Agri-environment Schemes Research Articles

Development of insects in newly established grassland over six years: Increased conservation benefits through diverse plant communities

Agri-environmental schemes seek to mitigate the loss of biodiversity by subsidizing the restoration of grassland in Europe. However, little is known about the colonization of newly established grasslands by insects, especially over periods exceeding 1–2 years. Therefore, we investigated the development of species richness, abundance and species assemblages of wild bees, syrphids, butterflies, orthopterans and true bugs in two types of newly established grassland strips in an agricultural landscape in Austria over a six-year time span. We compared currently subsidized plant-species poor grassland strips (SG; Ecological Focus Areas) with newly established grassland strips (NG) that were created with a diverse, regionally adapted seed mixture, to find out whether diverse seed mixtures can ensure lasting improvements in the insect species richness of grassland strips over a 6-year period. We used permanent seminatural grasslands (old grassland OG) as reference habitat. From the first year after establishment, we found no differences in syrphid assemblages between OG and NG. In contrast, true bug assemblages in NG differed significantly from those in OG still five years after establishment. Wild bee, butterfly and orthopteran species composition differences between grassland strips (NG, SG) and permanent grasslands (OG) were decreasing over time. However, we found no evidence of a successional change in insect species assemblages in NG and SG. NG promoted a significantly higher wild bee richness and equivalent syrphid, butterfly, orthoptera and true bug richness compared with OG. Over the study period, NG showed sustained insect diversity, outperforming plant species-poor SG in promoting wild bee, syrphid and true bug richness. Therefore, we suggest that diverse and regional seed mixtures could enhance the effectiveness of grassland restoration for insect conservation and could make re-sowing within the first 6 years after establishment unnecessary.

Understanding farmers’ intention to perform result-based agri-environmental schemes for the improved provision of biodiversity and soil quality

This article investigates the influence of socio-psychological factors on farmers’ intention to perform result-based agri-environmental schemes for the improved provision of biodiversity and soil quality. We present a Structural Equation Model, which uses an extended Technology Acceptance Model as a theoretical basis for better understanding farmers’ decision-making. Results from a survey of 235 Austrian farmers show that behavioural factors such as self-efficacy, perceived risk, and subjective norm directly or indirectly impact farmers’ intention to perform result-based schemes. Findings stress the importance of farmers’ surrounding networks for the successful implementation of such schemes and the need for including mechanisms into their design, which are suited to diversify risk and increase self-efficacy. In conclusion, our results emphasize that considering the influence of socio-psychological factors on farmers’ decision-making may offer new levers in the design of more environmentally effective and efficient agri-environmental-climate measures.

Relative effects of arable land-use, farming system and agri-environment schemes on landscape-scale farmland bird assemblages

ContextFarmland biodiversity has been declining because of agricultural intensification and landscape simplification. Many farmland birds breeding in non-crop habitats use arable land as their feeding habitat (and vice versa) and understanding habitat composition and configuration at the landscape scale is important for their conservation.ObjectivesWe explored the relationship between farmland bird densities and land-use characteristics at a landscape-scale (mean size 235 ha) to reveal the most important land-use elements driving avian farmland abundance.MethodsWe used bird territory mapping from 36 study landscapes across Finland to study relationships between densities of total farmland birds, open field species, edge species, farmyard species, and Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI) species, and multiple descriptors of the composition and configuration of the study landscape mosaics, reflecting the full range of available crop types, farmland structures, non-crop habitat types, and soil type.ResultsDensities of farmland birds increased with greater areas of leys and pastures, subsidized grasslands, habitat diversity, and farmyards with animals, and those effects were consistently stronger compared to effects of non-crop habitats. Positive effects of the relative area of leys and pastures in the landscape was most often consistent in the species-specific models, whereas species-level responses to other landscape characteristics were idiosyncratic, reflecting the variety of the species’ ecologies and habitat requirements.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that overall habitat diversity, and habitat elements like subsidized grasslands, pastures, and farmsteads with animal production support higher bird diversity at the level of landscape mosaics. Our results suggest that studies based on field-scale study units need to be complemented with landscape-scale studies to reveal a holistic understanding of land-use intervention impacts on farmland birds.

The pollinator conservation approach “Farming with Alternative Pollinators”: Success and drivers

Global food security is heavily reliant on crop pollination. However, evidence on pollinator decline has been reported in all continents. Globally affordable conservation strategies need to be developed, as high-cost measures like European agri-environment schemes are not scalable in all countries. Here, we test, if a low-cost conservation approach named “Farming with Alternative Pollinators” (FAP) can benefit wild pollinator abundance and richness in agro-ecosystems and in crops, through establishment of marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP). The study was carried out in four Moroccan agro-climatic regions, during two years, using 6 main crops (pumpkin, zucchini, faba bean, tomato, eggplant and apple) and 201 sites. Additionally, we investigated how crop type, crop-MHEP composition (i.e. phylogenetic distances among crop and MHEP) and local climate can drive the success of the approach in comparison to monocultural fields. Based on 7097 recorded specimens, our results show that the wild pollinators of the entire FAP fields (i.e. 75% main crop and 25% MHEP) were significantly more abundant and species-rich than those of control fields (i.e. 100% main crop). Considering the main crop wild pollinators, FAP did not display any significant effect either on wild pollinator abundance or on pollinator richness. The mean phylogenetic distance between the main crop and MHEP, and climatic variables were not correlated with increase in wild pollinator abundance and richness in FAP fields. The crop type was found to influence the effect of the FAP approach. Our study provides strong evidence that FAP constitutes a relevant method for wild pollinator conservation in agro-ecosystems. Further research on additional environmental factors is necessary to outline the circumstances under which the FAP approach can positively affect wild pollinator communities.

Unraveling spatial agglomeration patterns in agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from the improvement of steppe habitats in the Natura 2000 network in Catalonia (Spain)

The European payment for ecosystem services in the agricultural sector, or agri-environmental schemes (AES), have shown limited success in stopping biodiversity loss due to the mismatches between the scale at which they are adopted and the scale of ecological processes. This study analyzes the spatial distribution of farmer participation in the “Improvement of the steppe habitats of the Natura 2000 Network” AES in Catalonia (Spain) to test and explain potential agglomeration patterns. Our findings evidence spatial agglomeration of AES enrollment both within the farm (with farmers enrolling their adjacent or nearby plots in the scheme) and among farms (with farmers that adopt AES being near each other). Plots under the Natura2000-AES are located within a maximum distance of 2.4 km from their nearest enrolled plots, which would provide sufficient habitat continuum to allow for birds’ mobility across landscapes. Our results also indicate that participation concentrates on larger, non-irrigated and/or fallow plots, farms that are managed by professionals, young farmers, and/or members of a farmer organization, and municipalities with lower socioeconomic indexes. These results contradict the assumption that there are no agglomeration patterns in the AES context and reveal the interest of further studying the socio-ecological factors that underlie spatial agglomeration patterns of AES and designing landscape-management strategies accordingly.

Deep learning-based detection of indicator species for monitoring biodiversity in semi-natural grasslands

Deep learning (DL) has huge potential to provide valuable insights into biodiversity changes in species-rich agricultural ecosystems such as semi-natural grasslands, helping to prioritize and plan conservation efforts. However, DL has been underexplored in grassland conservation efforts, hindered by data scarcity, intricate ecosystem interactions, and limited economic incentives. Here, we developed a DL-based object-detection model to identify indicator species, a group of vascular plant species that serve as surrogates for biodiversity assessment in high nature value (HNV) grasslands. We selected indicator species Armeria maritima, Campanula patula, Cirsium oleraceum, and Daucus carota. To overcome the hurdle of limited data, we grew indicator plants under controlled greenhouse conditions, generating a sufficient dataset for DL model training. The model was initially trained on this greenhouse dataset. Then, smaller datasets derived from an experimental grassland plot and natural grasslands were added to the training to facilitate the transition from greenhouse to field conditions. Our optimized model achieved remarkable average precision (AP) on test datasets, with 98.6 AP50 on greenhouse data, 98.2 AP50 on experimental grassland data, and 96.5 AP50 on semi-natural grassland data. Our findings highlight the innovative application of greenhouse-grown specimens for the in-situ identification of plants, bolstering biodiversity monitoring in grassland ecosystems. Furthermore, the study illuminates the promising role of DL techniques in conservation programs, particularly as a monitoring tool to support result-based agri-environment schemes.

Recreation and its synergies and trade-offs with other ecosystem services of Alpine and pre-Alpine grasslands

Alpine and pre-Alpine grasslands provide numerous ecosystem services including provisioning services (e.g. fodder production), regulating services (e.g. soil erosion reduction), and cultural services (e.g. recreation). While intensively managed grasslands specifically target the production of fodder, more extensively used grasslands are known for being hotspots of biodiversity. However, there is a need to better understand the relationship among the supply of ecosystem services, specifically regarding the use of grasslands for cultural ecosystem services such as recreation. In this study, we investigated the synergies and trade-offs of ecosystem services and analyzed underlying variables related to the recreational use of grasslands. We investigated the supply of recreation (indicated by Photo-User-Days from geo-tagged photos on grasslands), fodder production (indicated by yield), and regulating and habitat ecosystem services (indicated by agri-environmental payments), and analyzed their relationship to management-related variables with a Redundancy Analysis. To better explain the recreational use of grasslands, we further analyzed how environmental and infrastructural features influence the occurrence of Photo-User-Days with a hurdle regression. Finally, we conducted spatial analyses to understand the distribution of Photo-User-Days in space. We found a weak but significant negative relationship between Photo-User-Days and yield, which implies that people slightly prefer extensive grassland to intensive grassland for recreation. Our results also show that agri-environmental schemes targeted towards extensive grassland management can positively influence the recreational use. Other factors, such as proximity to touristic features (e.g. castles), presence of infrastructural features (e.g. cable cars), and environmental characteristics (e.g. low share of croplands, distance to forests), also influenced the spatial distribution of photos on grasslands. The importance of these factors underscores the value of grasslands as a component of the cultural landscape for recreational purposes. These results also suggest that cultural ecosystem services of grasslands can be considered to be co-produced by natural, social, and infrastructural components. The study further discusses limitations to the explanatory power of geo-tagged photo analysis to determine the wide range of cultural ecosystem services of grasslands. We conclude that grasslands play an important role for recreation in (pre-)Alpine landscapes, which can also be effectively supported through targeted agri-environmental payments.

Harmonized European Union subnational crop statistics can reveal climate impacts and crop cultivation shifts

Abstract. The availability of coherent time series of crop statistics is essential for better analyzing the past, understanding the present, and predicting future trends in yield, area, and production. Importantly, such data also underpin assessments and subsequent policy actions that can shape future food systems that are more resilient in the face of climate change and that are sustainable in terms of resource use efficiency. In the European Union (EU), there currently is no legal obligation for EU countries to provide subnational crop statistics. However, such data could improve in-season crop forecasts, climate change impacts and adaption need assessments, and evaluation of agri-environmental schemes. The dataset described in this paper includes a harmonized collection of subnational crop statistics on area, production, and yield, collected for the EU from National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and the EUROSTAT REGIO database – subnational crop statistics voluntarily contributed by EU countries. The crops considered are wheat (including soft and durum wheat), barley (including winter and spring barley), grain maize, sunflower, and sugar beet. All data are harmonized towards the hierarchical structure of the EUROSTAT legend and the regional classification of NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) version 2016, to provide coherent time series. A total of 344 282 records is presented here (115 974 for wheat, 122 705 for barley, 35 274 for grain maize, 34 916 for sugar beet, and 35 413 for sunflower) for a total of 961 regions in 27 EU countries. Statistics are reported from 1975 to 2020, with a median time-span range of 21 years. A flagging system details, for each data record, information on data sources, processing steps, and quality-checking results. This includes consistency checks between reported values for area, yield and production, identification of null values, missing and calculated data, information on crop legend matching, and NUTS versioning. We illustrate the value of this dataset by analyzing impacts on crops and production zone shifts in Europe due to climatic and economic factors. Recommendations and future developments of collecting subnational statistics at the EU level are briefly discussed. The dataset is accessible with European Commission Authentication Service (ECAS) login at https://doi.org/10.2905/685949ff-56de-4646-a8df-844b5bb5f835 (Ronchetti et al., 2023b).

Comparing practice‐ and results‐based agri‐environmental schemes controlled by remote sensing: An application to olive groves in Spain

AbstractFarmers' preferences toward practice‐ and results‐based agri‐environmental schemes (AES) are analysed using a labelled choice experiment. The analysis focuses on schemes involving an innovative satellite‐based monitoring system, with different environmental objectives. Olive groves in southern Spain are used as a case study. Results show no statistically significant differences in farmers' willingness to accept (WTA) payment for participating in practice‐ versus results‐based AES when the scheme targets carbon sequestration. By contrast, farmers require a significantly higher WTA payment for results‐based AES when targeting biodiversity (using bird species as an indicator), mostly due to the uncertainties related to its provision and monitoring. WTA significantly increases with provision level and remote sensing monitoring, regardless of the type of scheme. Significant preference heterogeneity is observed, partly explained by farmers' attitudes toward risk and their beliefs about environmental service provision and monitoring capacity. The results suggest useful policy implications, including the potential of making use of joint provision of environmental services in the design of results‐based AES and accompanying them with uncertainty mitigating measures.

Ecological intensification: multifunctional flower strips support beneficial arthropods in an organic apple orchard

Flower strips are a fundamental part of agri-environment schemes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Although vegetation is central for many arthropod groups, a few studies have evaluated the effects of flower strip structural and functional attributes on arthropod communities. In this study, we explored the relationship between flower strip attributes and the abundance of different arthropod functional groups in annual flower strips located in an organic apple orchard. We surveyed plant and arthropod communities in 30 1 m × 6 m plots. In each plot, we collected data on species composition and vegetation structure (e.g., total cover, density, number of floral displays). For each plant species, we also retrieved data on leaf palatability and nutritional value. Arthropods were collected using sweep netting technique. Structural and functional attributes of the flower strip revealed a crucial role in regulating arthropod abundance, which however depended on the specific arthropod functional group. We identified three main attributes (plant species richness, composition, and vegetation density) of flower strips that should be considered when implementing multifunctional flower strips. Specifically, plant species richness to ensure complementarity of resources and niches, plant species composition to ensure complementary floral resources, and vegetation density to ensure sheltering microhabitats and suitable microclimatic conditions and to increase the density of floral resources. Our results suggest that by considering structural and functional attributes of flower strips, it is possible to design multifunctional flower strips with greater effectiveness as measures for ecological intensification.

The effectiveness of intercropping and agri-environmental schemes on ecosystem service of biological pest control: a meta-analysis

Plant diversification contributes to the ecological intensification of agroecosystems through pest biocontrol services provision. However, the existing evidence for the effectiveness of plant diversification in enhancing pest biocontrol services is highly uncertain across features of plant diversity and biodiversity characteristics. We undertook a comparative meta-analysis focusing on three essential crops (wheat, maize, and soybean) to investigate how diversification schemes in-field (intercropping) and Agri-environmental scheme (AES) around the field (flower strip, hedgerow and field margin) affect arthropod abundance. A random effects analysis was used to determine the role of 10 key factors underlying the effectiveness of plant diversification including biodiversity level and habitat, main and companion plant species, intercropping arrangement, the growth stage of the main crops, type of AES planting scheme, AES planting width, distance from AES plantings and geographical latitude. The overall results revealed that intercropping reduced herbivore and boosted predators and parasitoids abundance significantly, while AES successfully increased predators but not herbivores. Maize intercropping with legume and non-legume plants and row intercropping allowed for effective pest management. The abundance of predators increased in wheat fields immediately adjacent to planting around the field (AES), but this effect declined beyond 5 m from the flower strips. Our results suggest that the response of arthropod abundance to plant diversification is a compromise between spatial management scale, ecological characteristics of arthropod and plant diversification features. These results offer promising pathways for optimizing plant diversification schemes that include functional farm biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales and designing multi-functional landscapes.

A cross-regional analysis of red-backed shrike responses to agri-environmental schemes in Europe

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are the main policy tool to counteract farmland biodiversity declines in Europe, but their biodiversity benefit varies across sites and is likely moderated by landscape context. Systematic monitoring of AES outcomes is lacking, and AES assessments are often based on field experiments encompassing one or few study sites. Spatial analysis methods encompassing broader areas are therefore crucial to better understand the context dependency of species’ responses to AES. Here, we quantified red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) occurrences in relation to AES adoption in three agricultural regions: Catalonia in Spain, the Mulde River Basin in Germany, and South Moravia in the Czech Republic. We used pre-collected biodiversity datasets, comprising structured and unstructured monitoring data, to compare empirical evidence across regions. Specifically, in each region we tested whether occurrence probability was positively related with the proportion of grassland-based AES, and whether this effect was stronger in simple compared to complex landscapes. We built species distribution models using existing field observations of the red-backed shrike, which we related to topographic, climatic, and field-level land-use information complemented with remote sensing-derived land-cover data to map habitats outside agricultural fields. We found a positive relationship between AES area and occurrence probability of the red-backed shrike in all regions. In Catalonia, the relationship was stronger in structurally simpler landscapes, but we found little empirical support for similar landscape-moderated effects in South Moravia and the Mulde River Basin. Our results highlight the complexity of species’ responses to management across different regional and landscape contexts, which needs to be considered in the design and spatial implementation of future conservation measures.

Quantifying potential trade-offs and win-wins between arthropod diversity and yield on cropland under agri-environment schemes–A meta-analysis

In Europe, agri-environment schemes (AES) are a key instrument to combat the ongoing decline of farmland biodiversity. AES aim is to support biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services, such as pollination or pest control. To what extent AES affect crop yield is still poorly understood. We performed a systematic review, including hierarchical meta-analyses, to investigate potential trade-offs and win-wins between the effectiveness of AES for arthropod diversity and agricultural yield on European croplands. Altogether, we found 26 studies with a total of 125 data points that fulfilled our study inclusion criteria. From each study, we extracted data on biodiversity (arthropod species richness and abundance) and yield for fields with AES management and control fields without AES. The majority of the studies reported significantly higher species richness and abundance of arthropods (especially wild pollinators) in fields with AES (31 % increase), but yields were at the same time significantly lower on fields with AES compared to control fields (21 % decrease). Aside from the opportunity costs, AES that promote out-of-production elements (e.g. wildflower strips), supported biodiversity (29–32 % increase) without significantly compromising yield (2–5 % increase). Farmers can get an even higher yield in these situations than in current conventional agricultural production systems without AES. Thus, our study is useful to identify AES demonstrating benefits for arthropod biodiversity with negligible or relatively low costs regarding yield losses. Further optimization of the design and management of AES is needed to improve their effectiveness in promoting both biodiversity and minimizing crop yield losses.

Payments for environmental services with ecological thresholds: farmers’ preferences for a sponsorship bonus

Designing incentives for agri-environmental public good provision with threshold effects calls for payment mechanisms favouring critical mass participation and continuity of commitments at the landscape scale. We conducted a choice experiment to test the acceptability of a bonus in a scheme for improving river water quality in France. We introduce a sponsorship bonus each time the farmer convinces a peer into entering the scheme, which can be combined with a collective result bonus per hectare if the river reaches a higher step on the water quality scale. We consider the involvement of local financers could increase the willingness to pay beyond opportunity costs and income foregone and propose higher levels of payment than agri-environmental schemes. Results suggest a sponsorship bonus on its own is cost-effective. We characterize respondents’ heterogeneity and identify three groups based on choice patterns: (i) “pro-environment individualists”, (ii) “management change averse” farmers, and (iii) “pro-incentive” farmers.

Do agri-environment schemes enhance carbon sequestration? Quantifying the effort in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, there are several agri-environment schemes focused on biodiversity and improved soil conditions with added benefits contributing to carbon sequestration introduced by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2002. In this study, our aim was to analyse historical data of implemented measures with the highest potential for carbon sequestration, assess their outputs and determine which of the agri-environment measures contributed the most during the programming periods and over the twenty years. Apart from analysing historical data (e.g. number of applications, enrolled area and received payment) and assessing their outputs based on sequestration coefficients published in the literature, we have created an algorithm that predicted carbon sequestration over a twenty-year period to assess the contribution of specific measures beyond the duration of programmes. All the sub-measures monitored contributed to carbon sequestration, with the resulting value determined by the amount of land on which the measure was implemented. The results indicate that, over the period under study, the Conversion from Arable Land to Grassland sub-measure was the highest contributor, reaching values of 555,803–606,330 t C and 1,129,317–1,538,235 t C over twenty years. However, the conversion from arable land to grassland is limited by the land suitable for conversion, so it can be assumed that the Catch Crops sub-measure will make a higher contribution in the future. For the period under study, Catch Crops contributed 359,352–598,920 t C. An increase is also expected for the Flower Strips sub-measure. The study advances knowledge on the contribution of agri-environment measures to carbon sequestration and their modelling, a topic that has not been addressed by many researchers to date and is the first of its kind in Central Europe.

Cost-effectiveness of state-dependent versus state-independent agri-environment schemes for biodiversity conservation

A key policy instrument to conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes are agri-environment schemes (AES). AES typically incentivise specific conservation measures which are independent of a specific state of an ecosystem or a species. In this paper we take up the idea of state-dependent conservation measures which means that in each period of interest the decision about the design of the conservation measure is made dependent on the state of the ecosystem or the species of interest. We develop a modelling framework to compare the cost-effectiveness of AES which incentivise state-dependent conservation measures (AES-SD) with AES which incentivise state-independent conservation measures (AES-SI). We apply the framework to a case study of meadow bird conservation through specific mowing regimes in the Aller river valley in Germany, and compare an AES-SI with fixed mowing dates and an AES-SD with mowing dates depending on the phenological start of spring. We find that AES-SD substantially outperforms AES-SI. Cost-effectiveness gains arise as the connection of mowing dates to phenological events increase the breeding success of the meadow birds but also as farmers accept slightly lower compensation payments as mowing in dependence of the state of the grassland reduces fluctuations in their fodder yields.

Improving Agri-environmental Schemes: Suggestions from Farmers and Nature Managers in a Central European Region

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) are important policy instruments within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union for environmental protection. Due to the voluntary nature of AES, their attractiveness to farmers and stakeholders involved in nature management and protection (nature managers) is essential for high participation levels. This study aims to assess farmers’ and nature managers’ ideas to improve agri-environmental schemes. We analyzed suggestions of 825 farmers and 118 nature managers for improvements of AES collected in a large-scale survey in Bavaria, Germany. A content analysis was applied to categorize and compare suggestions by farmers (differentiated into two groups through a cluster analysis) and nature managers. The results reveal that stakeholders were highly willing to share ideas and made detailed suggestions for improvements and individual measures. They were aware of the importance of protecting nature and promoting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes and acknowledged the necessity of (financial) support programs. Farmers placed more emphasis on the practicability and profitability of measures on arable land, while nature managers tended to propose policy-related ideas focusing on nature protection, biodiversity, and specific species. Among farmers, suggestions differed with farm characteristics such as the operation mode (full-time, part-time). These findings can support the design of future AES, accounting for different background situations and thereby increasing acceptability. This includes considering perspectives from different stakeholder groups and creating regionally adapted programs with varying levels of flexibility and practicability.

A process perspective of conceptual innovation: Integrating equity in applications of the ecosystem services concept in Ireland

The ecosystem services (ES) concept emerged as a metaphor to demonstrate humanity’s dependence on the natural environment and is increasingly applied to frame human-nature relationships in conservation science, policy and practice. This paper aims to enhance understanding of how the ES concept is applied for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation in the Irish context, with further applicability to international contexts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved in ES research, policy and practice to understand and reflect a variety of perspectives. Three contexts of ecosystem management in Ireland are examined as focal points for the ES framing: natural capital and ES research; Agri-Environment schemes as types of Payments for ES; and collaborative forms of governance for peatland conservation. Specifically, we examine the idea of conceptual innovation as a process where concepts evolve in time and space as they are applied by different societal actors. The contexts examined demonstrate a variety of perceptions and show the scope for agency in how concepts are applied when they meet local realities. The research also demonstrates how alternative concepts and ideas are continuously emerging in societal discourse, and suggests the need to develop ‘networks of concepts’ that can work together to manage the politics, power relations and inequities inherent in the application of any concept. Fostering transparency and reflection on values, language and how knowledge is produced helps make visible power dynamics underlying the ES concept and encourages the development of ES approaches that are effective, inclusive and actionable. Developing concepts from a process perspective has implications for changing the course of a concept as its future unfolds. Following from this, we suggest the need to map an emancipatory future agenda for ES research that centres the voices of those researching, participating and acting ‘from the margins’.

A systematic review on the impact of incentives on the adoption of conservation agriculture: new guidelines for policymakers and researchers

ABSTRACTFacing the new challenges of sustainable development in the agricultural sector requires transitioning toward sustainable systems, such as conservation agriculture (CA) practices. Despite several decades of work to diffuse CA technologies, the adoption rate remains below expectations in several countries. Different policy scenarios have been adopted to address this situation, mainly incentives. However, evidence of their effectiveness and possibilities of reinforcement are not clearly defined in the literature. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the evidence of the impact of incentives on the adoption of conservation agriculture practices to help academics and politicians understand how to effectively spread sustainable innovations such as CA. Results show that four kinds of incentives are evaluated Agri-Environment Schemes (AES)/Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), input subsidies, direct subsidies, and market-based incentives. The impact of PES and input subsidies was significant and positive for the diffusion of CA. However, the component of minimum tillage dissemination was not significantly affected by PES agglomeration payments or greater levels of direct subsidies, respectively. The incentives investigated are not sufficiently diversified in type, which consequently limits their usefulness. Three recommendations for the deployment of incentives were made in light of these findings.

Assessment of agricultural water protection strategies at a catchment scale: case of Finland

For decades, water quality monitoring programmes, agri-environment schemes and environmental permits for animal farms have targeted a decrease in agricultural loads. These have been supplemented with more recent policies related to nutrient recycling and a circular economy. However, eutrophication of surface water bodies remains a widespread problem. In this paper, we focus on the nutrient loading and recycling in the catchment of Eurajoki River, Finland. We statistically examine the generation of nutrient loading and its variation on a sub-catchment scale. We extend this examination to the factors behind the loading and estimate the impact of nutrient recycling on it. Our analysis reveals shortcomings in the availability and collection of data on the agricultural nutrient loadings and the parcel-specific data on the presence and application of manure and fertilisers. Nine sub-catchments were responsible for roughly half of the TP loading from the 46 sub-catchments studied. To reveal such hot spots and to better target agricultural water protection measures, we recommend short-term water quality sampling campaigns. Judging from our data, the rate of manure recycling is not high enough to reduce the regional P surplus to manageable levels. Therefore, we suggest facilitated collaboration between animal and crop farms to decrease the nutrient surplus. We also propose setting up a national database containing parcel-specific information, for example, on soil P content, manure and fertiliser application, agricultural practices and the presence of acid sulphate soils. We also suggest an independent soil fertility sampling to provide valid baseline soil P data for field parcels.