in integrating the concept of ecosystem services and values in landscape planning, management and decision making. Ecol. Complexity 7(3):260-272.
Crossref
 
de Mey Y, Demont M, Diagne M (2012). Estimating Bird Damage to Rice in Africa: Evidence from the Senegal River Valley. J. Agric. Econ. 63(1):175-200.
Crossref
 
Dunn RR (2010). Global Mapping of Ecosystem Disservices: The Unspoken Reality that Nature Sometimes Kills us. Biotropica 42(5):555-557.
Crossref
 
European Space Agency. (2011). GlobCover.
 
Garibaldi LA, Steffan-Dewenter I, Kremen C, Morales JM, Bommarco R, Cunningham SA, Klein AM (2011). Stability of pollination services decreases with isolation from natural areas despite honey bee visits. Ecol. Lett. 14(10):1062-1072.
Crossref
 
Garibaldi LA, Steffan-Dewenter I, Winfree R, Aizen MA, Bommarco R, Cunningham SA, Klein AM (2013). Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance. Sci. 339(6127):1608-1611. doi: 10.1126/science.1230200
Crossref
 
Ghazoul J (2005). Buzziness as usual? Questioning the global pollination crisis. Trends Ecol. Evol. 20(7):367-373.
Crossref
 
Hellier A, Newton A, Gaona S (1999). Use of indigenous knowledge for rapidly assessing trends in biodiversity: a case study from Chiapas, Mexico. Biodivers. Conserv. 8(7):869-889.
Crossref
 
Hoehn P, Tscharntke T, Tylianakis JM, Steffan-Dewenter I (2008). Functional group diversity of bee pollinators increases crop yield.
 
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biol. Sci. 275(1648): 2283-2291.
 
Hölldobler B (1976). Recruitment behavior, home range orientation and territoriality in harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 1(1):3-44.
Crossref
 
Jonsen ID, Myers RA, Flemming JM (2003). Meta-Analysis of Animal Movement Using State-Space Models. Ecol. 84(11):3055-3063.
Crossref
 
Kalka MB, Smith AR, Kalko EKV (2008). Bats Limit Arthropods and Herbivory in a Tropical Forest. Science 320(5872):71.
Crossref
 
Langellotto G, Denno R (2004). Responses of invertebrate natural enemies to complex-structured habitats: a meta-analytical synthesis. Oecologia 139(1):1-10.
Crossref
 
Lundin O, Smith HG, Rundlöf M, Bommarco R (2013). When ecosystem services interact: crop pollination benefits depend on the level of pest control. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biol. Sci. 280:1753.
 
Mace GM, Norris K, Fitter AH (2012). Biodiversity and ecosystem services: a multilayered relationship. Trends Ecol. Evolut. 27(1):19-26.
Crossref
 
Mahr SER, Cloyd RA, Mahr DL, Sadof CS (2001). Biological Control of Insects and Other Pests of Greenhouse Crops.
 
MASDAP. (2013). Malawi Spatial Data Portal.
 
Motzke I, Tscharntke T, Sodhi NS, Klein AM, Wanger TC (2013). Ant seed predation, pesticide applications and farmers' income from tropical multi-cropping gardens. Agricultural and Forest Entomol. 15(3):245-254.
Crossref
 
National Statistical Office (2010). National Census of Agriculture and Livestock 2006/07: Main Report. Zomba, Malawi.
 
Oerke EC (2006). Crop losses to pests. J. Agric. Sci. 144(01):31-43.
Crossref
 
Pereira E, Queiroz C, Pereira HM, Vicente L (2005). Ecosystem services and human well-being: a participatory study in a mountain community in Portugal. Ecol. Society 10(2):14.
 
R Development Core Team (2010). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. 
 
Reitz SR (2009). Biology and Ecology of the Western Flower Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae): The Making of a Pest. Florida Entomol. 92(1):7-13.
Crossref
 
Ricketts TH, Daily GC, Ehrlich PR, Michener CD (2004). Economic value of tropical forest to coffee production. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101(34):12579-12582.
Crossref
 
Rodger JG, Balkwill K, Gemmill B (2004). African pollination studies: where are the gaps? Int. J. Trop. Insect Sci. 24(01):5-28.
Crossref
 
Roger S, Patrick C, Jon H, Carmen J, Jacquie B, Mahamane L, Waruingi L (2013). A New Map of Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystems of Africa. In A. o. A. Geographers (Ed.), African Geographic Review . Washington DC, USA. pp. 1-24
 
Sánchez-Cordero V, Martínez-Meyer E (2000). Museum specimen data predict crop damage by tropical rodents. Proceed. National Acad. Sci. 97(13):7074-7077.
Crossref
 
Schafer A (2000). Regularities in travel demand: an international perspective. J. Transport. Stat. 3(3):1-31.
 
Snyder WE, Ballard SN, Yang S, Clevenger GM, Miller TD, Ahn JJ, Berryman AA (2004). Complementary biocontrol of aphids by the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis and the parasitoid Aphelinus asychis on greenhouse roses. Biol. Control 30(2):229-235.
Crossref
 
Stenseth NC, Leirs H, Skonhoft A, Davis SA, Pech RP, Andreassen HP, Wan X (2003). Mice, rats, and people: the bio-economics of agricultural rodent pests. Front. Ecol. Environ. 1(7):367-375.
Crossref
 
Traniello JFA (1989). Foraging Strategies of Ants. Ann. Rev. Entomol.34(1):191-210.
Crossref
 
Wallace GE, Hill CM (2012). Crop Damage by Primates: Quantifying the Key Parameters of Crop-Raiding Events. PLoS ONE, 7:10.
Crossref
 
Way MJ, Khoo KC (1992). Role of Ants in Pest Management. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 37(1):479-503.
Crossref
 
Willcock S, Phillips O, Platts P, Balmford A, Burgess N, Lovett J, Lewis S (2014). Quantifying and understanding carbon storage and sequestration within the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania, a tropical biodiversity hotspot. Carbon Balance Manage. 9(1):2.
Crossref
 
Willcock S, Phillips OL, Platts PJ, Balmford A, Burgess ND, Lovett JC, Lewis SL (2012). Towards Regional, Error-Bounded Landscape Carbon Storage Estimates for Data-Deficient Areas of the World. PLoS ONE 7:9. e44795.
 
Wood TG, Johnson RA, Ohiagu CE (1980). Termite Damage and Crop Loss Studies in Nigeria a Review of Termite (Isoptera) Damage to Maize and Estimation of Damage, Loss in Yield and Termite (Microtermes) Abundance at Mokwa. Tropical Pest Manage. 26(3):241-253.
Crossref
 
Zhang W, Ricketts TH, Kremen C, Carney K, Swinton SM (2007). Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture. Ecol. Econ. 64(2):253-260.
Crossref