Butterfly abundance data

Butterfly abundance data; see Börschig, C., Klein, A.M., von Wehrden, H. & Krauss, J. (2013) Traits of butterfly communities change from specialist to generalist characteristics with increasing land-use intensity. Basic and Applied Ecology, 14, 547–554 for more details

Appendix D. Table for general linear models testing the effect of parasitoid diversity pooled over the entire sampling period on rates of parasitism for the six most common host species.

Table for general linear models testing the effect of parasitoid diversity pooled over the entire sampling period on rates of parasitism for the six most common host species

Appendix A. A table showing monthly temperature (°C) and rainfall (mm) in Pajan, Ecuador, within our study region in 2003.

A table showing monthly temperature (°C) and rainfall (mm) in Pajan, Ecuador, within our study region in 2003

Appendix A. Map of the study region showing study plots.

Map of the study region showing study plots

Appendix B. Parasitoid species/morphospecies, mode of attack, hosts parasitized in our study, and the habitat types in which they were found.

Parasitoid species/morphospecies, mode of attack, hosts parasitized in our study, and the habitat types in which they were found

Comparison of vegetation cover, height and seed count data collected by children and scientists.

<p>Comparison of vegetation cover, height and seed count data collected by children and scientists.</p

Plant responses to soil inoculation treatments at different life-stages

Plant responses to soil inoculation treatments at different life-stage

Pollination and Plant Resources Change the Nutritional Quality of Almonds for Human Health

<div><p>Insect-pollinated crops provide important nutrients for human health. Pollination, water and nutrients available to crops can influence yield, but it is not known if the nutritional value of the crop is also influenced. Almonds are an important source of critical nutrients for human health such as unsaturated fat and vitamin E. We manipulated the pollination of almond trees and the resources available to the trees, to investigate the impact on the nutritional composition of the crop. The pollination treatments were: (a) exclusion of pollinators to initiate self-pollination and (b) hand cross-pollination; the plant resource treatments were: (c) reduced water and (d) no fertilizer. In an orchard in northern California, trees were exposed to a single treatment or a combination of two (one pollination and one resource). Both the fat and vitamin E composition of the nuts were highly influenced by pollination. Lower proportions of oleic to linoleic acid, which are less desirable from both a health and commercial perspective, were produced by the self-pollinated trees. However, higher levels of vitamin E were found in the self-pollinated nuts. In some cases, combined changes in pollination and plant resources sharpened the pollination effects, even when plant resources were not influencing the nutrients as an individual treatment. This study highlights the importance of insects as providers of cross-pollination for fruit quality that can affect human health, and, for the first time, shows that other environmental factors can sharpen the effect of pollination. This contributes to an emerging field of research investigating the complexity of interactions of ecosystem services affecting the nutritional value and commercial quality of crops.</p></div