Evaluation, quantification, and mapping of ecosystem services in canola agroecosystems

Ecosystem services (ESs) are the benefits and functions that ecosystems provide to people. They make human life possible by provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Quantifying the services of agroecosystems is one of the most important strategies to increase attention to these services and provide appropriate solutions to maintain and sustain these services. In this study, some services of canola agroecosystems were evaluated and quantified based on Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) framework under nine plots from an agricultural landscape located in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran, during 2019–2020. We investigated the ecological indicators, such as biodiversity (plant and insect), grain yield, grain oil content, soil microbial respiration, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, organic matter content, earthworm population density and soil conservation through the stability of aggregates indices. To measure the microbial respiration and organic matters, soil samples were taken from a depth of 0–30 cm before September 2019 and after harvest in June 2020. Oxygen production amount was estimated based on net primary productivity. In addition, insects community was studied in three groups: pollinator, beneficial and pest. The results showed that canola agroecosystems provide a variety of services. For example, the highest oxygen production and carbon sequestration as regulating services were obtained as 18.24 t.ha −1 and 2.49 t.ha −1 , respectively. In addition, the highest amount of microbial respiration was observed about 100.41 and 49.83 mg CO 2 per kg of soil per day, before sowing and after harvesting, respectively. From the perspective of supporting services, the maximum amounts of the Shannon–Weiner index were obtained 2.79 for plants community and 2.87 for insect community. We were recorded four beneficial insects ( Syrphus ribesii , Chrysoperla carnea, Apis ellifera mellifica , and Tromatobia oculatoria ) in studied plots. In general, carbon sequestration, organic matter, microbial respiration, earthworm’s abundance, and aggregate stability include average weight diameter index (MWD) and geometric mean diameter index (GMD), were better in plots with sustainable management . The results of this study showed that crop management and implementation of intensive agricultural system were effective in providing many ESs of canola fields.