Data for: Functional redundancy of weed seed predation is reduced by intensified agriculture

Samenvatting

Intensive agriculture, a driver of biodiversity loss, can diminish ecosystem functions and their stability. Biodiversity can increase functional redundancy and is expected to stabilize ecosystem functions. Few studies however have explored how agricultural intensity affects functional redundancy and its link with ecosystem function stability. Here, within a continent-wide study, we assess how the functional redundancy of seed predation is affected by agricultural intensity and landscape simplification. By combining carabid abundances with molecular gut content data, functional redundancy of seed predation was quantified for 65 weed genera across 60 fields in four European countries. Across weed genera, functional redundancy was reduced with high field management intensity and simplified crop rotations. Moreover, functional redundancy increased the spatial stability of weed seed predation within fields. We found that ecosystem functions are vulnerable to disturbance in intensively managed agroecosystems, providing empirical evidence of the importance of biodiversity for stable ecosystem functions across space.