Wild shade trees override distance to forests in determining predation outcome in tropical agroforests: A study in coffee‐forest matrix

Abstract Tropical agricultural landscapes benefit from the presence of natural habitats within and around them. However, rising deforestation, crop intensification, expansion of agricultural land and limited agroecological research in the Old‐World tropics suggest that agroecology has been undervalued in sustaining ecosystem services. In the shade coffee–forest matrix of South India we tested two hypotheses using dummy caterpillars: (1) predation increases with the abundance of wild shade trees in coffee estates, and (2) the proportional abundance of wild shade trees is particularly critical for predation in estates located farther from forests and during lean food periods. Shade tree communities comprised different proportions of native species and silver oak. In the models, we used tree density, tree richness, tree size, proportion of wild trees, distance from forests, season and caterpillar traits and their interactions as plausible predictors. Overall predation increased with native shade tree abundance, shade tree density, and tree size. Predation by small mammals also responded positively to tree size. Distance from the forests interacted with season and proportion of wild shade trees in communities and influenced predation rates across taxa. Certain predators showed higher predation farther from forests during the coffee fruit‐setting season, which coincides with summer—a period of food scarcity in adjacent deciduous forests when coffee estates are irrigated. Synthesis and application . Our results demonstrate that predation within coffee agroforests is not always restricted to areas adjacent to intact forests. Estates located farther from forests can support high predation rates, especially when they maintain diverse native shade‐tree assemblages, which may enhance matrix permeability for predators, facilitate seasonal movements, and maintain connectivity among increasingly fragmented forest remnants. Maintaining large native shade trees within estates may help sustain biodiversity and ecological functions, especially during lean food periods in adjoining forests. Coffee agroecosystems, enriched by controlled irrigation, can serve as resource‐rich refuges and benefit from the predatory fauna. These findings extend agroecological insights beyond temperate regions, demonstrating that tropical shade coffee systems can act as vital reservoirs of predator diversity and ecological balance when managed with native tree cover.