Unveiling neglected ecosystem services in semi-arid agricultural landscapes of the Brazilian Caatinga

The quantification of ecosystem services has gained prominence in the global sustainability agenda, yet some services remain poorly understood, particularly in dryland agriculture. Here, we show that dung beetle-mediated services in semi-arid subsistence systems are primarily driven by landscape structure rather than local environmental conditions. We conducted field experiments across 15 small farms in the Caatinga, comparing croplands and paired forest fragments. Using standardized dung and seed analogs (beads), we quantified removal rates and evaluated the influence of soil properties and landscape structure. Dung beetles removed approximately 34% of dung and 30% of seeds within 48 h, with no consistent effects of soil conditions or differences between croplands and forests. In contrast, forest cover at the landscape scale emerged as the dominant driver of service provision. Dung and seed removal in croplands increased markedly with surrounding forest cover, while forest fragmentation and matrix composition had negligible effects. These results reveal a critical dependence of agricultural ecosystem services on nearby natural habitats, despite the high phenotypic plasticity of dung beetles. Deforestation can undermine essential ecosystem services even when local conditions remain suitable. Maintaining and restoring forest cover around croplands is therefore crucial to sustain productivity and resilience in climatically vulnerable dryland regions, highlighting the need to shift from field-scale to landscape-scale agricultural management.