Conference Agenda

Agri-environment schemes (AES) have so far failed to halt the strong decline in farmland biodiversity. Landscape-scale implementation of AES through collaboration of multiple stakeholders could be a key to substantially improve their ecological effectiveness. However, it remains unclear how to determine the amount of target measures in a landscape, how this depends on the previous landscape heterogeneity, and what the social and economic consequences of collaborative AES are.

To address these questions, we implemented a landscape-scale experiment in the project KOOPERATIV by sowing 0-13.5 ha of perennial flower fields in 37 landscapes along an independent gradient of land use diversity.

Initial results show positive effects of landscape-scale land use diversity on bird species richness, abundance of bumblebees in oilseed rape fields and abundance of omnivorous and granivorous carabids. In the first year, the area of flower fields in the landscape did not affect birds, possibly due to the sampling shortly after sowing.

Our six-year monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the landscape experiment, as well as our analysis of social and economic influences, will be essential for designing collaborative AES in the future. It will therefore help to make AES a more effective tool for farmland biodiversity conservation.

Temperate agricultural landscapes are experiencing an unprecedented erosion of biodiversity. The amount of non-crop habitat in a landscape is commonly identified as a driver of the species richness of taxonomic groups, but the relative contribution of crop and non-crop habitats to biodiversity has been surprisingly little studied. Using 86 paired permanent grasslands and oilseed rape fields across five European countries, we assessed how habitat type and cover of permanent grasslands in the surrounding landscapes affected species richness, diversity and assemblages of plants, butterflies, wild bees and carabids. Species richness and diversity were generally determined by habitat type and country but not by the the cover of permanent grasslands. Plants were more species rich and diverse and butterflies more diverse in grasslands, while wild bees and carabids where more species-rich (but not more diverse) in oilseed rape fields. Habitat type shaped species assemblages in most taxa and both habitats hosted a considerable share of unique species. Our results indicate that local biodiversity is not necessarily determined by surrounding non-crop habitat amount and that crop fields, depending on the taxonomic group, contribute significantly to the regional species pool. Biodiversity friendly local habitat management is thus needed in both grasslands and crop fields.

The choice of agricultural practices, their intensity as well as the yield and economic profits of most crops change depending on landscape and climate factors. For example, semi natural areas usually provide food and refuge sites to predators and parasitoids, enhancing pest control and enabling the reduction of pesticide use. We conducted an observational study to test how agronomic practices, pest management, environmental impact and yield of conventional and organic vineyards changed along wide climatic and landscape gradients across Italy. We used a block design with 38 pairs of conventional and organic vineyards, for a total of 76 selected vineyards. Most agronomic practices showed no significant differences between the conventional and organic vineyards. Instead, we found that the considerable variation in management practices within both farming systems was largely driven by climate and landscape composition. First, increasing semi-natural areas around the vineyards reduced pesticide pressure and related environmental impacts, but was also associated with lower yield. Second, a warm and dry climate was associated with reduced fungicide pressure. Overall, we highlighted the need for future assessments to consider the climatic and landscape context and explore the variability of both systems to achieve a less intensive and more sustainable grape production.

Many studies have evaluated the effects of wildflower strips (WFSs) on pollinators, but the evidence for WFS influence on the abundance and species richness of other animal taxa and ecosystem services levels is limited. In this talk, we will introduce our experimental study system where WFSs of various types were established in 2020/21 in collaboration with local farmers. Using the BACI approach, i.e., collecting data before as well as during several years after WFS establishment, we gathered long-term data for the responses of eleven invertebrate taxa (bees and wasps, butterflies, carabids, hoverflies, leaf beetles, myriapods, spiders, true bugs, weevils, earthworms, soil-dwelling arthropods) and three ecosystem services (decomposition and pest and weed seed predation). In addition, short-term studies to investigate WFS effects on pest suppression (pest egg predation), winter performance (arthropod overwintering) and the effects of WFSs management on arthropods were conducted. Preliminary results indicate that the presence of WFSs supports invertebrate abundance and diversity across diverse invertebrate groups both above and below ground. In contrast, positive effects on ecosystem services levels were less obvious. In addition to existing evidence of WFS benefits for local biodiversity during the growing season, we also highlight their importance during the winter season.

Wildflower strips (WFS) provide essential shelter, food, and nesting resources to beneficial arthropod taxa in agroecosystems during winter. However, the impact of WFS management practices on overwintering arthropod survival varies depending on the taxa and life stage considered. While most studies focus on adult arthropods, larvae may exhibit distinct distributional patterns and ecological requirements. To establish the significance of WFS and their management practice for winter survival of ground-dwelling arthropods, we conducted pitfall samplings in mowed and unmowed WFSs, field edges, and field interiors across ten fields from early January to late March 2023. Morphological identification was employed for adult specimens, while a metabarcoding approach was utilized for larval identification. We observed significantly higher species richness and abundance of adult ground beetles and beetle larvae within WFSs than the field interior, particularly along field edges. Moreover, WFS mowing negatively impacted carabid and beetle larvae in terms of individual numbers. These findings highlight the critical role of WFS in supporting the overwintering of multiple ground-dwelling arthropod taxa across different life stages. However, mowing may hinder their efficacy, making it necessary to explore mitigation strategies.