A global review of arthropod-mediated ecosystem-services in Vaccinium berry agroecosystems

Native beneficial arthropods, including bees, predators, and parasitoids, provide valuable ecosystem services, which help to maintain agricultural productivity and reduce the need for pesticide inputs. Vaccinium berry species are somewhat unique compared to many of the world’s fruit crops in that, up until recently, most of the harvesting and culture of species for food occurred in the geographic regions of their origin. This suggests that insects involved in many of the ecosystem services for these berries are native species that have a shared co-evolutionary history. Due to the shared phylogenetic origins of the Vaccinium spp. agroecosystems, the shared need for efficient pollination, and a number of shared agricultural pests, the potential exists for research from these related systems to closely apply to agroecosystems within the same genus. This review brings together research regarding arthropod-mediated ecosystem services from a number of prominent Vaccinium agroecosystems worldwide. In total, thirty-nine ecosystem service studies are discussed. These studies quantified arthropod-mediated ecosystem services being provisioned to Vaccinium agroecosystems. Additionally, thirty-nine surveys of arthropods closely associated and/or providing ecosystem services to Vaccinium systems are also reviewed. Studies took place almost exclusively in temperate regions with a heavy emphasis on insect pest biological control and pollination services. It is our hope that by synthesizing this body of literature, researchers and growers might be able to utilize research methods, results, and conservation recommendations despite differences in production practices and local arthropod fauna.