**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** MANY AGRICULTURAL CROPPING SYSTEMS SUFFER THE SAME AILMENTS AND RESORT TO THE SAME SOLUTIONS; FOR EXAMPLE, MOST SPECIALTY CROPS RELY ON PESTICIDES TO CONTROL PEST POPULATIONS AND AUGMENT POLLINATION WITH MANAGED HONEYBEE HIVES. HOWEVER, THESE EXTERNAL INPUTS CAN GIVE RISE TO SUBOPTIMAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM, WHEREIN PROBLEMS BEGET MORE PROBLEMS. WITHOUT GREATER CONSIDERATION FOR SOLUTIONS AT A SYSTEM-LEVEL, INPUTS ARE UNNECESSARILY MAXIMIZED AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES UNDERUTILIZED. IN THIS PROPOSAL WE CONSIDER TWO KEY ARTHROPOD-MEDIATED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES - POLLINATION AND BIOCONTROL - AND THE POTENTIAL TO MAXIMIZE EACH BY REEVALUATING THREE AGRONOMIC INPUTS: I) COVER CROP CHOICE; II) INSECTICIDE USE PRACTICES; AND III) SUPPLEMENTATION WITH MANAGED HONEYBEES. USING SEEDLESS WATERMELON AS A MODEL FOR SPECIALTY CROPS, WE PROPOSE SIMPLE YET TRANSFORMATIVE ALTERATIONS IN THESE INPUTS THAT WILL CONSERVE BENEFICIAL ARTHROPODS WHILE IMPROVING FARM PROFITABILITY. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES INCLUDE:OBJECTIVE 1: DETERMINE THE INTEGRATED EFFECTS OF VARYING COVER CROPS ON WATERMELON ESTABLISHMENT, POLLINATOR VISITATION, NATURAL ENEMY FUNCTION, AND PEST DENSITYOBJECTIVE 2: TRANSFORM THE WATERMELON SYSTEM BY IMPLEMENTING FLOWERING COVER CROPS, MANAGING PESTS WITH ACTION THRESHOLDS, AND RELYING ON WILD BEES AS POLLINATORSOBJECTIVE 3: COLLABORATE WITH REGIONAL WATERMELON PRODUCERS TO APPLY ON-FARM TRANSFORMATIONS THAT IMPROVE AGROECOSYSTEM HEALTHTHESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A SERIES OF FIELD EXPERIMENTS USING UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FARMS AND COMMERCIAL GROWER FIELDS. WE ANTICIPATE THAT THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED AGROECOSYSTEM HEALTH IN WATERMELON AND RELATED CROPS. THIS PROJECT'SOVERALL GOAL AND SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES CLOSELY ALIGN WITH THE FOUNDATIONAL &AMP; APPLIED SCIENCE PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY, 'SUSTAINABLE AGROECOSYSTEMS'.