How much would it cost to monitor farmland biodiversity in Europe?

International audienceTo evaluate progress on political biodiversity objectives, biodiversity monitoring provides information on whether intended results are being achieved. Despite scientific proof that monitoring and evaluation increase the (cost) efficiency of policy measures, cost estimates for monitoring schemes are seldom available, hampering their inclusion in policy programme budgets. Empirical data collected from 12 case studies across Europe were used in a power analysis to estimate the number of farms that would need to be sampled per major farm type to detect changes in species richness over time for four taxa (vascular plants, earthworms, spiders and bees). A sampling design was developed to allocate spatially, across Europe, the farms that should be sampled. Cost estimates are provided for nine monitoring scenarios with differing robustness for detecting temporal changes in species numbers. These cost estimates are compared with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget (2014-2020) to determine the budgetallocation required for the proposed farmland biodiversity monitoring. Results show that the bee indicator requires the highest number of farms to be sampled and the vascular plant indicator the lowest. The costs for the nine farmland biodiversity monitoring scenarios corresponded to 001%-074% of the total CAP budget and to 004%-248% of the CAP budget specifically allocated to environmental targets.Synthesis and applications. The results of the cost scenarios demonstrate that, based on the taxa and methods used in this study, a Europe-wide farmland biodiversity monitoring scheme would require a modest share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget. The monitoring scenarios are flexible and can be adapted or complemented with alternate data collection options (e.g. at national scale or voluntary efforts), data mobilization, data integration or modelling efforts. Editor's Choic

European agricultural landscapes, common agricultural policy and ecosystem services: a review

Since the 1950s, intensification and scale enlargement of agriculture have changed agricultural landscapes across Europe. The intensification and scale enlargement of farming was initially driven by the large-scale application of synthetic fertilizers, mechanization and subsidies of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Then, after the 1990s, a further intensification and scale enlargement, and land abandonment in less favored areas was caused by globalization of commodity markets and CAP reforms. The landscape changes during the past six decades have changed the flows and values of ecosystem services. Here, we have reviewed the literature on agricultural policies and management, landscape structure and composition, and the contribution of ecosystem services to regional competitiveness. The objective was to define an analytical framework to determine and assess ecosystem services at the landscape scale. In contrast to natural ecosystems, ecosystem service flows and values in agricultural landscapes are often a result of interactions between agricultural management and ecological structures. We describe how land management by farmers and other land managers relates to landscape structure and composition. We also examine the influence of commodity markets and policies on the behavior of land managers. Additionally, we studied the influence of consumer demand on flows and values of the ecosystem services that originate from the agricultural landscape

Estimating the cost of different strategies for measuring farmland biodiversity: Evidence from a Europe-wide field evaluation

Forty percent of the EU land area is currently considered to be agriculturally managed (utilised agricul-tural area – UAA – Eurostat Agricultural Census 2010), and attention to the environmental performanceof farming practices is growing. To determine the performance of agricultural practices, farm-scale mon-itoring programmes are required but their implementation is hampered by a number of difficulties suchas the identification of broadly applicable indicators appropriate for different biogeographic locations,and the evaluation of the effectiveness and costs of different monitoring approaches. In this paper, wefocus on the costs of farm-scale biodiversity monitoring, presenting results from a Europe-wide costdata collection in the EU FP7 BioBio Project. Firstly, we present an analytical assessment of resourcesconsumed by the research units and a cost estimation for the measurement of six biodiversity-relatedparameters: farm habitats, vegetation, wild bees and bumblebees, spiders, earthworms and farm man-agement. Thereafter, we estimate a standardised cost for an ordinary measurement of the six parametersat farm-scale. In doing so, we highlight the cost differences between three strategies involving differentpotential actors (professional agencies, farmers, volunteers). This analysis demonstrates that producingreliable data on monitoring costs requires a large sample pool of farms and farm types, as was the casein the BioBio project. The cost standardisation allowed us to estimate a cost for biodiversity monitoringranging between D 2700 and D 8200 per farm, depending on the chosen strategy

A European perspective on acceptability of innovative agri-environment-climate contract solutions

The agri-environment-climate measures of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy are incentives aiming to reduce negative environmental impacts and increase positive effects generated from agriculture. Several criticisms have been addressed to their efficiency and effectiveness and thus, the design of innovative contract solutions is currently suggested. Among the novel contractual solutions, there are result-based payments, collective implementation of measures, the engagement of private and business actors in value chains, and new forms of land tenure systems coupled with environmental clauses. Little is known about the factors at interplay influencing farmers’ decision to uptake such contracts. The present paper investigates the acceptability determinants of the above-mentioned novel contractual solutions concerning a sample of nearly 1900 farmers from 10 European Union countries. The analysis is based on a questionnaire built through a common research framework. We apply ordered logistic regressions: both proportional and partial proportional odds models are used. Farmers’ preferences are interpreted by splitting the innovative contractual solutions into 13 individual contractual features which are then modeled in combination with the structural characteristics of the farms and the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of the farmers. We estimate farmers’ willingness to enroll in result-based, collective, value-chain, and land tenure contracts and highlight the positive and negative factors potentially influencing farmers’ acceptability of each type of contract

Relating costs to the user value of farmland biodiversity measurements

International audienceThe impact of agricultural management on global biodiversity highlights the need for farm-scale monitoring programmes capable of determining the performance of agriculture practices. Yet the identification of appropriate indicators is a challenging process and one that involves considering a number of different aspects and requirements. Besides the attention given to scientific effectiveness, relevant but less studied issues related to biodiversity measurements include the economic feasibility of monitoring programmes and the relevance of indicators for different end-users. In this paper, we combine an analytic assessment of costs and a stakeholder-based evaluation of the usefulness of a set of biodiversity-related parameters (habitat mapping, vegetation, bees, earthworms, spiders, and a farmer questionnaire) tested for scientific consistency in 12 European case studies and on more than 14,000 ha of farmland. The results point to the possibility of meeting the expectations of different end-users (administrators, farmers and consumers) with a common indicator set. Combining costs and usefulness also suggests the possibility of designing more efficient monitoring approaches involving private agencies and networks of volunteers and farmers for the field data collection at different stages of a monitoring programme. Although complex, such an approach would make it possible to enhance the effectiveness of available funds for farmland biodiversity monitoring. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Blue light activated photodegradation of biomacromolecules by N-doped titanium dioxide in a chitosan hydrogel matrix

The use of photocatalysis activated by titanium dioxide nanostructured materials is a promising solution for many biomedical applications ranging from drug-free antibacterial to anticancer therapies, as well as for innovative hydrogel-supported phototherapies. This makes the effects of photocatalysis on the structure of biomolecules of a great relevance in order to define the applicability of photocatalytic materials in the biomedical fields. In this work, the effects of nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) dispersed in a biocompatible chitosan/PEG hydrogel on myoglobin and bovine serum albumin as target model proteins were investigated. The efficiency of this composite biocompatible material in inducing damages on biomolecules was assessed under blue light illumination by using spectroscopic techniques. N-TiO2 nanoparticles were chosen as photocatalyst to trigger the photocatalytic process by irradiation with a blue light source, instead of higher energy sources, e.g. UV radiation, avoiding UV-related damages on biomolecules. In addition, the present work highlighted several advantages of using the hydrogel as medium for photocatalytic reactions. Firstly, N-TiO2 nanoparticles were well dispersed and stabilized in the hydrogel respect to the correspondent aqueous suspension, and the photocatalytic reactions can occur in a biomimetic and biocompatible environment suitable for biomolecules, such as proteins. Importantly, the chitosan/PEG hydrogel enabled a direct investigation of the effects of photocatalysis on proteins by direct in situ spectroscopic measurements without any need of recovery of the target molecules, nor stirring during the photocatalysis, which could be detrimental for delicate biomolecules structures. Finally, the possibility to run in situ spectroscopic measurements directly in the N-TiO2-loaded hydrogel during the photocatalytic process allowed kinetic studies of photocatalytic process to obtain information of the chemical and structural modifications of proteins over time and not only at the end of the photocatalysis. Therefore, the reported results highlight the possibility of using this system as biomimetic environment to investigate the photocatalysis of proteins in detail overcoming relevant technical aspects that typically limit the study of photocatalysis of biomolecules, opening up the possibility to extend the approach to more complex biomolecular systems