The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Mikko Kuussaari - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Model for quantifying the synergies between Farmland Biodiversity conservation and water protection at catchment scale.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2013Co-Authors: Janne Helin, Kari Hyytiäinen, Eeva-liisa Korpela, Mikko KuussaariAbstract:Abstract This paper studies joint provision of two environmental non-market commodities related to agriculture: Biodiversity conservation and water protection. We provide an optimising tool for analysing spatial dependencies of multifunctional agriculture at catchment scale. We show that efficiency gains can be achieved by spatial allocation and choice of the type of vegetation. In particular, inclusion of meadow nectar plants in the founding grass seed mixture of set-asides was found out to be an economically efficient measure to promote Biodiversity and water protection on warm, steep slopes.
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can pollination services species diversity and conservation be simultaneously promoted by sown wildflower strips on Farmland
Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 2013Co-Authors: Eeva-liisa Korpela, Sami Lindgren, Terho Hyvönen, Mikko KuussaariAbstract:Sown wildflower strips have been used to mitigate against the loss of Farmland Biodiversity e.g. as a part of agri-environmental schemes. In this four-year field experiment, conducted on six field parcels, the ability of wildflower strips to simultaneously promote the availability of pollination services (using bumblebee abundance as a proxy), species diversity (total species richness of bumblebees, butterflies and diurnal moths) and conservation (abundance of habitat specialist butterflies) was evaluated. The results showed that the first two indicators increased strongly and rapidly in wildflower strips until the third year of the experiment. The conservation indicator increased more slowly and this response was related to the forest cover of the surrounding landscape. Furthermore, the benefits of wildflower strips were largely independent of experimentally varied strip properties. It is concluded that wildflower strips are a flexible mitigation tool to promote different Biodiversity targets in agricultural systems. Pollination services and species diversity can be promoted in different kinds of landscapes by ensuring local habitat quality. In the promotion of habitat specialists, landscape matrix quality is more critical.
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environmental factors driving the effectiveness of european agri environmental measures in mitigating pollinator loss a meta analysis
Ecology Letters, 2013Co-Authors: Jeroen Scheper, Mikko Kuussaari, Simon G Potts, Andrea Holzschuh, Maj Rundlof, Henrik G Smith, David KleijnAbstract:In Europe, agri-environmental schemes (AES) have been introduced in response to concerns about Farmland Biodiversity declines. Yet, as AES have delivered variable results, a better understanding of what determines their success or failure is urgently needed. Focusing on pollinating insects, we quantitatively reviewed how environmental factors affect the effectiveness of AES. Our results suggest that the ecological contrast in floral resources created by schemes drives the response of pollinators to AES but that this response is moderated by landscape context and Farmland type, with more positive responses in croplands (vs. grasslands) located in simple (vs. cleared or complex) landscapes. These findings inform us how to promote pollinators and associated pollination services in species-poor landscapes. They do not, however, present viable strategies to mitigate loss of threatened or endangered species. This indicates that the objectives and design of AES should distinguish more clearly between Biodiversity conservation and delivery of ecosystem services.
David Kleijn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the role of agri environment schemes in conservation and environmental management
Conservation Biology, 2015Co-Authors: Péter Batáry, David Kleijn, Lynn V. Dicks, William J SutherlandAbstract:Over half of the European landscape is under agricultural management and has been for millennia. Many species and ecosystems of conservation concern in Europe depend on agricultural management and are showing ongoing declines. Agri-environment schemes (AES) are designed partly to address this. They are a major source of nature conservation funding within the European Union (EU) and the highest conservation expenditure in Europe. We reviewed the structure of current AES across Europe. Since a 2003 review questioned the overall effectiveness of AES for Biodiversity, there has been a plethora of case studies and meta-analyses examining their effectiveness. Most syntheses demonstrate general increases in Farmland Biodiversity in response to AES, with the size of the effect depending on the structure and management of the surrounding landscape. This is important in the light of successive EU enlargement and ongoing reforms of AES. We examined the change in effect size over time by merging the data sets of 3 recent meta-analyses and found that schemes implemented after revision of the EU's agri-environmental programs in 2007 were not more effective than schemes implemented before revision. Furthermore, schemes aimed at areas out of production (such as field margins and hedgerows) are more effective at enhancing species richness than those aimed at productive areas (such as arable crops or grasslands). Outstanding research questions include whether AES enhance ecosystem services, whether they are more effective in agriculturally marginal areas than in intensively farmed areas, whether they are more or less cost-effective for Farmland Biodiversity than protected areas, and how much their effectiveness is influenced by farmer training and advice? The general lesson from the European experience is that AES can be effective for conserving wildlife on Farmland, but they are expensive and need to be carefully designed and targeted.
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Harnessing the Biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European Farmland
Diversity and Distributions, 2015Co-Authors: Laura M. E. Sutcliffe, David Kleijn, Péter Batáry, András Báldi, Irina Herzon, Piotr Tryjanowski, Lynn V. Dicks, Urs Kormann, Iva Apostolova, Raphael ArlettazAbstract:A large proportion of European Biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich Farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, Farmland Biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high Biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European Farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on Farmland Biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity Farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The Biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity Farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich Farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now.
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VIEWPOINT Harnessing the Biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European Farmland
2015Co-Authors: Laura M. E. Sutcliffe, David Kleijn, Irina Herzon, Piotr Tryjanowski, Urs Kormann, Teja TscharntkeAbstract:A large proportion of European Biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low-intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species-rich Farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, Farmland Biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high Biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European Farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on Farmland Biodiversity in this region remains comparatively tiny, and measures within the EU Common Agricultural Policy are relatively poorly adapted to support it. In this opinion study, we argue that, 10 years after the accession of the first eastern EU new member states, the continued under-representation of the low-intensity Farmland in Central and Eastern Europe in the international literature and EU policy is impeding the development of sound, evidence-based conservation interventions. The Biodiversity benefits for Europe of existing low-intensity Farmland, particularly in the central and eastern states, should be harnessed before they are lost. Instead of waiting for species-rich Farmland to further decline, targeted research and monitoring to create locally appropriate conservation strategies for these habitats is needed now.
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environmental factors driving the effectiveness of european agri environmental measures in mitigating pollinator loss a meta analysis
Ecology Letters, 2013Co-Authors: Jeroen Scheper, Mikko Kuussaari, Simon G Potts, Andrea Holzschuh, Maj Rundlof, Henrik G Smith, David KleijnAbstract:In Europe, agri-environmental schemes (AES) have been introduced in response to concerns about Farmland Biodiversity declines. Yet, as AES have delivered variable results, a better understanding of what determines their success or failure is urgently needed. Focusing on pollinating insects, we quantitatively reviewed how environmental factors affect the effectiveness of AES. Our results suggest that the ecological contrast in floral resources created by schemes drives the response of pollinators to AES but that this response is moderated by landscape context and Farmland type, with more positive responses in croplands (vs. grasslands) located in simple (vs. cleared or complex) landscapes. These findings inform us how to promote pollinators and associated pollination services in species-poor landscapes. They do not, however, present viable strategies to mitigate loss of threatened or endangered species. This indicates that the objectives and design of AES should distinguish more clearly between Biodiversity conservation and delivery of ecosystem services.
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on the relationship between Farmland Biodiversity and land use intensity in europe
Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009Co-Authors: David Kleijn, Péter Batáry, András Báldi, Yann Clough, Florian Kohler, Elena D Concepcion, Mario Diaz, Doreen Gabriel, Andrea Holzschuh, Eva KnopAbstract:Worldwide agriculture is one of the main drivers of Biodiversity decline. Effective conservation strategies depend on the type of relationship between Biodiversity and land-use intensity, but to date the shape of this relationship is unknown. We linked plant species richness with nitrogen (N) input as an indicator of land-use intensity on 130 grasslands and 141 arable fields in six European countries. Using Poisson regression, we found that plant species richness was significantly negatively related to N input on both field types after the effects of confounding environmental factors had been accounted for. Subsequent analyses showed that exponentially declining relationships provided a better fit than linear or unimodal relationships and that this was largely the result of the response of rare species (relative cover less than 1%). Our results indicate that conservation benefits are disproportionally more costly on high-intensity than on low-intensity Farmland. For example, reducing N inputs from 75 to 0 and 400 to 60 kg ha−1 yr−1 resulted in about the same estimated species gain for arable plants. Conservation initiatives are most (cost-)effective if they are preferentially implemented in extensively farmed areas that still support high levels of Biodiversity.
Eeva-liisa Korpela - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Model for quantifying the synergies between Farmland Biodiversity conservation and water protection at catchment scale.
Journal of Environmental Management, 2013Co-Authors: Janne Helin, Kari Hyytiäinen, Eeva-liisa Korpela, Mikko KuussaariAbstract:Abstract This paper studies joint provision of two environmental non-market commodities related to agriculture: Biodiversity conservation and water protection. We provide an optimising tool for analysing spatial dependencies of multifunctional agriculture at catchment scale. We show that efficiency gains can be achieved by spatial allocation and choice of the type of vegetation. In particular, inclusion of meadow nectar plants in the founding grass seed mixture of set-asides was found out to be an economically efficient measure to promote Biodiversity and water protection on warm, steep slopes.
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can pollination services species diversity and conservation be simultaneously promoted by sown wildflower strips on Farmland
Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 2013Co-Authors: Eeva-liisa Korpela, Sami Lindgren, Terho Hyvönen, Mikko KuussaariAbstract:Sown wildflower strips have been used to mitigate against the loss of Farmland Biodiversity e.g. as a part of agri-environmental schemes. In this four-year field experiment, conducted on six field parcels, the ability of wildflower strips to simultaneously promote the availability of pollination services (using bumblebee abundance as a proxy), species diversity (total species richness of bumblebees, butterflies and diurnal moths) and conservation (abundance of habitat specialist butterflies) was evaluated. The results showed that the first two indicators increased strongly and rapidly in wildflower strips until the third year of the experiment. The conservation indicator increased more slowly and this response was related to the forest cover of the surrounding landscape. Furthermore, the benefits of wildflower strips were largely independent of experimentally varied strip properties. It is concluded that wildflower strips are a flexible mitigation tool to promote different Biodiversity targets in agricultural systems. Pollination services and species diversity can be promoted in different kinds of landscapes by ensuring local habitat quality. In the promotion of habitat specialists, landscape matrix quality is more critical.
Henrik G Smith - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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environmental factors driving the effectiveness of european agri environmental measures in mitigating pollinator loss a meta analysis
Ecology Letters, 2013Co-Authors: Jeroen Scheper, Mikko Kuussaari, Simon G Potts, Andrea Holzschuh, Maj Rundlof, Henrik G Smith, David KleijnAbstract:In Europe, agri-environmental schemes (AES) have been introduced in response to concerns about Farmland Biodiversity declines. Yet, as AES have delivered variable results, a better understanding of what determines their success or failure is urgently needed. Focusing on pollinating insects, we quantitatively reviewed how environmental factors affect the effectiveness of AES. Our results suggest that the ecological contrast in floral resources created by schemes drives the response of pollinators to AES but that this response is moderated by landscape context and Farmland type, with more positive responses in croplands (vs. grasslands) located in simple (vs. cleared or complex) landscapes. These findings inform us how to promote pollinators and associated pollination services in species-poor landscapes. They do not, however, present viable strategies to mitigate loss of threatened or endangered species. This indicates that the objectives and design of AES should distinguish more clearly between Biodiversity conservation and delivery of ecosystem services.
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The grey partridge and AESs in Sweden: Setting up an experimental restoration of the grey partridge and associated Farmland Biodiversity in Sweden
Aspects of applied biology, 2010Co-Authors: Annelie Jönsson, N.j. Aebischer, Ola Olsson, Henrik G SmithAbstract:The grey partridge Perdix perdix has suffered a severe decline in numbers and contraction in range during the last half century. The loss of landscape heterogeneity through agricultural intensification has often been indicated as a cause. By preserving and managing small biotopes and creating uncropped border zones, some ecological heterogeneity is maintained and recreated with the aid of agri-environmental subsidies in Sweden. However, the Swedish range of options is poor in comparison with the British one, thus making it difficult to integrate conservation efforts with regular land use by farming. This project aims to show how relatively simple methods can be used to increase the Biodiversity of the agricultural landscape by focusing on the grey partridge. In a large-scale experiment we investigate the effect of newly created wildlife strips on the grey partridge and other species. We will use the results to influence future AESs in Sweden and make them more user-friendly. (Less)
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the effect of organic farming on butterfly diversity depends on landscape context
Journal of Applied Ecology, 2006Co-Authors: Maj Rundlof, Henrik G SmithAbstract:The recent dramatic decline in Farmland Biodiversity is often attributed to agricultural intensification and structural changes in the agricultural landscape. One suggested farm practice seen to benefit Biodiversity and reverse declines is organic farming. Because organic farming is viewed as a more sustainable form of agriculture it is currently subsidized by European agri-environment schemes. However, the efficiency of agri-environment schemes to preserve Biodiversity has recently been questioned, partly because their uptake has been highest in extensively farmed more heterogeneous landscapes. We investigated the effect of farming practice on butterfly species richness and abundance along cereal field headlands and margins on 12 matched pairs of organic and conventional farms in contrasting landscapes (homogeneous and heterogeneous landscape diversity). Both organic farming and landscape heterogeneity significantly increased butterfly species richness and abundance. There was also a significant interaction between farming practice and landscape heterogeneity, because organic farming only significantly increased butterfly species richness and abundance in homogeneous rather than heterogeneous landscapes. An analysis of the distribution of organic farming in Sweden in relation to productivity of the arable land (yield of spring barley, kg ha(-1)) indicated that the distribution of organic farms was skewed towards extensively farmed agricultural areas. Synthesis and applications. The species richness and abundance of butterflies can be enhanced by actions aimed at both promoting organic farming and increasing landscape heterogeneity. However, the beneficial effect of organic farming was only evident in intensively farmed homogeneous landscapes. Currently, the majority of organic arable land in Sweden is located in heterogeneous landscapes where changing the type of farming practice adds little to the existing Biodiversity. We therefore propose that the interaction between landscape heterogeneity and farming practice must be considered when promoting Farmland Biodiversity, for example in Europe by developing context-based agri-environment schemes to increase the amount of organic farming in intensively farmed landscapes. We also propose that in homogeneous agricultural landscapes, organic farming could be used as a more efficient tool to restore landscape heterogeneity if the creation of semi-natural landscape elements was mandatory in the regulations associated with organic agri-environment schemes. (Less)
Katja Jacot - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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perennial species rich wildflower strips enhance pest control and crop yield
Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 2016Co-Authors: Matthias Tschumi, Cedric Bartschi, Jana Collatz, Matthias Albrecht, Martin H. Entling, Katja JacotAbstract:The effectiveness of agri-environment schemes (AES) such as wildflower strips in promoting Farmland Biodiversity has been relatively well studied. Their effects on Biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services, such as natural pest control, in contrast, remain poorly evaluated and their consequences on crop yield largely unexplored. We assessed the effect of sown, species-rich, perennial wildflower strips, promoted through the Swiss AES, on pest control services and their consequences for crop yield in nearby winter wheat. We found strong reductions in cereal leaf beetle Oulema sp. (CLB) density (eggs: 44%, larvae: 66%) and crop damage (40%) caused by CLB in winter wheat besides wildflower strips (N = 10) compared with control fields without wildflower strip (N = 10). Moreover, average crop yield was increased by 10% in winter wheat next to wildflower strips up to 10 m into the fields. Wheat yield was positively associated with broad leaved plant cover, flower density and diversity of nearby flower strips, yet collinearity with wheat density made these effects difficult to disentangle. Our study demonstrates that diverse wildflower strips with known benefits for Farmland Biodiversity can also promote biological pest control and crop yield. This creates a win-win situation for crop production and Biodiversity conservation, through which such AES may contribute to ecological intensification. (Less)
