Agri-environment Schemes Research Articles

Plant traits and landscape simplification drive intraspecific trait diversity of Bombus terrestris in wildflower plantings

Wildflower plantings are an important mitigation tool within agri-environmental schemes to counter insect decline in resource-scarce agricultural landscapes. Effectiveness of wildflower plantings for insect conservation is typically studied at the community or species level. It is the individual, however, that is subject to changing abiotic and biotic conditions, not the species per se. Accordingly, functional traits of individuals, i.e., the intraspecific functional diversity within species, likely mediate responses to wildflower resources and landscape context. Here we focused on the ecologically and economically important wild insect pollinator Bombus terrestris to study its intraspecific functional diversity and plant-pollinator individual interactions in wildflower plantings. We found considerable trait variation among flower-visiting B. terrestris workers. Locally, this variation could be attributed to flowering plant traits, with larger workers visiting larger inflorescences and individuals with longer tongues preferentially feeding on zygomorphic but not radially symmetrical flowers. In addition, wildflower plantings with high floral abundance attracted individuals with larger pollen baskets. At the landscape scale, increasing proportion of arable land resulted in smaller B. terrestris individuals in wildflower plantings, and a decrease in the overall size diversity of workers. These findings highlight the so far little considered role of intraspecific variation in functional traits of wild pollinators, which can mediate the trait-matching between plants and pollinator individuals. Landscape simplification from agriculture threatens intraspecific pollinator diversity, with potential harmful effects for pollinator fitness and plant reproduction. Tailored wildflower plantings can thus serve as an important tool to increase intraspecific variation in simplified landscapes. When designing seed mixtures for these plantings, high complementarity in plant traits is key for promoting high intraspecific trait diversity of bumblebees and potentially of other associated insect species.

Effects of perennial wildflower strips and landscape structure on birds in intensively farmed agricultural landscapes

Farmland bird populations are in a deep crisis across Europe. Agri-environment schemes (AES) were implemented by the European Union to stop and reverse the general decline of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. In Germany, flower strips are one of the most common AES. Establishing high-quality perennial wildflower strips (WFS) with species-rich native forb mixtures from regional seed propagation is a recent approach, for which the effectiveness for birds has not yet been sufficiently studied. We surveyed breeding birds and vegetation on 40 arable fields with WFS (20 with single and 20 with aggregated WFS) and 20 arable fields lacking WFS as controls across Saxony-Anhalt (Germany). Additionally, vegetation composition, WFS quantity and landscape structure (e.g. distance to nearest woody element) were considered in our analyses. All WFS were established with species-rich native seed mixtures (30 forbs) in agricultural practice as AES. Arable fields with WFS had a higher species richness and territory density of birds than controls, confirming the effectiveness of this AES. A forb-rich vegetation was the main driver promoting birds. Flower strip quantity at the landscape level had positive effects only on bird densities, but also single WFS achieved benefits. A short distance from WFS to woody elements increased total bird species richness. However, the density of farmland birds, which are target species of these AES, were negatively affected by the proximity and proportion of woody elements in the vicinity. The effect of the proportion of non-intensively used open habitats and overall habitat richness was unexpectedly low in the otherwise intensively farmed landscape. Species-rich perennial WFS significantly promoted breeding birds. Successful establishment of WFS, resulting in high-quality habitats, a high flower strip quantity as well as implementation in open landscapes were shown to maximise the effectiveness for restoring declining and AES target farmland birds.

A systematic review of attributes used in choice experiments for agri-environmental contracts

Contract attributes are strong motivators for eliciting farmers’ preferences for a particular agri-environmental scheme. Our study aims to conduct a systematic literature review to highlight the attributes used in choice experiment studies of agri-environmental schemes using the PRISMA framework. We obtained 34 studies for an in-depth review, through which we extracted 32 attributes that were classified into five typologies: ‘monetary’ (7 attributes), ‘general’ (4 attributes), ‘flexibility’ (6 attributes), ‘prescription’ (12 attributes), and ‘purpose’ (3 attributes). Though monetary attributes should theoretically define farmers’ choices; general design and flexibility attributes are more critical for farmers’ participation and willingness to accept. The study also discusses the lesser-used attributes that could be potentially explored in future studies. Thus, our review can be used as a reference by future AES studies to select their bundle of choice attributes and test with a broader range of attributes in their choice experiments.

Agricultural extensification enhances functional diversity but not phylogenetic diversity in Mediterranean olive groves: A case study with ant and bird communities

Agroforests are of well-known importance for biodiversity conservation, especially in the tropics, because they are structurally stable and may resemble natural forests. Previous studies have characterized jointly taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in these agro-ecosystems to comprehensively examine the mechanisms by which agriculture impacts on biodiversity. However, this approach has been barely applied to other woody crops of economic importance, such as olive grove, which is a remarkable overwintering habitat for frugivorous/insectivorous birds from central and northern Europe, and whose original distribution overlaps with the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. We examined the effects of landscape complexity and intensive management practices at a local scale (recurrent plowing and pesticides use) on the functional and phylogenetic diversity of animal communities inhabiting olive groves. Since the response of functional traits or clades may vary across different taxonomic groups, we conducted our study at two levels: ants, which are considered semi-sessile organisms, and birds, which exhibit a high dispersal capacity. In birds, neither management type nor landscape complexity had an effect on phylogenetic diversity (PD) indices. Extensively managed farms harbored bird communities with higher values of functional diversity (FD), but this effect only was evident when considering cultivated (productive) zones within the farm (i.e., infield diversity). Ant assemblages on intensively managed farms exhibited a lower level of phylogenetic clustering than those located in extensive farms, but this effect vanished when excluding non-cultivated zones. Ant functional diversity increased with landscape complexity. Our results indicate that PD and FD exhibit different responses to farming intensification in olive groves. Although intensive management does not erode PD due to the existence of phylogenetic redundancy, the loss of species associated to modern farming leads to a reduction in FD being this indicative of functional complementarity. This study provides evidence that land-use extensification (extensive farming and landscape diversification) promotes more functionally rich assemblages than modern intensive practices in olive groves. Our findings also show the need to set apart the effect of non-cultivated zones (e.g., hedgerows, margins) when evaluating the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes as the joint consideration of non-cultivated and cultivated areas may obscure the benefits of local extensification on infield biodiversity.

Understanding Farmers’ Intention to Use a Sustainability Standard: The Role of Economic Rewards, Knowledge, and Ease of Use

Voluntary approaches to improving sustainability in agriculture can contribute significantly to reduce the sector’s negative environmental impacts and provide a foundation for sustainable land use and farmers’ incomes. We investigate what motivates farmers to implement comprehensive sustainability management on their farms. For this purpose, we use a structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the individual factors influencing the decision-making process within the technology acceptance model (TAM). Our empirical data from 363 farmers fit the theoretical model very well. The model confirms a positive influence of expected economic rewards and subjective norms on the perceived usefulness of such an innovation. However, ease of use is most important, as it is related directly to the stated intention to use a standard. In addition, the data indicate a high, significant, and direct effect of prior knowledge of on-farm sustainability management on stated intent to use a standard. These findings can serve as a starting point to improve not only existing sustainability management systems, but also emerging farm management information systems (FMISs), or agri-environmental schemes with the aim to make their use more attractive. However, further research is needed to verify the results by means of practical applications.

Motivations of farmers to participate in collective agri-environmental schemes: the case of Dutch agricultural collectives

ABSTRACT Collective agri-environmental schemes are designed to improve the spatial coordination and targeting of agri-environmental measures. However, policymakers must craft these programs carefully to motivate farmers to participate. This of course requires knowing what factors actually influence farmers, since they relate to ecosystems in different ways. In the Netherlands, agricultural collectives appear to play an important role in motivating farmers, since they facilitate contracting and help farmers maintain communication with one another. The aim of this study is to explore the various motivations farmers have to participate in collective agri-environmental schemes, which can in turn provide insight on how to approach farmers and recruit them for such programs, taking Dutch agricultural collectives as a case study. To do so, we first developed a literature-based framework on motivational categories, which were reviewed and discussed in a workshop setting; these categories were then ranked and quantified in a survey among representatives of the Dutch agricultural collectives. Results showed that economic and environmentally-based motivations of farmers are perceived as equally important. The relevance of socially-based motivations is perceived less uniformly, although the agricultural collectives may profit from their farmers’ social commitment to cooperate. This implies that there is a need for greater exchange among agricultural collectives, to help disseminate previously applied strategies designed to maintain high levels of personal communication and to establish long-term relationships.

Aerial invertebrate functional groups respond to landscape composition with only detritivores and predators responding to agri-environment scheme management

Landscape-scale agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Highly mobile species, such as aerial invertebrates may be disproportionately affected by land cover at large spatial scales due to their ability to disperse. Assessing the efficacy of environmentally friendly farming, such as Agri-Environment Schemes (AES), therefore, requires establishing the influence of land cover beyond focal farms or fields, contextualising the impact of agricultural management. This study measured the response of aerial invertebrate functional groups to AES management in improved and semi-improved upland grasslands accounting for spatial autocorrelation and multi-scale effects of land cover within buffers varying from 100 m to 5 km at 88 paired fields. Total aerial invertebrate abundance and diversity, including detritivores, herbivores, nectivores, predators and parasitoids all responded to different land cover types at varying scales indicative of highly complex and idiosyncratic functional group responses to landscape.After accounting for spatial autocorrelation and multi-scale landscape composition, total aerial invertebrate abundance was unaffected by agricultural management but diversity was (5%) higher in AES than conventionally managed fields. Detritivore (mostly Mycetophilidae fungus gnat) diversity and abundance were higher in AES than conventional fields, but only on improved grasslands, while predator (adult Muscidae house fly, Scathophagidae dung fly and Dolichopodidae long-legged fly) diversity was lower but abundance higher in AES than conventional fields. Aerial invertebrate herbivores (Anthomyiidae root-maggot flies and Cecidomyiidae gall midges and gnats), nectivores (Syrphidae hoverflies and Apoidea bees) and parasitoids (Ichneumonidae wasps) responded to landscape composition, but not agricultural management. Synthesis and Applications: this study suggests that landscape composition drives aerial invertebrate functional group diversity and abundance at multiple spatial scales. Nevertheless, the responses of some functional groups (detritivores and predators) to local agricultural management suggest that AES management may contribute to the maintenance or enhancement of ecosystem service delivery (nutrient cycling and pest biocontrol). Explicitly accounting for multi-scale landscape effects is necessary when assessing the impact of agricultural management on highly mobile taxa.

Traditional Free-Ranging Livestock Farming as a Management Strategy for Biological and Cultural Landscape Diversity: A Case from the Southern Apennines

Mediterranean mountain landscapes are undergoing a widespread phenomenon of abandonment. This brings, as a consequence, the loss of traditional land use practices, such as transhumant pastoralism, as well as shrub and wood encroachment, with repercussions on the biodiversity associated with semi-open, human-managed landscapes. In this study, we focus on a mountain pasture from the Southern Apennines (Italy), where free-ranging transhumant grazing is still carried out, to quantify the effects of grazing presence and exclusion on arthropod diversity, and to qualitatively characterize the plant communities of grazed and ungrazed areas. Using field sampling, remote sensing, and semi-structured interviews, we assessed the validity of traditional cattle farming as a landscape management tool. Indeed, high diversity grasslands excluded from grazing were characterized by significantly less even and more dominated arthropod communities, as well as fewer plant species and families. Moreover, in areas that have been consistently grazed over the years, we found no forest encroachment from 1955 to 2019. However, rural communities are experiencing difficulties in keeping local traditions alive, even with current agri-environmental schemes. Thus, traditional livestock grazing can be a valuable management tool to maintain high biological and cultural diversity, even if stronger cooperation and attention to local needs is necessary.

Developing payment-by-results approaches for agri-environment schemes: Experience from an arable trial in England

There is increasing interest in the potential for payment-by-results approaches to be adopted more widely in agri-environment schemes to address some of the limitations of conventional action-based approaches. To date, researchers have almost exclusively applied the approach in grassland farming systems. This paper reports on the results from an English, pure payment-by-results pilot scheme that tested the delivery of two environmental objectives: provision of winter bird food for farmland birds and provision of pollen and nectar resources for pollinating insects in arable farming systems, and incorporated farmer self-assessments. The method employed an assessment of environmental outcomes using an experimental design, recording the number of plants/seed heads per quadrat for specified species and an analysis of farmers’ attitudes using a qualitative survey. The results from 15 farms revealed improved environmental performance compared to similar measures implemented under conventional agri-environment schemes. The analysis also revealed a high correlation of farmer self-assessment of results with expert assessments. Survey findings also identified farmers’ views on the advantages (flexibility and freedom, fairness) and disadvantages (risk of failure and non-payment) of such an approach.

Scattered woody vegetation promotes European brown hare population

European brown hare populations have declined during the last decades. Agricultural intensification has been identified as a relevant driver of this process and agri-environment schemes have been implemented to foster biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Because species-specific outcomes of measures strongly depend on tailored design of the policy framework and the local management, while changing climate may pose additional challenges, policy and management need science-based information of which landscape composition should be promoted to achieve set biodiversity goals.Here, we used direct observations of European brown hares over 20 years for evaluating the effects of landscape composition and weather conditions on European brown hare density. For the first time, our analysis compared the estimates of machine learning (gradient boosting machine) and linear mixed models in terms of importance of a wide range of explanatory variables for European brown hare densities and effect trends.Scattered woody vegetation, as represented by the two variables transitional woodland-shrub and small woody features, was on top rankings among the predictors and greater proportions of these elements were accompanied by sharp increases of European brown hare density. Also warmer winter temperature had a positive effect.We conclude that promoting scattered woody vegetation in agricultural landscapes is a powerful tool for improving European brown hare habitat quality. Particularly with the increasing dynamic in agriculture due to climate change, incentives and regulations that create a long-lasting heterogeneity in the landscape composition through near-natural elements can support the population of this popular mammal.

Integrated ecological monitoring in Wales: the Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme field survey

Abstract. The Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (GMEP) ran from 2013 until 2016 and was probably the most comprehensive programme of ecological study ever undertaken at a national scale in Wales. The programme aimed to (1) set up an evaluation of the environmental effects of the Glastir agri-environment scheme and (2) quantify environmental status and trends across the wider countryside of Wales. The focus was on outcomes for climate change mitigation, biodiversity, soil and water quality, woodland expansion, and cultural landscapes. As such, GMEP included a large field-survey component, collecting data on a range of elements including vegetation, land cover and use, soils, freshwaters, birds, and insect pollinators from up to three-hundred 1 km survey squares throughout Wales. The field survey capitalised upon the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) Countryside Survey of Great Britain, which has provided an extensive set of repeated, standardised ecological measurements since 1978. The design of both GMEP and the UKCEH Countryside Survey involved stratified-random sampling of squares from a 1 km grid, ensuring proportional representation from land classes with distinct climate, geology and physical geography. Data were collected from different land cover types and landscape features by trained professional surveyors, following standardised and published protocols. Thus, GMEP was designed so that surveys could be repeated at regular intervals to monitor the Welsh environment, including the impacts of agri-environment interventions. One such repeat survey is scheduled for 2021 under the Environment and Rural Affairs Monitoring & Modelling Programme (ERAMMP). Data from GMEP have been used to address many applied policy questions, but there is major potential for further analyses. The precise locations of data collection are not publicly available, largely for reasons of landowner confidentiality. However, the wide variety of available datasets can be (1) analysed at coarse spatial resolutions and (2) linked to each other based on square-level and plot-level identifiers, allowing exploration of relationships, trade-offs and synergies. This paper describes the key sets of raw data arising from the field survey at co-located sites (2013 to 2016). Data from each of these survey elements are available with the following digital object identifiers (DOIs): Landscape features (Maskell et al., 2020a–c), https://doi.org/10.5285/82c63533-529e-47b9-8e78-51b27028cc7f, https://doi.org/10.5285/9f8d9cc6-b552-4c8b-af09-e92743cdd3de, https://doi.org/10.5285/f481c6bf-5774-4df8-8776-c4d7bf059d40; Vegetation plots (Smart et al., 2020), https://doi.org/10.5285/71d3619c-4439-4c9e-84dc-3ca873d7f5cc; Topsoil physico-chemical properties (Robinson et al., 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/0fa51dc6-1537-4ad6-9d06-e476c137ed09; Topsoil meso-fauna (Keith et al., 2019), https://doi.org/10.5285/1c5cf317-2f03-4fef-b060-9eccbb4d9c21; Topsoil particle size distribution (Lebron et al., 2020), https://doi.org/10.5285/d6c3cc3c-a7b7-48b2-9e61-d07454639656; Headwater stream quality metrics (Scarlett et al., 2020a), https://doi.org/10.5285/e305fa80-3d38-4576-beef-f6546fad5d45; Pond quality metrics (Scarlett et al., 2020b), https://doi.org/10.5285/687b38d3-2278-41a0-9317-2c7595d6b882; Insect pollinator and flower data (Botham et al., 2020), https://doi.org/10.5285/3c8f4e46-bf6c-4ea1-9340-571fede26ee8; and Bird counts (Siriwardena et al., 2020), https://doi.org/10.5285/31da0a94-62be-47b3-b76e-4bdef3037360.

Agri-environment schemes do not support Brown Hare populations due to inadequate scheme application

The goal of many agri-environment schemes (AES) is to increase biodiversity in agroecosystems. AES effects are often measured on invertebrates and birds; mammals as indicator species are infrequently targets of such researches. Our goal was to evaluate the local-scale effects of the Hungarian Agri-Environmental Measures (AEM) on the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus), which shows decreasing population trends across Europe. We compared hare abundances and their dropping numbers in AEM and control agricultural arable and grassland fields of 17 game management units in two seasons. We also examined the quality of arable fields based on their margin width and vegetation cover. We found that margin quality was higher in AEM than in the control fields. Control grasslands had higher vegetation quality than the AEM grasslands. We found a significant difference in hare counts between AEM and control arable fields in spring but no difference in autumn. The dropping densities did not differ in any season, treatment category or agroecosystem type. We conclude that the AEM program (2009-2014) in Hungary was not effective for the hare, and this might have been caused by the inadequate or weak application of AEM practices. We provide recommendations for future AEM programs to enhance biodiversity.

Organic farming supports lower pest infestation, but fewer natural enemies than flower strips

Abstract Agricultural intensification has led to dramatic losses of species and associated ecosystem services. In the European Union, agri‐environment schemes (AESs) have been developed to mitigate these challenges. There are two opposing AES strategies, targeting either production or non‐production areas. Organic farming focuses on production and conservation on the same land‐use area, whereas flower strips adjacent to crop fields are in favour of intensified conventional production combined with conservation strips outside the cultivated area. We investigated pest and natural enemy abundances of organic farming versus establishing flower strip in 10 agricultural landscapes in Central Germany along a gradient of mean field size (1.24–6.78 ha). We focused on three winter wheat fields per landscape: conventional field (control), conventional field with adjacent flower strip and organic field. We sampled crop pests such as cereal leaf beetles (CLBs) and cereal aphids as well as their natural enemies. Our results indicated that the abundance of CLB larvae was more than two times higher in conventional farming with and without flower strip than that in the organic farming. The abundance of natural enemies was supported by landscapes with small mean field size, that is their numbers increased c. threefold when field size decreased from 7 to 2 ha. Aphid abundance was lower in organic fields and conventional control fields than in conventional fields with flower strips suggesting a potential disservice of flower strips. Parasitoids and natural enemies benefited from flower strips, but they were obviously not able to control the aphids. Synthesis and applications. The major pests in cereals, aphids and CLBs infested organic farming less than flower strips along conventional fields. However, the abundance of natural enemies of pests benefited from flower strips and, in addition, from decreasing field size in agricultural landscapes. Hence, enhancing predator populations for more effective biological pest control may be best with decreasing field sizes combined with organic farming and flower strips. Altogether, organic farming might contribute much more to low pest damage than a conventional farming strategy with flower strips.

Overlooked jewels: Existing habitat patches complement sown flower strips to conserve pollinators

Flower strips are a frequently adopted measure to conserve insects, especially pollinators, and are subsidized as Agri-Environmental Scheme in many regions. They provide a high quantity of flowers, but their flower species composition and phenological development is mostly uniform. This may result in only a fraction of pollinator species being enhanced. Flower-rich semi-natural habitat patches along slopes, fences or ditches, may provide resources for additional species, but they are not politically promoted. In this study, we compare pollinator communities in sown perennial flower strips with existing flower-rich herbaceous semi-natural habitat patches, both located at the edge of conventional apple orchards in Southern Germany. The flower strips attracted a higher pollinator abundance and species richness than the existing habitat patches. However, the bee species composition differed between the two habitat types. The existing habitat patches attracted bee species with different pollen specialization than the sown flower strips. Pollinator abundance and species richness varied between the different existing habitat patches indicating a high heterogeneity of these existing habitats, whereas the flower strips showed consistently high pollinator abundance and richness. We conclude that existing herbaceous habitat patches are attractive for pollinators and should be promoted by policy actions. Flower-rich semi-natural habitat patches develop without sowing next to typical agricultural landscape elements like slopes, fences and ditches with moderate mowing or herbicide application. They generally do not compete with agricultural land use and thus have a high potential to promote pollinator conservation.

Water quality issues and agriculture: An international review of innovative policy schemes

Current agri-environmental policies are facing challenges to protect the environment, including in delivering water quality improvements. These difficulties are mainly due to payment restrictions and field or farm scale limitations in existing policy schemes. Innovative approaches have emerged in the last decades to overcome these constraints, such as market-based, landscape-scale and food-chain approaches. In order to understand the potential of these approaches to deal with water quality issues, we have analysed the design features of 62 innovative agri-environmental schemes. We grouped them into nine types of instruments that could provide benefits on water quality and we identified three main drivers for change that are: rewarding environmental outcomes, encouraging collaboration between rural stakeholders and certifying agri-environmental practices within the agri-food chain. The diversity of the schemes reviewed emphasizes the importance of the local context, which strongly conditions the effectiveness of instruments. Furthermore, mixing several schemes seems promising to encompass multiple governance levels involving both public and private actors.

Developing Farm-Level Social Indicators for Agri-Environment Schemes: A Focus on the Agents of Change

Most monitoring and evaluation programmes for agri-environment schemes focus on understanding the environmental outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of these schemes. Evaluation of the social dimensions of agri-environment schemes, particularly the socio-cultural factors that might influence the quality of engagement with the schemes and the social wellbeing impact of scheme engagement, is limited. This is a critical gap in knowledge as there is growing recognition that without more explicit consideration of the farmers involved in land management as agents of change, the required environmental improvements will not be achieved. The aim of this paper was to undertake a systematic literature review to inform the development of a set of social indicators that can be used to measure the level of farmers’ engagement with their scheme agreement and the social sustainability outcomes from participation. Following the literature review and a short-listing ranking exercise with two sets of experts, 20 high-level (composite) social indicators and associated sub-level (component) indicators were identified. A series of scale or ranking questions that can be used to capture the indicator data were also developed and tested. This paper presents the first stage in the development of a robust set of social indicators for agri-environment schemes that will also provide a good indicator of long-term environmental outcomes.

Farmer collectives for more effective agri-environmental schemes? An assessment framework based on the concept of ‘professionalization’

ABSTRACT Agri-environmental schemes (AESs) have been implemented in many countries in Europe. However, there is mixed evidence about their effectiveness. Several studies in different countries suggest that AESs are more effective when designed at landscape level and implemented by groups of collaborating farmers (‘farmer collectives’). The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has enabled groups of farmers to be applicants for and final beneficiaries of AESs subsidies for the period 2015–2020, but it is unclear what is needed for farmer collectives engaged in AESs to contribute to more agrobiodiversity. In this paper, the lens of ‘professionalization’ is used to conceptualize and operationalize the performance of farmer collectives. We have developed an assessment framework that facilitates the characterization and development of the degree of professionalization of farmer collectives. The ultimate aim is achieving ecological effectiveness of AESs by professionalization of the farmer collectives. The framework distinguishes three categories of professionalization: organizational, occupational and systemic, and provides a new lens for research on AESs. It can also be used by practitioners involved in AESs to provide insight into, and reflect upon, the performance of farmer collectives.

Combining the best of two methodological worlds? Integrating Q methodology-based farmer archetypes in a quantitative model of agri-environmental scheme uptake

Increasing farmers’ acceptance and adoption of environmentally beneficial farming practices is essential for mitigating negative impacts of agriculture. To support adoption through policy, it is necessary to understand which types of farms or farmers do or do not (yet) apply such practices. However, farmers are not a homogeneous group and their behavior is subject to a complex array of structural, socioeconomic, and socio-psychological influences. Reducing this complexity, farmer typologies or archetypes are useful tools for understanding differing motivations for the uptake of sustainable farming practices. Previous investigations of the role of farmer archetypes in the adoption of such practices rely on either purely qualitative or purely quantitative methods in data collection, typology creation, and hypothesis testing. Our study combines both approaches by classifying survey respondents into farmer types based on a previous Q methodological study. We then use these types in a two-part regression model that aims to explain participation in agri-environmental schemes (AES) and the level of scheme participation. To control for farm structural factors, we additionally link our questionnaire data to secondary data from the farm accountancy data network. Results indicate that in Austria, AES are attractive to all types of farmers, but the level of participation (AES income per hectare) in these schemes differs between archetypes: Profitability-oriented farmers participate less, and nature-oriented farmers participate more than other types. This suggests that monetary compensations for sustainable farming practices are not perceived as sufficient by certain groups of farmers, and policy makers need to consider additional kinds of incentives.

Taxon-specific temporal shifts in pollinating insects in mass-flowering crops and field margins in Ireland

In intensively cropped agricultural landscapes, the vegetation in edges and hedges (henceforth “field margins”) represents an important semi-natural habitat providing fundamental resources for insect pollinators. We surveyed the pollinating insects associated with two mass-flowering crops, apple and oilseed rape, and compared the insect fauna of the main crop with that in the field margins in the grass-dominated agricultural landscapes of Ireland. Different insect groups responded differently to the presence of the flowering crop, with honey and bumble bees more abundant in crops than margins during crop flowering, but more hover flies and butterflies in margins throughout. The composition of the insect assemblage also shifted over time due to taxon-specific changes in abundance. For example, solitary bees were most abundant early in the season, whereas hover flies peaked, and butterflies declined, in mid-summer. The temporal shift in insect community structure was associated with parallel changes in the field margin flora, and, although we found no relationship between insect abundance and abundance of field margin flowers, Bombus abundance and total insect abundance were positively correlated with floral diversity. After the crop flowering period, floral abundance and diversity was maintained via margin plants, but by late summer, floral resources declined. Our results confirm the importance of field margins for insect pollinators of entomophilous crops set within grass-dominated landscapes, even during the crop flowering period, and provide additional support for agri-environment schemes that protect and/or improve field margin biodiversity. The results also demonstrate that although shifts in insect and plant communities may be linked phenologically there may not always be simple relationships between insect and floral abundance and richness.

Conservation efforts fail to halt the decline of the regionally endangered Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) in Ireland

Amphibian declines are of major conservation concern worldwide. The Natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is the rarest amphibian in Ireland, regionally Red-listed as Endangered. The species is at the north-western edge of its European range in Ireland and is subject to substantial conservation efforts, including regular monitoring and surveillance, a pond creation agri-environment scheme, and a head-start and translocation programme to facilitate pond colonisation. We used large-scale intensive monitoring and surveillance data from 2004 to 2018 to quantify temporal trends in egg string production analysing breeding site preferences and occurrence of perceived threats and pressures. Despite substantial conservation efforts, egg string production declined by 23% in Ireland over a 14-year period (−1.6%/year). Twenty-two of 100 artificial ponds had been colonised by 2018, but artificial sites accounted for <10% of eggs laid and had prevented further declines by only 4%. Natterjack toad spawning was associated with ponds with a large surface area, situated in sand dune habitat, with high water conductivity, and a high percentage cover of aquatic vegetation at the substrate with short terrestrial vegetation in the surrounding vicinity. Threats and pressures are related to poor water quality at breeding sites and abandonment of surrounding agricultural land leading to unsuitable terrestrial vegetation. Given the Natterjack toad's population trend in Ireland, continued monitoring and surveillance is vital, while we advocate protection of occupied sand dunes, active engagement with farmers and landowners to ensure compliance with habitat maintenance recommendations and improved habitat connectivity to facilitate colonisation of artificial ponds.