Agri-environment Schemes Research Articles

Radar remote sensing as a novel tool to assess the performance of an agri-environment scheme in coastal grasslands

Coastal grasslands are semi-natural habitats used for agriculture, but they are also vital habitats for many taxa, such as waders. The importance of this habitat for wildlife has found recognition in the policies of the European Union, resulting in the implementation of biodiversity-friendly agri-environment schemes (AES) to ensure the sustainable management of these areas. However, the performance of AESs has often been questioned and data to analyse their effectiveness is mostly lacking.To fill this knowledge gap, we used freely available European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and ground truth data to describe the vegetation height based habitat suitability of coastal grasslands as breeding sites for waders at a country-wide scale in Estonia, where the main threat to this habitat is overgrowing with high sward plant species.We show that satellite remote sensing can be used as a straight-forward and reliable tool to estimate the grazed coastal grassland habitat suitability for breeding waders in terms of vegetation height in two broad classes.We demonstrate that the AES applied on Estonian coastal grasslands is important for improving the suitability of this habitat for the breeding wader community: compared to 24% of suitable habitat in areas where no agricultural subsidies are paid, 60% of the land under the targeted AES is suitably managed for breeding waders. The highest proportion of habitat suitability (76%) is achieved in areas receiving targeted top-up subsidy for wader conservation.Continued monitoring of the performance of the AES is essential for taking timely and targeted conservation actions and we strongly recommend the wider use of remotely sensed data for this purpose. We promote the continuation of the AES scheme applied on Estonian coastal grasslands while improving its efficiency through carefully raised stocking rates and increased uptake of the top-up scheme.

Types of collective action problems and farmers’ willingness to accept agri-environmental schemes in Switzerland

Over the last years, there has been an increasing interest in the intersection of collective action and payments for ecosystem services. This has been motivated, among other things, by the understanding that spatially coordinated conservation practices can be ecologically more effective. In this study, we propose understanding collective action in the PES context as shaped by three collective action problems: the public good provision problem (i.e., the decision by landholders of whether to participate in a PES program); the coordinated implementation problem (i.e., the decision of landholders who participate in the PES to implement conservation measures in a coordinated fashion); and the externality internalization problem (i.e., the internalization of externalities that PES participants create on neighboring landholders and/or vice-versa). We then explore the extent to which perceptions about those three problems affect participation in PES. For this purpose, we carry out a choice experiment among farmers in the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Aargau. A majority of farmers have pessimistic expectations about the possibility of collective action regardless of whether that serves the provision of ecosystem services (pubic good provision), the coordinated implementation of AES or the internalization of potential externalities. Those with optimistic expectations about the first two problems are more likely to participate in PES. Finally, we find that expectations with regard to the public good provision and coordinated implementation problems interact, i.e., farmers who are optimistic about the willingness of other farmers to participate in PES are also more willing to coordinate in the implementation, and the other way around.

Agri-environmental schemes for biodiversity and environmental protection: How we are not yet “hitting the right keys”

Compensating land managers for the provision of public goods is currently one of the European Union’s flagship policies, and one that that resonates across the globe more generally in the effort to meet Sustainable Development Goals. Despite having been central to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for several decades now, Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) seem to only have had limited success in preserving biodiversity and providing environmental benefits due, among other, to farmer-related factors. This paper systematically reviews and quantifies, for the first time, the body of evidence that explores these factors with respect to their influence on land managers’ willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for the delivery of biodiversity and environmental features’ protection. Our analysis shows a complex and nuanced picture. Farmers appear generally willing to enrol in AES, with average payment per hectare being around 327 Euros. However, the current evidence base provides few clues on how best that willingness is matched by contract design formats and features more generally. Providing support to farmers and exploring new ways of monitoring compliance emerge as issues worth considering as means of determining compensation in AES. Further, the broader evidence base seems to suggest that wealthier land managers stand to gain more than less wealthy in enroling in AES. However, this alone seems, in the overall, like a quite modest contribution from the body of evidence to inform policy design more broadly. It indeed does seem that we (academia and/or policy) are not yet hitting the right key on how to best match farmers preferences for enroling in AES for the delivery of biodiversity/environmental features A significant leap forward would not simply require an increased quantity of primary studies, but a deeper reflexion on how the complexity of farmers’ preferences is best captured in the design of policy instruments that have to both share common features while being adaptable to context dependent characteristics at the landscape level. This is more pressing than ever face to the unprecedented challenges of Brexit and the COVID19-induced economic recession, which is going to put every cent of public funding under the hardest of scrutinies in the years to come.

Innovative Contract Solutions for the Provision of Agri-Environmental Climatic Public Goods: A Literature Review

Lack of public funding and environmental deterioration are promoting the search for innovative mechanisms enabling to boost farmers’ provision of agri-environmental climate public goods. This work aims to contribute to the current debate by highlighting the role of innovative contractual solutions through a systematic review of more than 60 articles. The review analyses the potential of result-based and collective contracts as innovative solutions compared to action-based instruments, which are those currently most used. The design of innovative contracts and other mechanisms, e.g., auction and screening contracts, can reduce the policy failures due to asymmetric information. The paper emphasises the trade-off between an accurate design of agri-environmental schemes and the related administrative burden, highlighting the need for a better understanding of the role of mechanisms design into the policy cycle. Some new instruments were not analysed in the review, due to the scarcity of literature, and there is the need of more case studies providing information on the effectiveness of instruments when implemented in different contexts. We fill the gap in empirical evidence through a SWOT analysis that evaluates the effectiveness and acceptability of innovative instruments for policy purposes.

Re-established grasslands on farmland promote pollinators more than predators

Agricultural intensification is among the major threats to farmland biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Agri-environment schemes in Europe aim to counteract the continuous decrease of permanent grassland habitat and related decline of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. We established new grasslands adjacent to permanent old grasslands to study effects on arthropod pollinators and predators. Over three years, we assessed the effects of newly established grasslands on activity density, species richness and assemblages of pollinators (syrphids, bumblebees, solitary bees) and ground-dwelling predatory arthropods (carabids, spiders, ants). Pollinator activity density and species richness of all three pollinator groups approximately doubled in newly established grasslands compared to old grasslands, indicating suitability of new grasslands as pollinator feeding habitat. Predator responses were less consistent. Species richness and activity density of carabids and ants did not increase in new grasslands, indicating slower adaptation to new habitats. Spider activity density increased in the newly established grasslands and in adjacent cereal fields, but no significant differences in species richness compared to old grasslands were observed. Bumblebees and solitary bees showed distinct distance decays in cereal fields. Syrphid activity density declined in cereal fields far away from the newly established grasslands, but not nearby. Carabids increased and ants decreased in species richness and activity density with increasing distance from old grasslands in cereal fields and newly established grasslands alike. In contrast, spider species richness and activity density decreased with increasing distance from old grasslands in cereal fields only, but there was no distance decay in newly established grasslands. While pollinators utilized the additional floral resources within the whole area of newly established grassland quickly, predators reacted much slower. Even after three years, there was no measurable response of carabid and ant activity density and only a minor response of spiders. This clearly shows that short-term measures are not sufficient to sustainably conserve farmland biodiversity. The conservation of permanent grassland and landscape heterogeneity should be prioritized. However, the restoration of new grassland should also be encouraged by agri-environment schemes as a supplement, to enhance functional biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Upland grassland habitats and agri‐environment schemes change soil microarthropod abundance

Abstract Agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss, with the implementation of Agri‐Environment Schemes (AESs) being a widespread policy designed to prevent further loss, and to maintain or restore ecosystem health. Upland grassland soils are disproportionately impacted by intensification including drainage, artificial fertiliser use, compaction and erosion while the effect of AES management on below‐ground microarthropods, which mediate a range of ecosystem processes, is largely unknown. This study tested the effects of AES management of upland grasslands on microarthropod communities using a large‐scale factorial field experiment. The study focused on microarthropods with distinct taxa‐specific responses observed. Oribatid mite abundance was associated with wetter, more extensive pastures with native grasses characteristic of semi‐improved grassland managed by AESs, whereas Collembola abundance was associated with drier, more intense, reseeded (Lolium perenne dominated) pastures characteristic of conventionally managed improved grasslands. Differences in taxa responses may be driven by life‐history traits and resilience to disturbance. There was no net effect of management, habitat or their interaction on total microarthropod family diversity or abundance. Synthesis and Applications. Results from this study suggest that in floristically simple upland agroecosystems the impact of agri‐environment measures on below‐ground soil biota are context‐dependent (differing between contrasting grassland types), and taxa‐specific, rather than leading to general increases in biodiversity per se, and the responses of soil microarthropods are driven by environmental variation caused by overall management of grassland fields. Measures should aim to increase the availability of areas of semi‐improved grassland, with native plant mixtures, adjacent to improved grasslands, to maximise the habitats available to soil microarthropods.

Effects of rice-field abandonment rates on bird communities in mixed farmland–woodland landscapes in Japan

Farmland abandonment can be a significant driver of biodiversity change in many parts of the world. Knowledge of the ecological impact of farmland abandonment at the landscape scale is particularly limited in Asia. We investigated how rice-field abandonment impacts bird diversity (i.e., species richness and composition) during the breeding and wintering seasons. Birds were surveyed in 31 grids (1 × 1 km) in rice ecosystems in central Japan, 16 of which were dominated by farmland while the others were surrounded by woodland. In each landscape type, survey grids were selected to ensure a broad range of abandonment rates, from fully cultivated to largely abandoned sites. Multi-species occupancy models showed that occupancy probabilities were associated with linear and quadratic terms of the abandonment rate, resulting in the highest predicted community-level occupancies and species richness at moderate abandonment rates (51.5–71%, depending on the season and surrounding landscapes, with the highest percentage in woodland landscapes in winter). Community composition was most associated with surrounding landscapes (i.e., woodland or farmland), followed by the abandonment rate. These results indicate the importance of habitat heterogeneity, related to moderate levels of farmland abandonment, in enhancing bird diversity in both farmland and woodland landscapes. Our findings illustrate the necessity for quantitative measures of farmland abandonment at landscape scales for understanding their nonlinear effects on farmland biodiversity. We suggest that agri-environmental schemes should consider the benefits of enhancing farmland mosaics at landscape scales, especially for small-scale farming in areas where farmland abandonment is increasing.

Agri-environment scheme nectar chemistry can suppress the social epidemiology of parasites in an important pollinator.

Emergent infectious diseases are one of the main drivers of species loss. Emergent infection with the microsporidian Nosema bombi has been implicated in the population and range declines of a suite of North American bumblebees, a group of important pollinators. Previous work has shown that phytochemicals found in pollen and nectar can negatively impact parasites in individuals, but how this relates to social epidemiology and by extension whether plants can be effectively used as pollinator disease management strategies remains unexplored. Here, we undertook a comprehensive screen of UK agri-environment scheme (AES) plants, a programme designed to benefit pollinators and wider biodiversity in agricultural settings, for phytochemicals in pollen and nectar using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Caffeine, which occurs across a range of plant families, was identified in the nectar of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), a component of UK AES and a major global crop. We showed that caffeine significantly reduces N. bombi infection intensity, both prophylactically and therapeutically, in individual bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), and, for the first time, that such effects impact social epidemiology, with colonies reared from wild-caught queens having both lower prevalence and intensity of infection. Furthermore, infection prevalence was lower in foraging bumblebees from caffeine-treated colonies, suggesting a likely reduction in population-level transmission. Combined, these results show that N. bombi is less likely to be transmitted intracolonially when bumblebees consume naturally available caffeine, and that this may in turn reduce environmental prevalence. Consequently, our results demonstrate that floral phytochemicals at ecologically relevant concentrations can impact pollinator disease epidemiology and that planting strategies that increase floral abundance to support biodiversity could be co-opted as disease management tools.

More than two decades of Agri-Environment schemes: Has the profile of participating farms changed?

The agri-food sector is under increased pressure from consumers to improve on the sustainability of production processes. Policies that incentivise farmers to improve environmental performance, such as agri-environment schemes (AES), are increasingly important. Understanding the choice to participate in these programmes aids policymakers in designing schemes that meet participation and environmental goals. While a number of studies have investigated the decision using cross-sectional data on one or multiple locations, very few have used longitudinal data to investigate the impact of institutional changes over time. Using Ireland as a case study, this paper uses a nationally representative panel of data spanning 23 years to model the impact of scheme and policy changes on the type of farms participating in AES. This paper argues that environmental issues surrounding intensive farms (such as the loss of nutrients and sediment to water and greenhouse gas emissions) are not being optimally addressed in scheme design and further development of such programmes is needed to reduce negative environmental impacts.

The desert exploiter: An overabundant crow species exhibits a neighborhood diffusion pattern into the southern region of Israel

Abstract Understanding the causes of spread of overabundant species plays a key role in deciphering their invasion mechanisms, while providing managers with targeted management actions to control their spread. The objective of this research was to quantify the spread of Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) in Israel and to elucidate the causes of its spread. Long-term occurrence data of Hooded Crow sightings were used to analyze the species range expansion rate. This dataset was analyzed with a range of climatic, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and land-use variables. Analysis of opportunistic presence-only data, corrected for possible sampling biases, illustrated traveling waves of eastward expansion, from the Mediterranean coast into Israel’s central mountain range, and a star-like pattern of spread southward into the northwestern Negev desert. A diffusion equation model revealed an expansion rate of 1.60 km year–1. Land-use analysis revealed an affinity of sighted individuals toward urban and low vegetation land types. Hooded Crow sightings were positively correlated with annual precipitation, with the remaining variation being negatively correlated with precipitation during the wettest quarter. Species distribution modeling suggested that the species has established new populations and is currently expanding its range. The slow rate of dispersal is consistent with a neighborhood diffusion pattern, corresponding to the species life-history traits. Human-managed environments, including low-cover agricultural fields, provide constant available food and nesting trees, allowing the Hooded Crow to thrive all year-round. Precipitation may aid in enhancing Hooded Crow tolerance toward other unfavorable physical conditions. In light of these new findings, management plans ought to recognize centers of Hooded Crow activity as indicators of highly disturbed native wildlife communities. Also, our findings emphasize the need to establish agri-environmental schemes (AES) in such areas, which would raise community resistance to overabundant species. As AES are currently not in place on a national scale, and since their creation has the power to improve landscape connectivity of native species, this last component is especially necessary.

The role of politics in the life of a conservation incentive: An analysis of agri-environment schemes in Hungary

State-financed financial incentives are an increasingly popular tool for conservation on private lands. From policy and conservation perspectives, questions remain around the sustainability and longevity of behavioural changes associated with undertaking conservation work in exchange for payment. Further under-examined factors include inquiry into the role of the state as regulating agency, primary negotiator and enforcer, and how its politics and street-level relations influence participation. During 2015–6 a unique opportunity arose to investigate these issues as the Hungarian government unexpectedly cancelled its national agri-environmental programme to farmers. Through agricultural land use data, interviews and surveys (n = 260), we analysed the consequences of the cancellation of cash payments on i) land use change, ii) farmers' maintenance of conservation activities and iii) farmers' relations with conservation actors. We demonstrate that withdrawal of conservation payments resulted in farmers cropping more intensively, with consequences for conservation agencies' relationships with farmers. Many farmers maintained a number of individual conservation rules despite not receiving payment. Measures associated with highest financial burdens and least apparent benefits were most likely to be broken, and several socio-ecological factors, including land use type (grassland or arable), farm size, and additional legal obligations (other subsidies and land leases) influenced farmers who desisted with specific conservation rules. Adherence arose from technological lock-in, perceived surveillance by state agencies, fear of retrospective sanction, and intention to re-apply. The Hungarian context underscores the relevance of accounting for the ways in which multi-level politics influence farmer-public agency relations in the day-to-day management of conservation incentive schemes.

Short-Rotation Coppice Managed According to Ecological Guidelines—What Are the Benefits for Phytodiversity?

In recent years, the impact of short-rotation coppice (SRC) on biodiversity has been a regular subject of research and ecological guidelines have been developed to make biomass cultivation on SRC more compatible with biodiversity concerns. However, since these guidelines are only implemented voluntarily by farmers, there are barely any SRC that are managed according to ecological guidelines. Consequently, knowledge about their importance for farmland biodiversity and about the impact of different measures for increasing biodiversity remains scarce. Therefore, three experimental SRC, which are managed according to ecological guidelines and thus include stands of different tree species (varieties of poplar (Populus) and willow (Salix), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), silver birch (Betula pendula)) and different growth-stages within the same site, were investigated with regard to their importance as habitat for vascular plants. Species numbers and species composition were compared with the following habitat types: afforestations (AFO), young (HE-Y) and old hedges (HE-O), field margins (FM) and arable land (AL). Furthermore, different stand types (i.e., stands with different tree species and growth-stages, headlands, clearings) within these SRC were surveyed and compared. Species numbers of SRC were similar to HE-Y, AFO and FM and significantly higher than in AL and HE-O. The composition of plant communities in SRC differed considerably from the other farmland habitats, especially from AL, HE-O and FM. Within the SRC, most stand types had similar species numbers. Only the non-harvested poplar stands were particularly species-poor. Harvesting led to increased species numbers. This increase was significant for the poplar stands but only moderate for the willow stands. With regard to their species composition, the different stand types differed considerably in many cases. We conclude that SRC, which are managed according to ecological guidelines, can be an additional measure to promote phytodiversity in agricultural landscapes as they contain relatively high species numbers (of mainly common and adaptable species) and support distinct plant communities that differ from other farmland habitats. Therefore, measures such as the cultivation of different tree species or sectional harvesting could be offered as agri-environmental schemes to further increase the ecological sustainability of biomass production on SRC.

The potential of fallow management to promote steppe bird conservation within the next EU Common Agricultural Policy reform

Abstract Agricultural intensification promoted by the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has driven the decline of farmland and steppe bird populations. Policy tools to improve the environmental performance of the CAP—including Agri‐Environmental Schemes (AES) and Greening—have often failed, and the new EU agricultural reform (CAP post‐2020) offers a new opportunity to integrate effective measures addressing farmland bird declines. Fallow land and its management have proven beneficial for endangered steppe bird species by providing good quality habitat, and therefore has potential to become an effective conservation measure. We used a Hierarchical Distance Sampling community model to evaluate the ability of different conservation regimes to increase the abundance of 37 bird species including endangered steppe birds and other farmland birds in 13,309 ha of fallow land in north‐eastern Spain. The conservation regimes were based on different management prescriptions associated with AES, Greening and a local conservation measure promoting extensive fallow management targeting seven steppe bird species (Targeted Fallow Management, TFM). The positive effect of conservation measures increased as their design was more targeted to specific species. TFM increased the abundance of target and other farmland species, while AES and Greening had either no effect or negative effects on bird abundance, respectively. Effects of other Greening conservation measures related to landscape heterogeneity such as crop richness and field size were variable across the community. Policy implications. The success of Targeted Fallow Management as a conservation tool—in contrast to Agri‐Environmental Schemes and Greening—highlights the value of applying 1–2 agricultural practices just before the breeding season in fallows situated in optimal locations for target steppe bird species, to increase the abundance of these and other farmland bird species. We translate our findings into specific guidelines that we recommend including within the new eco‐schemes and AES present in the CAP post‐2020.

Using the \u2018good farmer\u2019 concept to explore agricultural attitudes to the provision of public goods. A case study of participants in an English agri-environment scheme

Across the European Union, the receipt of agricultural subsidisation is increasingly being predicated on the delivery of public goods. In the English context, in particular, these changes can be seen in the redirection of money to the new Environmental Land Management scheme. Such shifts reflect the changed expectations that society is placing on agriculture—from something that provides one good (food) to something that supplies many (food, access to green spaces, healthy rural environment, flood resilience, reduced greenhouse gas emissions). Whilst the reasons behind the changes are well documented, understanding how these shifts are being experienced by the managers expected to deliver on these new expectations is less well understood. Bourdieu’s social theory and the good farmer concept are used to attend to this blind spot, and to provide timely insight as the country progresses along its public goods subsidy transition. Evidence from 65 interviews with 40 different interviewees (25 of whom gave a repeat interview) show a general willingness towards the transition to a public goods model of subsidisation. The optimisation and efficiency that has historically characterised the productivist identity is colouring the way managers are approaching the delivery of public goods. Ideas of land sparing and land sharing (and the farming preference for the former over the latter) are used to help understand these new social and attitudinal realities. The policy implications of these findings are discussed, with reference to the new scheme’s ‘priority themes’.

A farm-level ecological-economic approach of the inclusion of pollination services in arable crop farms

Modern agricultural systems use both managed and wild bees in order to secure the provision of pollination services. However, the decline of both bee species due to the increased use of pesticides raises concerns for the supply of pollination services in agriculture. Because European policies seem ineffective in safeguarding bees as they fail to address farmers’ socio-economic issues, farmers’ adoption rate of friendlier practices by pollinators remains limited. This study uses a farm-level ecological-economic model to explore the potential impacts of changing policy intervention on the provision of pollination services and on farmers’ incomes in two characteristic farms in Southwestern France. Moreover, it integrates the economic importance of behavioral interactions between managed and wild bees on crop production. The model assesses farmers’ adoption decisions about alternative practices under risk aversion through an optimization choice among several crops, practices (novel/conventional), variable inputs, and pollination activity. The results show that a knowledge of bees’ complementarity may facilitate farmers’ adoption decisions. Furthermore, they highlight that different levels of Agri-Environmental Schemes and penalties can be efficiently targeted to encourage the implementation of new farming practices in order to preserve pollination services and maintain economically viable farms.

Where do hamsters go after cereal harvest? A case study.

Agricultural intensification in recent decades has led to a major loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Special agri-environmental schemes aim at restoring and protecting biodiversity. In Central Europe, the common hamster Cricetus cricetus (Linnaeus, 1758) is a prominent victim of changes in agricultural management and land-use. After cereal-harvest, common hamsters are deprived from shelter and food sources and little is known on how individuals cope with these changes. We investigated how a population of common hamsters use agricultural landscapes after cereal harvest in 45 fields within a distribution hotspot of the common hamster in Central Germany. We recorded hamster burrow densities before and after cereal harvest in the winter cereals as well as in the two most important specialty crops in the study region, red cabbage and carrot. Common hamster burrows were more abundant in cereals than in the specialty crops before harvest. After cereal harvest, common hamster burrow densities decreased in cereal fields and increased in carrot but not red cabbage. Carrot fields thus provide alternative habitat for common hamsters after cereal harvest. Since many carrot cultivars are harvested in late autumn, these fields potentially provide a safe habitat for hamsters until hibernation. We recommend a targeted subsidizing of the cultivation of late harvest carrot cultivars in regions where common hamster conservation is a priority. These fields should be placed strategically and in sufficient quantities in focus landscapes. Other specialty crops could potentially also help in targeted protection schemes but whether and how they can benefit common hamsters after the cereal harvest needs further investigation.

Designing a survey to monitor multi-scale impacts of agri-environment schemes on mobile taxa

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are key mechanisms to deliver conservation policy, and include management to provide resources for target taxa. Mobile species may move to areas where resources are increased, without this necessarily having an effect across the wider countryside or on populations over time. Most assessments of AES efficacy have been at small spatial scales, over short timescales, and shown varying results. We developed a survey design based on orthogonal gradients of AES management at local and landscape scales, which will enable the response of several taxa to be monitored. An evidence review of management effects on butterflies, birds and pollinating insects provided data to score AES options. Predicted gradients were calculated using AES uptake, weighted by the evidence scores. Predicted AES gradients for each taxon correlated strongly, and with the average gradient across taxa, supporting the co-location of surveys across different taxa.Nine 1 × 1 km survey squares were selected in each of four regional blocks with broadly homogenous background habitat characteristics. Squares in each block covered orthogonal contrasts across the range of AES gradients at local and landscape scales. This allows the effects of AES on species at each scale, and the interaction between scales, to be tested. AES options and broad habitats were mapped in field surveys, to verify predicted gradients which were based on AES option uptake data. The verified AES gradient had a strong positive relationship with the predicted gradient. AES gradients were broadly independent of background habitat within each block, likely allowing AES effects to be distinguished from potential effects of other habitat variables. Surveys of several mobile taxa are ongoing.This design will allow mobile taxa responses to AES to be tested in the surrounding countryside, as well as on land under AES management, and potentially in terms of population change over time. The design developed here provides a novel, pseudo-experimental approach for assessing the response of mobile species to gradients of management at two spatial scales. A similar design process could be applied in other regions that require a standardized approach to monitoring the impacts of management interventions on target taxa at landscape scales, if equivalent spatial data are available.

Agri-environment scheme prescriptions and landscape features affect taxonomic and functional diversity of farmland birds

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are a major conservation tool for protecting declining farmland birds in Europe. Most studies evaluate AES effectiveness on taxonomic diversity but there is a knowledge gap about how AES affect functional responses. We evaluate the effects of different AES on taxonomic and functional responses of open-land and overall farmland birds in extensive cereal croplands of Spain. Specifically, we analyse how the proportion of food to shelter prescriptions and landscape features (length of field boundaries and proportion of herbaceous crops) influence AES effectiveness by comparing the response of bird diversity in AES-managed and paired control fields. We found that increased proportion of food prescriptions increased species richness and Shannon diversity of birds whereas balanced AES (similar proportion of food and shelter prescriptions) increased their abundance. AES with more food prescriptions also led to increased functional diversity of diet plasticity and wingspan for open-land birds. The functional diversity of diet plasticity in all bird species and of habitat specialisation in all and open-land birds increased with balanced AES in control fields but remained unaltered in focal fields with variation in the proportion of food to shelter prescription. This suggests that AES application reached maximum effects for these traits in focal fields independently of prescription types and further landscape-level benefits of the promotion of shelter in AES-managed fields. Overall, the length of field boundaries increased taxonomic and functional diversity of birds while the proportion of herbaceous crops decreased them. Both landscape variables showed non-linear relationships, fitting predictions from the landscape complexity-local diversity hypothesis. Our findings indicate ways to improve AES effectiveness for both traditional and new relevant conservation goals and encourage the evaluation of functional diversity in AES monitoring.

Behaviour-specific habitat selection patterns of breeding barn owls

BackgroundThe intensification of agricultural practices over the twentieth century led to a cascade of detrimental effects on ecosystems. In Europe, agri-environment schemes (AES) have since been adopted to counter the decrease in farmland biodiversity, with the promotion of extensive habitats such as wildflower strips and extensive meadows. Despite having beneficial effects documented for multiple taxa, their profitability for top farmland predators, like raptors, is still debated. Such species with high movement capabilities have large home ranges with fluctuation in habitat use depending on specific needs.MethodsUsing GPS devices, we recorded positions for 134 barn owls (Tyto alba) breeding in Swiss farmland and distinguished three main behavioural modes with the Expectation-Maximization binary Clustering (EMbC) method: perching, hunting and commuting. We described barn owl habitat use at different levels during the breeding season by combining step and path selection functions. In particular, we examined the association between behavioural modes and habitat type, with special consideration for AES habitat structures.ResultsDespite a preference for the most common habitats at the home range level, behaviour-specific analyses revealed more specific habitat use depending on the behavioural mode. During the day, owls roosted almost exclusively in buildings, while pastures, meadows and forest edges were preferred as nocturnal perching sites. For hunting, barn owls preferentially used AES habitat structures though without neglecting more intensively exploited areas. For commuting, open habitats were preferred over wooded areas.ConclusionsThe behaviour-specific approach used here provides a comprehensive breakdown of barn owl habitat selection during the reproductive season and highlights its importance to understand complex animal habitat preferences. Our results highlight the importance of AES in restoring and maintaining functional trophic chains in farmland.

Changes in topsoil organic carbon content in the Swiss leman region cropland from 1993 to present. Insights from large scale on-farm study

Increasing cropland topsoil organic carbon (SOC) content is a key goal for soil improving quality and adaptating soils to climate change. Moreover, the short term potential of climate mitigation by carbon sequestration is mostly attributed to increasing topsoil SOC content (Balesdent and Arrouays, 1999; Chambers et al., 2016; Minasny et al., 2017; Balesdent et al., 2018). However, the possibility to increase SOC content is highly disputed in current literature which is mostly based on field experiments.We quantified the on-farm SOC content deficit and SOC content change rate of cropland topsoil (0–20 cm) from western Switzerland using the data bases of Geneva and Vaud cantons containing more than 30,000 topsoil analyses, performed every ten years on every cultivated field of the region since 1993. SOC deficit was estimated as the amount of SOC necessary to reach the 0.1 SOC:clay ratio considered as the minimum required SOC amount for acceptable soil quality. Cropland topsoils of the Vaud and Geneva cantons displayed a 20% and 70% SOC content deficit, respectively.In both cantons, the range of observed rates of change in SOC content from 1993 to present was very large, from −30 to +30‰ per year, with a median value of 0. However, the time trends showed a highly significant linear increase of rates from −5‰ to +6‰ per year on average, in 1995 and 2015, respectively, with no change in SOC content reached by 2005–2007.These trends were attributed to the Swiss agri-environmental schemes applied at the end of 20th century, namely mandatory cover crops and minimum rotations of 4 crops. Further, SOC content increase was accordant with the continuing adoption of minimum tillage, conservation agriculture and multi-species intense cover crops.These findings oppose to those obtained in Swiss long-term experiments, which emphasizes the need to use on-farm information when adressing agriculture policy, climate mitigation or soil quality management issues.