A simple biodiversity assessment scheme supporting nature-friendly farm management

Farmers are important actors for regional development and biodiversity protection. Agri-environment-climate measures (AECM) are therefore a central tool of the European Union to support its biodiversity conservation policy. AECM generally reward farmers for fulfilling predefined management actions or avoiding specific practices. In contrast, result oriented AECM are intended to reward farmers for the outcome of nature friendly management practices. This approach gives more flexibility in management and hence promotes farmers engagement and autonomy. Besides educational activities and agricultural advisory services farmers need user friendly tools to assess biodiversity in order to meet result oriented AECM. Thus, we present a biodiversity assessment scheme for farmland using a set of indicators, which covers different aspects of biodiversity (flower colour index, butterfly abundance, landscape structuring degree, patch diversity index, aggregated biodiversity index) and can be applied at different spatial scales. The assessment scheme is applied on 44 farms in five countries (France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria). To evaluate its appropriateness the relationship between the indicators and land-use intensity and plant species richness is investigated. Grasslands with low land-use intensity are more colourful grasslands, have significantly more butterflies and a higher aggregated biodiversity index than moderately and intensively used grasslands. The influence of management intensity on the landscape structuring degree is not significant. All indicators correlate with plant species richness at all spatial scales. The proposed assessment scheme serves as a tool for the detection of differences in biodiversity resulting from land-use practices, and can assist the monitoring of ROMs

Ergebnisorientierte Massnahmen zur Förderung der Biodiversität in der Berglandwirtschaft - Ein Handbuch für die Politik

Das Handbuch enthält: - Eine Einführung in ergebnisorientierte Massnahmen Projekt MERIT - Einen Überblick über die Vor- und Nachteile ergebnisorientierte Massnahmen - Wissenschaftlich fundierte Empfehlungen für die Gestaltung, Umsetzung und Governance ergebnisorientierter Biodiversitätsfördermassnahmen in der Berglandwirtschaft - Beispiel von ergebnisorientierten Massnahmen in Europ

Result-oriented Measures for Biodiversity in Mountain Farming - A Policy Handbook

The handbook includes: - An introduction to result-oriented measures - An overview of the advantages and disadvantages of result-oriented measures - Specific recommendations for the design, implementation and governance of resultoriented measures for biodiversity in mountain farming - Examples of result-oriented measures that have been implemente

Combined experimental drought and nitrogen loading: the role of species dependent leaf level control of carbon and water exchange in a temperate grassland

Nitrogen (N) loading and extreme drought were found to strongly alter biomass production, species composition, carbon and water fluxes of temperate grasslands. Such changes at the community level are often attributed to species and functional group‐specific responses in phenology and/or physiology. In a multifactorial field experiment, we studied the responses of three abundant grassland species (forb Centaurea jacea, grasses Arrhenatherum elatius and Dactylis glomerata) to N loading and extreme drought, focusing on responses in carbon and water relations at the leaf level. We analyzed 1) changes in bulk leaf N (uptake efficiency of additional N), 2) adaptation of plant water status (leaf water potential) and 3) the impact on leaf carbon and water fluxes. We observed more efficient N utilization in both grasses compared to C. jacea. Naturally occurring summer drought impacted the plant water status of all species significantly while extreme drought treatment only affected water status additionally during and after summer drought. C. jacea was able to maintain much lower leaf water potentials compared to grasses during drought. Despite these clear species‐specific responses to N loading and drought in bulk, species were able to maintain homeostasis of leaf carbon and water fluxes. Thus, strong declines in the (community) carbon sequestration observed at this site during the (natural) summer drought were not related to leaf physiological responses in assimilation but driven by phenological adaptions of the species community: The drought sensitive grasses, even though exhibiting a higher N uptake efficiency, responded with a shortened life cycle to severe summer drought

A simple biodiversity assessment scheme supporting nature-friendly farm management

International audienceFarmers are important actors for regional development and biodiversity protection. Agri-environment-climate measures (AECM) are therefore a central tool of the European Union to support its biodiversity conservation policy. AECM generally reward farmers for fulfilling predefined management actions or avoiding specific practices. In contrast, result oriented AECM are intended to reward farmers for the outcome of nature friendly management practices. This approach gives more flexibility in management and hence promotes farmers engagement and autonomy. Besides educational activities and agricultural advisory services farmers need user friendly tools to assess biodiversity in order to meet result oriented AECM. Thus, we present a biodiversity assessment scheme for farmland using a set of indicators, which covers different aspects of biodiversity (flower colour index, butterfly abundance, landscape structuring degree, patch diversity index, aggregated biodiversity index) and can be applied at different spatial scales. The assessment scheme is applied on 44 farms in five countries (France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria). To evaluate its appropriateness the relationship between the indicators and land-use intensity and plant species richness is investigated. Grasslands with low land-use intensity are more colourful grasslands, have significantly more butterflies and a higher aggregated biodiversity index than moderately and intensively used grasslands. The influence of management intensity on the landscape structuring degree is not significant. All indicators correlate with plant species richness at all spatial scales. The proposed assessment scheme serves as a tool for the detection of differences in biodiversity resulting from land-use practices, and can assist the monitoring of ROMs

Result-oriented Measures for Biodiversity in Mountain Farming. A Policy Handbook

International audienceThis handbook is based on the results, reports, deliverables and user fora of a project entitled ‘Merit based income from sustainable land management in mountain farming’ (MERIT). This research was carried out under the RURAGRI programme ; an ERA-NET supported by the European Commission and national governmental funding bodies under the 7th EU Framework research Programme (FP 7, CA 235175).This handbook is targeted at policy makers from governmental bodies, public authorities, farmers’ associations as well as other private or public organizations involved and interested in the development and implementation of agri-environmental policies. It provides information about the implementation of result-oriented agri-environmental measures, a relatively new approach of preserving, enhancing and supporting biodiversity on agricultural areas: here, in the context of meadows and pastures and other habitats and landscape elements in mountain regions in Europe. The handbook provides policy recommendations for the effective design, implementation and governance of such measures that can be adopted by public bodies (governments, other responsible administrative bodies) as well as private organisations (NGOs or food chain managers)

Result-oriented Measures for Biodiversity in Mountain Farming. A Policy Handbook

International audienceThis handbook is based on the results, reports, deliverables and user fora of a project entitled ‘Merit based income from sustainable land management in mountain farming’ (MERIT). This research was carried out under the RURAGRI programme ; an ERA-NET supported by the European Commission and national governmental funding bodies under the 7th EU Framework research Programme (FP 7, CA 235175).This handbook is targeted at policy makers from governmental bodies, public authorities, farmers’ associations as well as other private or public organizations involved and interested in the development and implementation of agri-environmental policies. It provides information about the implementation of result-oriented agri-environmental measures, a relatively new approach of preserving, enhancing and supporting biodiversity on agricultural areas: here, in the context of meadows and pastures and other habitats and landscape elements in mountain regions in Europe. The handbook provides policy recommendations for the effective design, implementation and governance of such measures that can be adopted by public bodies (governments, other responsible administrative bodies) as well as private organisations (NGOs or food chain managers)

Search for Scalar Diphoton Resonances in the Mass Range 65−60065-600 GeV with the ATLAS Detector in pppp Collision Data at s\sqrt{s} = 8 TeVTeV

A search for scalar particles decaying via narrow resonances into two photons in the mass range 65–600 GeV is performed using $20.3\text{}\text{}{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=8\text{}\text{}\mathrm{TeV}$ $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The recently discovered Higgs boson is treated as a background. No significant evidence for an additional signal is observed. The results are presented as limits at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section of a scalar boson times branching ratio into two photons, in a fiducial volume where the reconstruction efficiency is approximately independent of the event topology. The upper limits set extend over a considerably wider mass range than previous searches