DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gqnk98st3
title: Data from: The importance of shrubland and local agroecological practices for pumpkin production in sub-Saharan smallholdings

description: Land-use and local field management affect pollinators, pest damage, and
 ultimately crop yields. Agroecology is implemented as a sustainable
 alternative to conventional agricultural practices, but little is known
 about its potential for pollination and pest management. Sub-Saharan
 Africa is underrepresented in studies investigating the relative
 importance of pests and pollinators for crop productivity and how this
 might be influenced by surrounding landscapes or agroecological practices.
 In Malawi, we selected 24 smallholder farms differing in landscape-scale
 shrubland cover, implementation of manual pest removal as an indicator of
 an agroecological pest management practice, and the number of
 agroecological soil practices employed at the household level, such as
 mulching, intercropping, and soil conservation tillage. We established
 pumpkin plots and assessed the abundance and richness of flower visitors
 and damage of flowers (florivory) caused by pest herbivores on flowers.
 Using a full-factorial hand pollination and exclusion experiment on each
 plot, we investigated the relative contribution of pollination and
 florivory to pumpkin yield. Increasing shrubland cover decreased honeybee
 abundance but increased the abundance and richness of non-honeybee
 visitors. Manual removal of herbivores considered to be pests reduced
 flower visitors, whereas more agroecological soil management practices
 increased flower visitors. Neither shrubland cover nor agroecological
 management affected florivory. Pollinator limitation, but not florivory,
 constrained pumpkin fruit set, and increasing visitor richness decreased
 the relative differences between hand- and animal-pollinated flowers. We
 recommend improved protection of shrubland habitats and increasing
 agroecological soil practices to promote pollinator richness on
 smallholder farms.
description: # Data from: The importance of shrubland and local agroecological
 practices for pumpkin production in sub-Saharan smallholdings Datasets
 containing pollinator recordings, data on household agroecological
 practices, landcover data and data of pumpkin yield collected from 24
 smallholder farms in Mzimba district, Malawi, from February to March 2020.
 ## Data: pumpkin.meta Metadata describing data, time, and conditions under
 which data was collected as well as the number of flowers and flower
 damage. Village = unique village identifier Transect.ID = unique transect
 identifier Transect = transect number Date = date Time = time at the start
 of transect Weather = description of the weather at the start of the
 transect male.flowers = number of OPEN male flowers at the end of the
 transect female.flowers = number of OPEN female flowers at the end of the
 transect total.flowers = total number of flowers veg.damage = number of
 flowers damaged on the vegetative organs (i.e., petals) repr.damage =
 number of flowers damaged on the reproductive organs ## Data:
 Pumpkin.sp\_table Data containing flower-visitor counts (bees, syrphids
 and tabanids) collected during 15 minute transects on standardised pumpkin
 plots. Village = unique village identifier Transect = transect number
 Collumns C-R = counts of bee, syrphid or tabananid (morpho) species ##
 Data:pumpkin.harvest Data containing information on pumpkin fruit yield
 metrics. Village = unique village identifier Flower.ID = unique flower
 identifier. It reads village.treatment.flowernumber Treatment = treatment
 to the flower hand.poll = date of hand pollination (if applicable, if the
 treatment was not applied, it is indicated with 'NA') bag.date =
 date the flower is bagged (if applicable, if the treatment was not
 applied, it is indicated with 'NA') bag.removed = date the bag
 is removed (if applicable, if the treatment was not applied, it is
 indicated with 'NA') beetle.damage = was beetle damage observed
 on the flower? 1 = yes, 0 = no. NA indicates bagged flowers, as it is
 impossible for bagged flowers to be damaged by beetles. fruit.set = was
 there early fruit set? 1 = yes, 0 = no fruit.harvest = was there a
 harvestable fruit produced? 1 = yes, 0 = no fruit.measured = was this
 fruit measured for yield metrics? 1 = yes, 0 = no fruit.girth =
 circumference of the fruits around the widest parts, in cm. NA indicates
 the fruit was not harvested (and therefore no girth can be measured).
 weight = fruit weight in grams. NA indicates the fruit was not harvested.
 n.seeds = number of seeds in this fruit. NA indicates the fruit was not
 harvested. date = date yield metrics were measured. notes = anything of
 note (i.e., why harvest data was not collected) ## Data:
 LULC\_percentages\_PU\_PP Dataset containing semi-natural habitat cover
 surrounding pumpkin and pigeon pea fields (only the pumpkin fields were
 included in this study) NAME = unique field identifier. It reads
 village.crop crop = crop identity PU = pumpkin, PP = pigeon pea. Only
 pumpkin fields were included in this study. Village = unique village
 identifier scale = scale of the surrounding landscape cover buffer, in
 metres. SNH\_per = percentage of semi-natural habitat cover in the
 landscape buffer. Semi-natural habitat in our context includes forests,
 shrublands and grasslands. ## Data: household\_AE\_2020 Dataset containing
 information on household agroecological practices surrounding the pumpkin
 plots. Village = unique village identifier PM.manual = did the household
 perform manual pest management (manual killing or removal of pests)? 1 =
 yes, 0 = no soil.vetiver = did the household plant vetiver hedges? 1 =
 yes, 0 = no soil.LS = did the household do soil conservation landscaping
 (i.e., box ridges, terracing, pit planting)? 1 = yes, 0 = no soil.legumeIC
 = did the household perform legume intercropping? 1 = yes, 0 = no
 soil.legumeresidue = did the household incorperate legume residue in the
 soil? 1 = yes, 0 = no soil.legumerotation = did the household perform crop
 rotation with legumes (in the previous growing season)? 1 = yes, 0 = no
 soil.compost = does the household apply compost to the soil? 1 = yes, 0 =
 no soil.manure = does the household apply manure to the soil? 1 = yes, 0 =
 no soil.agroforestry = does the household perform agroforestry? 1 = yes, 0
 = no soil.total = total number of agroecological soil practices applied in
 this household hives = number of honeybee hives managed by this household