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  • This dataset details information collected from smallholder oil palm farms in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Including: management practices, oil palm fruit yield, understorey vegetation, and soil chemical properties (SOC, total N, total P and available P). We collected data between August to November 2019 from 40 smallholdings (defined as farms < 50 ha) across six governance areas in Sabah. We used responses from face-to-face questionnaires to collect information about their management practices, including Best Management Practices (BMPs), and reported Fresh Fruit Bunch (FFB) yields. We also carried out field surveys on these farms to quantify vegetation cover and soil chemical properties. All smallholder farms had mature fruiting trees i.e. > 8 years since planting. The project received ethical approval from the Biology Ethics Committee, University of York (Ref. SGA201906), and permission from the Sabah Biodiversity Council (Ref. JKM/MBS.1000-2/2 JLD.8), Danum Valley Management Committee (Ref. YS/DVMC/2019/27), and South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (project number 18033) for permission to conduct our research in Sabah, Malaysia. This work was funded by the NERC iCASE studentship (NE/R007624/1) and Proforest. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/38487932-b32a-4b15-9fda-ea812c463466

  • This dataset contains yield data for wheat, oilseed rape and field beans grown in fields under different agri-environment practices. The fields were located at the Hillesden Estate in Buckinghamshire, UK, where a randomised block experiment had been implemented to examine the effects of converting differing proportions of arable land to wildlife habitat. The fields were planted with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) followed by break crops of either oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) or field beans (Vicia faba L.). Three treatments were applied at random: a control ("business as usual"), Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) treatment and ELS Extra treatment. The ELS treatment involved removing 1% of land to create wildlife habitats. The ELS Extra had a greater proportion of land removed (6%) and additional wildlife habitats included. The total yield of each crop was measured at the time of harvesting using a yield meter attached to the combine harvester. From these values, yield per hectare and the ratio of crop yield to regional average yield were calculated. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e54069b6-71a9-4b36-837f-a5e3ee65b4de

  • This dataset consists of butterfly and bumblebee counts, winter bird counts, number of flowering units, and seed mass data, along with categories of soil type and quality, and temperature data. Data were collected from arable farms under the English Entry Level agri-environment Scheme (ELS) for two options: Nectar Flower Mixture option (NFM) and Wild Bird Seed Mixture (WBM). Surveys were carried out in 2007 and repeated in 2008. All data were collected using standardised protocols: butterfly and bumblebee counts were collected from transects in the NFM options during summer; flowering units were counted within quadrats along the same transects in summer; bird counts were made in winter within the whole WBM areas; seed resource was calculated for the WBM areas from seeds collected in quadrats along transects. The dataset also contains results from farmer interviews. The interviews were designed to explore farmer attitudes towards, and history of, environmental management and their perceptions and understanding of the management requirements. Three measures of farmer attitude were then calculcated from their responses: experience (4-point scale), concerns (5-point scale) and motivation (3-point scale). All data were collected as part of the FarmCAT project, the principal aim of which was to develop a holistic understanding of the social and ecological factors which lead to the successful delivery of agri-environmental schemes. This project was funded as part of the ESRC Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/d774f98f-030d-45bb-8042-7729573a13b2