Crop diversity benefits carabid and pollinator communities in landscapes with semi-natural habitats

In agricultural landscapes, arthropods provide essential ecosystem services such as biological pest control and pollination. Intensified crop management practices and homogenization of landscapes have led to declines among such organisms. Semi-natural habitats, associated with high numbers of these organisms, are increasingly lost from agricultural landscapes but diversification by increasing crop diversity has been proposed as a way to reverse observed arthropod declines and thus restore ecosystem services. However, whether or not an increase in the diversity of crop types within a landscape promotes diversity and abundances of pollinating and predaceous arthropods, and how semi-natural habitats might modify this relationship, are not well understood. To test how crop diversity and the proportion of semi-natural habitats within a landscape are related to the diversity and abundance of beneficial arthropod communities, we collected primary data from seven studies focusing on natural enemies (carabids and spiders) and pollinators (bees and hoverflies) from 154 crop fields in Southern Sweden between 2007 and 2017. Crop diversity within a 1-km radius around each field was positively related to the Shannon diversity index of carabid and pollinator communities in landscapes rich in semi-natural habitats. Abundances were mainly affected by the proportion of semi-natural habitats in the landscape, with decreasing carabid and increasing pollinator numbers as the proportion of this habitat type increased. Spiders showed no response to either crop diversity or the proportion of semi-natural habitats. Synthesis and applications. We show that the joint effort of preserving semi-natural habitats and promoting crop diversity in agricultural landscapes is necessary to enhance communities of natural enemies and pollinators. Our results suggest that increasing the diversity of crop types can contribute to the conservation of service-providing arthropod communities, particularly if the diversification of crops targets complex landscapes with a high proportion of semi-natural habitats

Zeniplatin in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, a phase II study with a third generation platinum complex

25 patients with residual or recurrent ovarian cancer were treated with the new platinum complex zeniplatin (CL 286,558) and 23 patients were evaluable for response. Responses were achieved in 4 patients, 1 complete and 3 partial remissions (16%). 7 patients had stable disease and 12 patients had tumour progression. At a median follow-up of 12 months, the median progression-free survival in responding patients was 11 months and overall survival 81%. The median overall survival of progressive patients amounted to 9 months, indicating the advanced stage of disease in most patients. Renal function was monitored by isotope clearance studies. There was no significant change in effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in 10 patients who completed six cycles of treatment. 1 patient with a marginal creatinine clearance at baseline suffered from sudden and severe renal failure during the first cycle. Zeniplatin may be active in relapsing, platinum-pretreated patients, and has no direct effects on renal function as measured by isotope clearance. Despite these findings, occasional nephrotoxicity may occur in patients with compromised kidney function, even with prophylactic hydration, and thus limit the application of this new analogue

Religion as a Cross-cultural Determinant of Depression in Elderly Europeans: Results from the EURODEP Collaboration

Background. The protective effects of religion against late life depression may depend on the broader sociocultural environment. This paper examines whether the prevailing religious climate is related to cross-cultural differences of depression in elderly Europeans. Methods. Two approaches were employed, using data from the EURODEP collaboration. First, associations were studied between church-attendance, religious denomination and depression at the syndrome level for six EURODEP study centres (five countries, N = 8398). Secondly, ecological associations were computed by multi-level analysis between national estimates of religious climate, derived from the European Value Survey and depressive symptoms, for the pooled dataset of 13 EURODEP study centres (11 countries, N = 17739). Results. In the first study, depression rates were lower among regular church-attenders, most prominently among Roman Catholics. In the second study, fewer depressive symptoms were found among the female elderly in countries, generally Roman Catholic, with high rates of regular church-attendance. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were found among the male elderly in Protestant countries. Conclusions. Religious practice is associated with less depression in elderly Europeans, both on the individual and the national level. Religious practice, especially when it is embedded within a traditional value-orientation, may facilitate coping with adversity in later life

The DOK long-term experiment - lessons learned from 40 years of interdisciplinary research

The world’s growing population calls for sustainable food production within the limits of planetary boundaries. With respect to nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, the loss of biodiversity, land use change and the emission of greenhouse gases, four of these boundaries have been crossed already. Although fragmented knowledge of effects of different cropping systems on these focal planetary boundaries exists, there is a lack of comprehensive data from comparative cropping system experiments over the long run. Four decades back, farmers and researchers co-designed a system comparison experiment, located in Therwil (Basel-Land) Switzerland, comprising a seven-year ley crop rotation. Two conventional (with and without manure), and two organic systems (biodynamic and bioorganic) are compared. This experiment has served as a platform for national and international interdisciplinary research teams in the field of agronomy, soil quality, biodiversity, plant nutrition, food quality, sustainability assessment and modelling. Results of the 40years old DOK experiment show that organic systems, receiving distinctly less external inputs (chemical N, P, K and pesticides), maintained a higher biodiversity and produced lower greenhouse gas emissions. Yield averages over 40 years were 20% lower in organic systems across all crops. A nitrogen balance, including biological nitrogen fixation and stock changes of soil nitrogen, revealed a surplus for all manured systems, whereas the conventional system with sole mineral fertiliser was well balanced. Soil nitrogen stocks only increased slightly in the biodynamic system receiving composted manure. The biodynamic soil showed also increased soil organic carbon stocks, while the conventional soil receiving only mineral fertilizer acted as source for atmospheric CO2. A climate impact analyses encountering nitrous oxide, methane and soil organic matter changes resulted in lower CO2eq emissions in organic compared to the conventional systems, both area and yield scaled. Biodiversity and especially biomass of invertebrate fauna and plant seeds was enhanced in the organically managed systems. Our results demonstrate that organic cropping systems can contribute to a more sustainable production with respect to key planetary boundaries. To further improve system performance, yield gaps between organic and conventional systems need to be reduced by adapted cultivars, more effective organic plant protection and by closing urban and rural nutrient cycles

Impacts of organic and conventional crop management on diversity and activity of free-living nitrogen fixing bacteria and total bacteria are subsidiary to temporal effects

A three year field study (2007-2009) of the diversity and numbers of the total and metabolically active free-living diazotophic bacteria and total bacterial communities in organic and conventionally managed agricultural soil was conducted at the Nafferton Factorial Systems Comparison (NFSC) study, in northeast England. The result demonstrated that there was no consistent effect of either organic or conventional soil management across the three years on the diversity or quantity of either diazotrophic or total bacterial communities. However, ordination analyses carried out on data from each individual year showed that factors associated with the different fertility management measures including availability of nitrogen species, organic carbon and pH, did exert significant effects on the structure of both diazotrophic and total bacterial communities. It appeared that the dominant drivers of qualitative and quantitative changes in both communities were annual and seasonal effects. Moreover, regression analyses showed activity of both communities was significantly affected by soil temperature and climatic conditions. The diazotrophic community showed no significant change in diversity across the three years, however, the total bacterial community significantly increased in diversity year on year. Diversity was always greatest during March for both diazotrophic and total bacterial communities. Quantitative analyses using qPCR of each community indicated that metabolically active diazotrophs were highest in year 1 but the population significantly declined in year 2 before recovering somewhat in the final year. The total bacterial population in contrast increased significantly each year. Seasonal effects were less consistent in this quantitative study

Solutions for humanity on how to conserve insects

The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants. Global environmental change, including land transformation and contamination, is causing concerning insect diversity loss, articulated in the companion review Scientists' warning to humanity on insect extinctions. Yet, despite a sound philosophical foundation, recognized ethical values, and scientific evidence, globally we are performing poorly at instigating effective insect conservation. As insects are a major component of the tapestry of life, insect conservation would do well to integrate better with overall biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. This also involves popularizing insects, especially through use of iconic species, through more media coverage, and more inclusive education. Insect conservationists need to liaise better with decision makers, stakeholders, and land managers, especially at the conceptually familiar scale of the landscape. Enough evidence is now available, and synthesized here, which illustrates that multiple strategies work at local levels towards saving insects. We now need to expand these locally-crafted strategies globally. Tangible actions include ensuring maintenance of biotic complexity, especially through improving temporal and spatial heterogeneity, functional connectivity, and metapopulation dynamics, while maintaining unique habitats, across landscape mosaics, as well as instigating better communication. Key is to have more expansive sustainable agriculture and forestry, improved regulation and prevention of environmental risks, and greater recognition of protected areas alongside agro-ecology in novel landscapes. Future-proofing insect diversity is now critical, with the benefits far reaching, including continued provision of valuable ecosystem services and the conservation of a rich and impressive component of Earth's biodiversity.Peer reviewe

Land‐use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration capacity and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany

Evidence from experimental and established grasslands indicates that plant biodiversity can modify the water cycle. One suspected mechanism behind this is a higher infiltration capacity (ν$_{B}$) and hydraulic conductivity (K) of the soil on species-rich grasslands. However, in established and agriculturally managed grasslands, biodiversity effects cannot be studied independent of land-use effects. Therefore, we investigated in established grassland systems how land-use intensity and associated biodiversity of plants and soil animals affect νB and K at and close to saturation. On 50 grassland plots along a land-use intensity gradient in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schwäbische Alb, Germany, we measured νB with a hood infiltrometer at several matrix potentials and calculated the saturated and unsaturated K. We statistically analysed the relationship between ν$_{B}$ or K and land-use information (e.g., fertilising intensity), abiotic (e.g., soil texture) and biotic data (e.g., plant species richness, earthworm abundance). Land-use intensity decreased and plant species richness increased ν$_{B}$ and K, while the direction of the effects of soil animals was inconsistent. The effect of land-use intensity on ν$_{B}$ and K was mainly attributable to its negative effect on plant species richness. Our results demonstrate that plant species richness was a better predictor of ν$_{B}$ and K at and close to saturation than land-use intensity or soil physical properties in the established grassland systems of the Schwäbische Alb

Crop Pests and Predators Exhibit Inconsistent Responses to Surrounding Landscape Composition

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on pests are inconclusive. The observed heterogeneity in species responses to noncrop habitat may be biological in origin or could result from variation in how habitat and biocontrol are measured. Here, we use a pest-control database encompassing 132 studies and 6,759 sites worldwide to model natural enemy and pest abundances, predation rates, and crop damage as a function of landscape composition. Our results showed that although landscape composition explained significant variation within studies, pest and enemy abundances, predation rates, crop damage, and yields each exhibited different responses across studies, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing in landscapes with more noncrop habitat but overall showing no consistent trend. Thus, models that used landscape-composition variables to predict pest-control dynamics demonstrated little potential to explain variation across studies, though prediction did improve when comparing studies with similar crop and landscape features. Overall, our work shows that surrounding noncrop habitat does not consistently improve pest management, meaning habitat conservation may bolster production in some systems and depress yields in others. Future efforts to develop tools that inform farmers when habitat conservation truly represents a win–win would benefit from increased understanding of how landscape effects are modulated by local farm management and the biology of pests and their enemies