Regenwurmpopulation in ökologisch und integriert bewirtschafteten Agroforstsystemen

Agroforestry systems provide numerous environmental services. One of the advantages is the increase of biodiversity. Earthworms play a major role in soil fertility and have a key function in ecosystems. Abundance, biomass and the amount of species was measured to quantify the influences of trees on the earthworm population in integrated and organic farming systems. Results showed that in poplar stands the amount of earthworms, especially juvenile, was higher than in winter wheat or lucerne-clover-grass fields. Furthermore the organic farming system had higher earthworm abundance and species richness than the integrated farming system. Regarding tree species poplar had fewer earthworms in total and fewer epigeic species

Anecic, endogeic, epigeic or all three - acknowledging the compositional nature of earthworm ecological group data in biodiversity analysis

Agriculture and biodiversity are closely connected. Especially the soil ecosystem is crucial in this relation. Earthworms are seen as good indicators for the health and functioning of the soil. Beneath different biodiversity measurese earthworm ecological group data is analysed to assess soil biodiversity, fertility and capability to deliver ecosystem services. However this kind of data is compositional and needs a special statistical treatment. New available methods for this purpose were applied to data from the BIOBIO project (www.biobio-indicator.org) to gain better understanding of the complex relationship between earthworms, agricultural management and environment

Regenwurmvorkommen auf konventionellen und ökologisch bewirtschafteten Ackerbaubetrieben im Marchfeld, Ostösterreich

Auf acht konventionell und acht ökologisch wirtschaftenden Ackerbaubetrieben im Marchfeld / Niederösterreich wurden im Frühjahr 2010 in allen festgestellten Habitattypen Regenwürmer erhoben. Es wurden v.a. endogäische Arten (Aporrectodea rosea, Aporrectodea caliginosa, Allolobophora chlorotica) gefunden. Weder das Bewirtschaftungssystem noch die Art der Bodenbearbeitung hatten einen Einfluss auf die Regenwurmabundanz. Anözische Regenwürmer wurden überwiegend auf naturnahen Habitaten gefunden. Ihre Abundanz könnte durch eine Erhöhung des Anteils dieser Habitattypen auf den Betrieben gefördert werden

Indikatoren für die Vitalität von Lumbricus terrestris Populationen – Eine Anwendung von Partial Least Squares Pfadmodellen (PLS-PM) zur Analyse komplexer Zusammenhänge

Information on biodiversity and related population parameters are of key importance for assessing ecosystem services or impacts of management decisions in agriculture. However information on this parameters is often not directly measurable. Indicators are a convenient way to gain information on these variables. Here we present Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) to develop and evaluate complex indicators for biodiversity and related parameters. As an example we use data on Lumbricus terrestris from 76 plots on Bavarian mixed farms to create complex indicators for population viability, management intensity and site potential and model their causal relations

Strikingly high effects of geographic location on fauna and flora of European agricultural grasslands

International audienceWild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants contribute considerably to biodiversity in grasslands and fulfil vital ecological functions. They also provide valuable services to agriculture, such as pollination, pest control and maintenance of soil quality. We investigated the responses of wild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants to geographic location, agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables using a dataset of grassland fields within 88 farms in six European regions. Regions and taxonomic groups were selected to have contrasting properties, in order to capture the multiple facets of European grasslands. Geographic location alone had a dominant effect on the fauna and flora communities. Depending on the taxonomic group, various agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables alone had an additional significant effect on observed species richness, rarefied species richness and/or abundance, but it was always small. Bee species richness and abundance decreased with increasing number of mechanical operations (e.g. cutting). Observed spider species richness and abundance were unrelated to measured aspects of agricultural management or to surrounding landscape variables, whereas rarefied species richness showed significant relations to nitrogen input, habitat diversity and amount of grassland habitats in the surroundings. Earthworm abundance increased with increasing nitrogen input but earthworm species richness did not. Observed plant species richness decreased with increasing nitrogen input and increased when there were woody habitats in the surroundings. Rarefied plant species richness decreased with mechanical operations. Investigating multiple regions, taxonomic groups and aspects of fauna and flora communities allowed identifying the main factors structuring communities, which is necessary for designing appropriate conservation measures and ensuring continued supply of services

Farmland biodiversity and agricultural management on 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since the farm enterprise is the primary unit of agricultural decision making, management-related effects at the field scale need to be assessed at the farm level. Therefore, in this study, data were collected on habitat characteristics, vascular plant, earthworm, spider, and bee communities and on the corresponding agricultural management in 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions. In 15 environmental and agricultural homogeneous regions, 6–20 farms with the same farm type (e.g., arable crops, grassland, or specific permanent crops) were selected. If available, an equal number of organic and non-organic farms were randomly selected. Alternatively, farms were sampled along a gradient of management intensity. For all selected farms, the entire farmed area was mapped, which resulted in total in the mapping of 11 338 units attributed to 194 standardized habitat types, provided together with additional descriptors. On each farm, one site per available habitat type was randomly selected for species diversity investigations. Species were sampled on 2115 sites and identified to the species level by expert taxonomists. Species lists and abundance estimates are provided for each site and sampling date (one date for plants and earthworms, three dates for spiders and bees). In addition, farmers provided information about their management practices in face-to-face interviews following a standardized questionnaire. Farm management indicators for each farm are available (e.g., nitrogen input, pesticide applications, or energy input). Analyses revealed a positive effect of unproductive areas and a negative effect of intensive management on biodiversity. Communities of the four taxonomic groups strongly differed in their response to habitat characteristics, agricultural management, and regional circumstances. The data has potential for further insights into interactions of farmland biodiversity and agricultural management at site, farm, and regional scale

Plant, earthworm, spider and bee diversity in agriculture fields of grazing and field crop farming systems in eight regions across Europe

ESA acts as an open forum for agronomists, researchers, teachers and students who are concerned with basic and applied science in agronomy: the relationships between crops, soils, climates and agricultural practices, and between agriculture and the environment

Biodiversity in organic and low-input farming systems. Handbook for recording key indicators

This Handbook describes the methods required to measure the direct and indirect indicators of biodiversity in the field or through farmer interviews on organic, low-input and conventional (control) farms during 2010. It is the result of editing and revision of the BIOBIO deliverable D2.2. A total of twelve Case Study regions were selected in eleven countries. A standard habitat mapping procedure for the European scale based on General Habitat Categories (GHCs) was applied. This method has been adapted further to deal with the assessment of organic/low-input farm holdings. An initial classification of farmed and non-farmed land has been used to direct the selection of the samples. After mapping the farm area, in each habitat type selected for flora and fauna surveys, all species indicators were sampled for vegetation, earthworms, bees and spiders. Farm practices and genetic diversity were measured through interviews with the farmer. A digitising protocol was provided to prepare all data for analysis. The practicality and suitability of these methods for sampling plants and selected animals on very different farm types and habitats was evaluated. Lessons learned are described shortly after each chapter indicating difficulties encountered during the field work and giving practical suggestions. Further reports will be available in due course presenting the implication of analyses and results. The cost efficiency of the methodology was measured through reports on input of staff time and material

Responses of plants, earthworms, spiders and bees to geographic location, agricultural management and surrounding landscape in European arable fields

Farmland species provide key ecological services that support agricultural production, but are under threat from agricultural intensification and mechanization. In order to design effective measures to mitigate agricultural impact, simultaneous investigations of different taxonomic groups across several regions are required. Therefore, four contrasting taxonomic groups were investigated: plants, earthworms, spiders and bees (wild bees and bumblebees), which represent different trophic levels and provide different ecological services. To better understand underlying patterns, three community measurements for each taxonomic group were considered: abundance, species richness and species composition. In four European regions, ten potential environmental drivers of the four taxonomic groups were tested and assigned to three groups of drivers: geographic location (farm, region), agricultural management (crop type, mineral nitrogen input, organic nitrogen input, mechanical field operations and pesticide applications) and surrounding landscape in a 250 m buffer zone (diversity of habitats in the surroundings, proportion of arable fields and proportion of non-productive, non-woody habitats). First, the variation in abundance, species richness and species composition from 167 arable sites was partitioned to compare the relative contribution of the three groups of drivers (geographic location, agricultural management and surrounding landscape). Second, generalized linear mixed-effects models were applied to estimate the effect of the individual explanatory variables on abundance and species richness. Our analysis showed a dominant effect of geographic location in all four taxonomic groups and a strong influence of agricultural management on plants, spiders and bees. The effect of the surrounding landscape was of minor importance and inconsistent in our data. We conclude that in European arable fields, the avoidance of mineral nitrogen and pesticides is beneficial for biodiversity, and that species protection measures should take into account regional characteristics and the community structure of the investigated taxonomic groups