Fine-scale canopy-mediated heterogeneity shapes the agroecological potential of Mediterranean olive groves

Mediterranean agroecosystems are increasingly exposed to climate change, with warming and hydro-climatic extremes threatening soil fertility, water regulation and ecosystem resilience. Mediterranean olive groves represent emblematic woody systems where structural configuration and the type of management strongly influence soil-vegetation processes and ecosystem multifunctionality. This study investigates how these factors – ranging from low to high tree density and from abandoned to highly managed systems – jointly shape ecological functioning and ecosystem service provision in olive agroecosystems under Mediterranean climatic constraints. Field measurements combined assessments of vegetation structure, leaf nutrient concentrations and soil physicochemical properties under and outside tree canopies across olive groves differing in management intensity and tree density. Linear mixed-effects models identified management intensity and canopy proximity as the main drivers of ecosystem functioning, while tree density played a secondary but significant role. Vegetation structure responded strongly to management: abandoned groves showed substantially higher canopy development, with leaf area index ranging from 2.77–3.43, compared with 1.13–1.28 in managed systems, and canopy volumes reaching 21.37 m 3 in abandoned high-density olive groves. In contrast, leaf nutrient concentrations showed limited sensitivity to management and spatial configuration, suggesting stronger physiological regulation. At the soil level, canopy proximity generated clear microhabitat effects. Under-canopy soils consistently exhibited higher moisture and organic matter than inter-row areas, with soil water content reaching 9.5% under canopy compared with 5.5% outside canopy in abandoned low-density systems. Nutrient dynamics followed a hierarchical pattern: canopy proximity enhanced nitrate and phosphorus availability locally, while management intensity and tree density structured longer-term soil chemical properties. These patterns reflect enhanced regulating ecosystem services, particularly water regulation and soil quality maintenance, as well as supporting services related to nutrient cycling. Overall, agroecosystem functioning emerged scale-dependent and strongly shaped by canopy-driven spatial heterogeneity within broader management gradients, highlighting how ecosystem services arise as emergent properties of interacting structural and process-based controls.