Implementation Of Agri-environmental Schemes Research Articles

Increased arthropod biomass, abundance and species richness in an agricultural landscape after 32 years

Recent studies reporting widespread declines in arthropod biomass, abundance and species diversity raised wide concerns in research and conservation. However, repeated arthropod surveys over long periods are rare, even though they are key for assessing the causes of the decline and for developing measures to halt the losses. We repeatedly sampled arthropod fauna in a representative Swiss agricultural landscape over 32 years (1987, 1997, 2019). Sampling included eight study sites in four different semi-natural and agricultural habitat types and different trap types (pitfall, window, yellow bucket) over an annual period of 10 weeks to capture flying and ground dwelling arthropod taxa. In total, we analyzed 58,448 individuals from 1343 different species. Mean arthropod biomass, abundance and species richness per trap was significantly higher in 2019 than in the prior years. Also, species diversity of the study area was highest in 2019. Three main factors likely have contributed to the observed positive or at least stable development. First, the implementation of agri-environmental schemes has improved habitat quality since 1993, 6 years after the first sampling. Second, landscape composition remained stable, and pesticide and fertilizer was constant over the study period. Third, climate warming might have favored the immigration and increase of warm adapted species. Our results support the idea that changes in arthropod communities over time is highly context-dependent and complex.Implications for insect conservationWe conclude that the integration and long-term management of ecological compensation patches into a heterogenous agricultural landscape supports insect conservation and can contribute to stable or even increased arthropod abundance, biomass and diversity. Future studies are needed to clarify interdepending effects between agricultural management and climate change on insect communities.

Design, implementation and management of perennial flower strips to promote functional agrobiodiversity in organic apple orchards: A pan-European study

Orchards, as intensive cropping systems, often have low diversity of plant species, which limits the promotion of natural enemies for pest control. The implementation of agri-environmental schemes, such as flower strips, could enhance biological control. We developed perennial, multifunctional flower strips with native plant species. In the second and third year after sowing, plant diversity and ground cover between flower strips (FS) in the drive alleys and the spontaneous orchard vegetation in control plots (Cont) were compared in 19 experimental blocks of eight organic apple orchards in six European countries. On average 73.7% of the sown plant species were established and plant diversity of FS was on average 43% higher than in Cont. Multivariate analysis further revealed significant dissimilarities in the plant communities of the two treatments. Intensive mulching of flower strips also affected the plant community: species richness and ground cover by forbs and plants, which especially promote functional agrobiodiversity (FAB plants), decreased significantly. We show that perennial FS with native plants are a valuable approach to enrich plant diversity in orchards in different European countries. Limitations and recommendations for the implementation and management of FS in orchards are discussed.

The consequences of establishing military training areas for land use development—A case study of Libavá, Czech Republic

This article presents results on the long-term (from 1837 to 2014) development of land use and a road network in the military training area of Libavá, the Czech Republic, and its surroundings. The key hypotheses were that the establishment of military training areas has significant impacts on the development of their land use and the road network, which are manifested mainly in an increase of forest and/or grassland use/cover, and that military training areas are affected by general trends of land use changes; however, trends connected with specific military needs still dominate. Results show that there are indeed differences in the land use development and land use change transitions in the training area and its surroundings. These were most pronounced during the most intensive military activities in the past 70 years. During this period the training area experienced massive grassing, afforestation and vegetation succession, while the surroundings were used for intensive agriculture and economic development, resulting in the spread of arable land as well as the spread of built-up areas. The road network in the area was also affected by the military regime – direct connections between towns were lost, and many roads were destroyed or lost their importance. Currently, with the withdrawal of the military from almost a third of the training area, both the training area and its surroundings are again being affected by similar driving forces, namely the spread of organic farming and implementation of agri-environmental schemes, resulting in extensive grassing. This trend will likely continue. We believe that land use development in the military training area can serve as a proxy for future land use development in recently abandoned regions.

Effects of agri-environmental habitat provision on winter and breeding season abundance of farmland birds

Farmland bird populations continue to show declines in spite of over 20 years of research and implementation of agri-environmental schemes (AES) intended to reverse this. Although it is well known that provision of winter food resources can attract farmland birds, there is continuing uncertainty over the ability of AES to provide tangible benefits for target species in terms of increased abundance. Answering these questions is hampered by interannual fluctuations in bird populations and the mobility and territoriality of farmland birds, which have complicated the interpretation of previous studies.We monitored birds for five years on a large arable estate in central England managed under varying levels of AES uptake (low level uptake of simple and widely applicable AES options, more extensive uptake of more complex AES options), and two control treatments (on-site and off-site). Bird abundance in winter and both total abundance and number of territories in the breeding season were calculated from monthly visits to 16 transects.Several species showed significantly higher winter abundance on AES treatments, particularly granivorous species (e.g. reed bunting, yellowhammer, linnet). Many other species (e.g. blackbird, chaffinch, robin) also showed significant differences in winter abundance between treatments on the estate and off-site controls. In the breeding season, linnet, reed bunting, goldfinch and combined granivorous birds showed higher abundance or number of territories on AES treatments compared to on-site controls. For most other species the differences were only significant between treatments on the estate and off-site controls. Independently of AES treatment, a lower coverage of cereals or greater Shannon diversity of crops in the local landscape also had a positive effect on the abundance of many species.Our results suggest that well-implemented AES can significantly enhance local populations of both farmland specialists of conservation concern and generalist species. Our results also show that, in many cases, these effects were only demonstrable at the farm scale, in comparison with off-site controls. This is probably due to high levels of movement and dispersal of birds resulting in a farm-scale spill-over of beneficial effects of agri-environment measures. Our results therefore highlight the importance of thinking beyond the single-farm scale when designing schemes or studies for monitoring the effectiveness of AES, and the importance of selecting appropriately located controls.

Fostering cooperation between farmers and public and private actors to expand environmentally friendly rice cultivation: intermediary functions and farmers’ perspectives

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the intermediary functions and the farmers’ perspectives in the development and implementation of agri-environmental schemes in Shiga Prefecture of Japan by employing the innovation journey analysis and the statistical analysis. The innovation journey analysis demonstrates that the prefectural government served as an ‘innovation intermediary’ to: (1) provide a clear vision of sustainable agriculture for farmers and other actors, (2) create and reinforce both technological and market niches and (3) develop actor networks involving local actors. It also identifies the following roles of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JAs) and the specialist wholesaler as innovation intermediaries to: (1) develop new farming materials such as fertilizers, (2) translate and deliver practical farming knowledge for farmers and (3) establish the market of environmental-friendly rice. Statistical analysis uncovers that farmers more appreciated the supports from the JAs than those from other intermediaries to participate in the schemes. Complemented by the innovation journey analysis, our findings suggest that the keys to increasing farmers’ participation in the schemes include a clear vision and economic incentives for farmers as well as the coordination among intermediaries who have different expertise.

Tracking Progress Toward EU Biodiversity Strategy Targets: EU Policy Effects in Preserving its Common Farmland Birds

AbstractMaximizing the area under biodiversity‐related conservation measures is a main target of the European Union (EU) Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. We analyzed whether agrienvironmental schemes (AES) within EU common agricultural policy, special protected areas for birds (SPAs), and Annex I designation within EU Birds Directive had an effect on bird population changes using monitoring data from 39 farmland bird species from 1981 to 2012 at EU scale. Populations of resident and short‐distance migrants were larger with increasing SPAs and AES coverage, while Annex I species had higher population growth rates with increasing SPAs, indicating that SPAs may contribute to the protection of mainly target species and species spending most of their life cycle in the EU. Because farmland birds are in decline and the negative relationship of agricultural intensification with their population growth rates was evident during the implementation of AES and SPAs, EU policies seem to generally attenuate the declines of farmland bird populations, but not to reverse them.

Quantifying the extent to which farmers can influence biodiversity on their farms

Despite the introduction of agri-environmental schemes, no general increase of farmland biodiversity in Europe has been observed. Farmers take decisions about the implementation of agri-environmental schemes at the farm scale, and it is thus highly relevant to assess the relationship between farm management and biodiversity at this scale to increase the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes. The present study quantifies to what extent and with which practices farmers can influence biodiversity on their farm and to what extent conditions outside farmers’ control may mediate biodiversity.We grouped 27 variables into four variable sets: (1) ecological compensation (mainly semi-natural habitats), (2) in-field options (e.g. no growth regulator, insecticide and herbicide treatment), and (3) farm characteristics, which can be influenced by farmers (e.g. land-use types) as well as (4) farm settings, which cannot be influenced by farmers (e.g. altitude). As biodiversity metrics, plant, grasshopper, butterfly and bird richness and abundance of farmland target species were assessed on 133 farms of the Swiss Central Plateau from 2009 to 2011. Variance partitioning and generalised linear mixed models were used to analyse the impact of each variable set on farmland species diversity.Our results provide evidence that farmers can indeed positively influence biodiversity by ecological compensation and in-field options. The variables of the ecological compensation set explained the highest proportion in the variation of plant richness and butterfly abundance. We found a significant positive relationship between in-field options and plant abundance. Our study illustrated that the effects of biodiversity-related farming practices differ between species and biodiversity metrics. Conditions outside farmers’ control explained a high variation in grasshopper and bird diversity. One variable within the set of farm settings, the degree of consolidation, had a significant negative impact on five out of eight biodiversity metrics (plant, butterfly and bird richness; plant and bird abundance). We demonstrate that farmers can substantially enhance biodiversity on their farms and provide knowledge on how such biodiversity improvements can be achieved by farmers. Further, we highlight the value of new biodiversity-related management practices such as in-field options.

Integrating farmers’ knowledge on toxic plants and grassland management: a case study on Colchicum autumnale in Austria

High densities of Colchicum autumnale may endanger grassland management in Austria. As the toxic components persist in hay and silage, the continuation of the management of these grasslands, which are often characterised by a high biodiversity, is uncertain. Farmers possess valuable and context-specific know-how on toxic plants and grassland management. This study aims at assessing the contribution of farmers’ knowledge to nature conservation research on toxic plants in grasslands. In total, we conducted 170 face-to-face interviews with farmers managing grasslands with C. autumnale in four areas of Lower Austria. In addition, the farmers were invited to regional workshops to discuss C. autumnale, control measures and related problems. We also encouraged farmers to carry out on-farm experiments. To provide triangulation of the participatory with academic research results, C. autumnale was mapped in three municipalities, covering in total 686 ha. The majority of all grassland plots were extensively managed meadows. More than half of them were not fertilised and were subject to nature conservation regulations. Farmers reported an increase of C. autumnale on 44% of all grassland plots. Of these, grassland management has been extensified in 64%. About 27% of all farmers regarded C. autumnale as a problem. Among farmers who sold hay, 48% considered it as problematic. The field survey showed that C. autumnale covers up to 73% of grasslands. Farmers’ knowledge is an important contribution to nature conservation research and should be included in the design and implementation of agri-environmental schemes so that long-term extensive grassland management can be assured.

Regional and environmental aspects in the implementation of Spanish agri-environmental schemes

This paper presents an initial analysis of the degree to which the European Union agri-environmental schemes have been implemented in Spain. It is focused on the way the various Regional and National Government bodies involved have interpreted Regulation EC 2078/92, rather than on the degrees of farmer participation in them. The environmental objectives of the schemes offered, in addition to the proposed scheme elements or measures, the targeted areas and the payments available, are analysed and compared within the European setting. Administrative decentralization of responsibilities for agriculture and environment, the diversity of farming uses and the dichotomy between intensified and extensive systems all generate a wide range of approaches, which are analysed in terms of their appropriateness to conservation needs. It is concluded that the implementation of agri-environmental schemes in protected areas, both terrestrial and wetlands, and their surroundings is the most ambitiously tackled objective, followed by the conservation of extensive farming systems and their natural values. Overall, the present operation of the Spanish agri-environmental programme is quite satisfactory in comparison to the objectives set in 1994, although there has been considerable delay in its implementation.