Farmland trees and integrated pest management: A review of current knowledge and developing strategies for sustainable systems

1. Climate change and the withdrawal of several classes of agrochemicals from useare intensifying the challenges faced by food producers in controlling pests incrop systems. Integrated pest management (IPM), which uses a combination ofpest control approaches, is therefore a focus in international initiatives to im-prove the resilience of food production.2. Integrating the greater use of trees and shrubs on farms within IPM frameworksoffers a biodiversity-positive contribution to crop protection. For example, treescan modulate the prevalence and impacts of agricultural pests and their natu-ral antagonists through direct and indirect interactions. The beneficial impact offarmland trees and shrubs on pest management in arable or grassland fields canbe enhanced from an analysis of variables such as tree species and their spatialdistribution on farms, insect-plant dynamics, population behaviours and soil man-agement practices.3. The aim of this study is to synthesise existing knowledge and to assess the ben-efits and trade-offs between farmland trees and IPM strategies, building on gapsin knowledge identified by a stakeholder survey. Through this targeted review,we delineate the future evidence required to define and quantify the advantagesthat farmland trees offer as an element of IPM strategies.4. Practical implication. The development of regional biodiversity monitoring tools,which integrate landscape features such as trees, shows promise for shapingnational policies to increase the adoption of IPM. There is a demand for user-friendly on-farm tools, adaptable to changing crop and pest priorities, that cansupport the alignment of the management of farm trees with IPM. However, basic and applied biological and ecological research are needed to inform and validatethese decision-support tools and the capability to inform landscape-scale models.