Abstract
Description of the subject. Segetal plant species are highly threatened in arable land. They are an integral part of agricultural history and biodiversity in Western Europe. In Wallonia (southern Belgium), an agro-environmental scheme (AES) has been adopted for their conservation. It consists of strips on a field margin, with at least 60% cereals in crop rotation, and proscribes spraying and fertilisation. Objectives. This paper assessed the impact of an AES on segetal species conservation. Method. In eight organic fields and six conventional fields, a vegetation survey was performed on an AES strip and on a control margin of each field. Evenness, richness, cover and species composition for both total and segetal species were compared between AES strips and their corresponding control margins. Also, a cover of pernicious weeds was considered to be a factor in the rejection of AES by farmers. Results. In conventional agriculture, species richness (total and segetal) and cover (total and segetal) were higher in the AES than in the respective control; however, pernicious weed cover was also enhanced. In organic fields, total species richness was higher and pernicious weed cover was lower in the AES than in the respective control. Total evenness was higher in organic than in conventional fields, due to the co-dominance of several species. Under the AES, species composition and abundance remained different between conventional and organic fields. In all cases, rare species were hardly found in our survey. Conclusions. AES promote plant diversity in both organic and conventional fields. Sowing AES strips with uncleaned seeds from well-preserved fields, or species introduction, are recommended to enhance rare species recovery.
Highlights
Since the 1950s, agriculture has intensified drastically, which has led to a significant biodiversity decline in arable lands (Stoate et al, 2001)
The main causes of the decline have been the increasing use of herbicides and fertilizers, as well as landscape homogenization that has led to a decrease in field margin density, which is seen as the refuge area for segetal plants (Albrecht et al, 2016)
We considered the impact of management on the development of pernicious species, as an indicator of farmers’ rejection of such agro-environmental schemes (AES)
Summary
Since the 1950s, agriculture has intensified drastically, which has led to a significant biodiversity decline in arable lands (Stoate et al, 2001). Among the flora associated with arable lands, segetal plant species are those that grow preferentially in cereal fields, and are considered specialist species of this habitat (RotchésRibalta et al, 2016). Some of them evolved under cropping conditions and have no natural habitats outside of arable fields (Storkey et al, 2012; Albrecht et al, 2016). The main causes of the decline have been the increasing use of herbicides and fertilizers, as well as landscape homogenization that has led to a decrease in field margin density, which is seen as the refuge area for segetal plants (Albrecht et al, 2016). Segetal species are nowadays highly threatened throughout Europe (Storkey et al, 2012)
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