Agroforestry systems of high nature and cultural value in Europe: provision of commercial goods and other ecosystem services

Land use systems that integrate woody vegetation with livestock and/or crops and are recognised for their biodiversity and cultural importance can be termed high nature and cultural value (HNCV) agroforestry. In this review, based on the literature and stakeholder knowledge, we describe the structure, components and management practices of ten contrasting HNCV agroforestry systems distributed across five European bioclimatic regions. We also compile and categorize the ecosystem services provided by these agroforestry systems, following the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. HNCV agroforestry in Europe generally enhances biodiversity and regulating ecosystem services relative to conventional agriculture and forestry. These systems can reduce fire risk, compared to conventional forestry, and can increase carbon sequestration, moderate the microclimate, and reduce soil erosion and nutrient leaching compared to conventional agriculture. However, some of the evidence is location specific and a better geographical coverage is needed to generalize patterns at broader scales. Although some traditional practices and products have been abandoned, many of the studied systems continue to provide multiple woody and non-woody plant products and high-quality food from livestock and game. Some of the cultural value of these systems can also be captured through tourism and local events. However there remains a continual challenge for farmers, landowners and society to fully translate the positive social and environmental impacts of HNCV agroforestry into market prices for the products and services

Agroforestry systems of high natural and cultural value in Europe: structure, management, goods and services

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The heterogeneity of wooded-agricultural landscape mosaics influences woodland bird community assemblages

Context Landscape heterogeneity (the composition and configuration of different landcover types) plays a key role in shaping woodland bird assemblages in wooded-agricultural mosaics. Understanding how species respond to landscape factors could contribute to preventing further decline of woodland bird populations. Objective To investigate how woodland birds with different species traits respond to landscape heterogeneity, and to identify whether specific landcover types are important for maintaining diverse populations in wooded-agricultural environments. Methods Birds were sampled from woodlands in 58 2 x 2 km tetrads across southern Britain. Landscape heterogeneity was quantified for each tetrad. Bird assemblage response was determined using redundancy analysis combined with variation partitioning and response trait analyses. Results For woodland bird assemblages, the independent explanatory importance of landscape composition and landscape configuration variables were closely interrelated. When considered simultaneously during variation partitioning, the community response was better represented by compositional variables. Different species responded to different landscape features and this could be explained by traits relating to woodland association, foraging strata and nest location. Ubiquitous, generalist species, many of which were hole-nesters or ground foragers, correlated positively with urban landcover while specialists of broadleaved woodland avoided landscapes containing urban areas. Species typical of coniferous woodland correlated with large conifer plantations. Conclusions At the 2 x 2 km scale, there was evidence that the availability of resources provided by proximate landcover types was highly important for shaping woodland bird assemblages. Further research to disentangle the effects of composition and configuration at different spatial scales is advocated

The interplay of landscape composition and configuration: new pathways to manage functional biodiversity and agroecosystem services across Europe

Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity and ecosystem services is a key aim of a sustainable agriculture. However, how the spatial arrangement of crop fields and other habitats in landscapes impacts arthropods and their functions is poorly known. Synthesising data from 49 studies (1515 landscapes) across Europe, we examined effects of landscape composition (% habitats) and configuration (edge density) on arthropods in fields and their margins, pest control, pollination and yields. Configuration effects interacted with the proportions of crop and non‐crop habitats, and species’ dietary, dispersal and overwintering traits led to contrasting responses to landscape variables. Overall, however, in landscapes with high edge density, 70% of pollinator and 44% of natural enemy species reached highest abundances and pollination and pest control improved 1.7‐ and 1.4‐fold respectively. Arable‐dominated landscapes with high edge densities achieved high yields. This suggests that enhancing edge density in European agroecosystems can promote functional biodiversity and yield‐enhancing ecosystem services

Heterogeneity of protected crop colonization by beneficial insects: role of crop management and landscape context

Enhancing insect pest control by their natural enemies is considered as a promising crop protection strategy in organic vegetable production systems. In Mediterranean areas, native natural enemies such as mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) settle spontaneously in protected vegetable crops and can play an important rolefor pest regulation, which remains however very heterogeneous from field to field and hardly predictable. The present study is part of the project REGABRI, which aims at identifying key factors of colonization of organic and conventional protected tomato crops by mirid bugs in Roussillon area. A first survey in 2010-2011 on 34 crops showed that mirids abundances in crops vary according to management practices and landscape features in the crops surroundings (100m to 200m). A second survey in 2012 made it possible to identify uncultivated or cultivated elements in the crops surroundings, that might enhance (source habitats) or on the contrary reduce (dilution and sink effects) tomato crops colonization by mirids. These results showed that a systemic approach, considering the field, the cropping systems as well as the landscape scale, is needed to optimize conservation biological control on protected vegetable systems

Linear elements in landscapes: autonomous units of parts of larger functional units

International audienc

Local vs. landscape characteristics differentially shape emerging and circulating assemblages of carabid beetles in agroecosystems

International audienceKnowledge of biodiversity in agroecosystems is crucial for understanding ecosystem functioning, but requires accurate sampling methods. Most studies of ground-active arthropods in fields rely on activity-density measurement using pitfall traps. Assemblages locally observed are likely to composed both resident and immigrant species, and that is especially true for arthropods exhibiting high dispersal abilities and/or larval development that is very different from the adults. Using a spatially paired design of emerging traps vs pitfall traps in 10 pairs of organic (OF) and conventional (CF) fields, we quantified how circulating and emerging assemblages of an abundant taxa of mobile and holometabolous insects, carabid beetles, were impacted by different field farming systems and landscape characteristics. Field sampling was carried out during 5 months of 2015 in Brittany (Western France), during which 24,726 individuals belonging to 85 species were captured. Our results revealed that the number of individuals and species of both emerging and circulating assemblages were significantly higher in OF compared to CF, reinforcing the idea that OF provide more suitable conditions for both resident and mobile arthropods. Landscape and local factors had a similar influence on emerging carabid assemblages, whereas local factors were stronger drivers for circulating carabid assemblages. This study highlights the importance of distinguishing resident (emergent) and mobile (circulating) individuals when assessing the differential role of local vs. landscape factors in community assembly. It also reinforces the idea that spatiotemporal movements of predatory arthropods are impacted by spillover from and between croplands, resulting in source-sink dynamics with habitat quality being the major driver of these processes. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

Agroforestry systems of high nature and cultural value in Europe: provision of commercial goods and other ecosystem services

Land use systems that integrate woody vegetation with livestock and/or crops and are recognised for their biodiversity and cultural importance can be termed high nature and cultural value (HNCV) agroforestry. In this review, based on the literature and stakeholder knowledge, we describe the structure, components and management practices of ten contrasting HNCV agroforestry systems distributed across five European bioclimatic regions. We also compile and categorize the ecosystem services provided by these agroforestry systems, following the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. HNCV agroforestry in Europe generally enhances biodiversity and regulating ecosystem services relative to conventional agriculture and forestry. These systems can reduce fire risk, compared to conventional forestry, and can increase carbon sequestration, moderate the microclimate, and reduce soil erosion and nutrient leaching compared to conventional agriculture. However, some of the evidence is location specific and a better geographical coverage is needed to generalize patterns at broader scales. Although some traditional practices and products have been abandoned, many of the studied systems continue to provide multiple woody and non-woody plant products and high-quality food from livestock and game. Some of the cultural value of these systems can also be captured through tourism and local events. However there remains a continual challenge for farmers, landowners and society to fully translate the positive social and environmental impacts of HNCV agroforestry into market prices for the products and services

Agroecology landscapes

International audienceAbstract Context Agroecology combines agronomic and ecological concepts. It relies on the enhancement of biodiversity and related ecosystem services to support agricultural production. It is dependent on biological interactions for the design and management of agricultural systems in agricultural landscapes. Objectives We review the role of landscape ecology to understand and promote biodiversity, pest regulation and crop pollination for the designing of “agroecology landscapes”. We illustrate the use of landscape ecological methods for supporting agroforestry systems as an example of agroecological development, and we propose pathways to implement agroecology at landscape scale. Methods The state of the art of how landscape ecology contributes to agroecology development is summarized based on a literature review. Results Agroecology requires thinking beyond the field scale to consider the positioning, quality and connectivity of fields and semi-natural habitats at larger spatial scales. The spatial and temporal organisation of semi-natural elements and the crop mosaic interact. Understanding this interaction is the pre-requisite for promoting patterns and mechanisms that foster biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Promoting agroecological practices beyond individual farm borders can be rooted in a bottom-up approach from agroecological lighthouse farms to farm networks to amplify agroecology adoption at the landscape scale. Conclusions Achieving agricultural landscapes composed of fields and farms following agroecological management requires understanding of biodiversity patterns, biological interactions and mechanisms that determine and boost ecosystem functioning to improve services at landscape scale, involving farmers in a bottom-up and context-specific approach