Authors: Vansynghel, Justine; Ocampo-Ariza, Carolina;Maas, Bea;Martin, Emily A.;Thomas, Evert;Hanf-Dressler, Tara;Schumacher, Nils-Christian;Ulloque-Samatelo, Carlos;Yovera, Fredy F.;Tscharntke, Teja;

Animals provide crucial ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control in cacao agroforests, but also disservices. Yet, the combined contribution of animal groups to cacao yield, and the trophic interactions that drive them, remain poorly understood. An accurate quantification of biodiversity-driven (dis-)services in cacao helps to identify key management strategies that maximize smallholder benefits. We used a full-factorial experiment to exclude flying insects, birds, bats, ants and squirrels from cacao trees in Peruvian agroforests. We quantified the contribution of each animal group to cacao fruit set and crop yield and monitored arthropod populations simultaneously. Flying insects, as well as birds and bats contributed to a significant increase in cacao fruit set. Notably, cacao crop yield increased by 114% in the presence of birds and bats, which translates in gains of USD $497/ha/year for smallholders. Ants and aphids, but no other arthropods, were negatively associated to cacao yield. Finally, we identified a large disservice from squirrels, leading to losses of USD $84/ha/year.
Our results show an unprecedentedly high contribution of birds and bats to cacao yield. We also warn that these benefits may be undermined by disservices from other animals and discuss the relevance of wildlife-friendly management of cacao agroforests.