Can managed grasslands enhance pollinators in intensively farmed areas?

Wild flower strips is a common agri-environmental scheme used by farmers and land managers in order to improve biodiversity of pollinators. However, managed grasslands may also provide flower resources for flower visiting insects in agricultural landscapes. Botanically diverse grasslands on arable farms may support a range of wild pollinators, enhancing pollination services of crops. Intensively managed leys, on the other hand, typically contain only a few high-yielding, competitively strong species. One of the aims of the Multiplant project (2014-2018) was to test perennial seed mixtures targeted for bio-energy, feed protein and biodiversity, in order to develop multi-functional seed mixtures for grasslands. In the current study, we specifically investigated if yield (biomass production) and floral resources for pollinators could be simultaneously optimized by varying botanical composition of mixtures and cutting frequency. We tested four different perennial seed mixtures (3-, 5-, 11- and 13-species mixtures) at three sites varying in surrounding environment using three cutting strategies (no cutting, two cuts per year, four cuts per year). We measured flower production during the season, composition of flower-visitors (in functional groups), and biomass production of all plant species in the seed mixtures. The 11- and 13-species mixtures, which were designed to enhance pollinators, produced similar or higher yield than the 3- and 5- species mixtures under certain cutting regimes. The 3- and 5- species mixtures had a high accumulated flower abundance due to excessive flowering of lucerne under the two-cut strategy and white clover under the four-cut strategy. However, the 11- and 13 species mixtures presented a higher diversity of flowers during the flowering season. Interestingly, accumulated flower abundance was not significantly reduced under the two-cut strategy compared to no cut. Pollinator profiles (visits by different functional groups of insects) were plant-species specific, i.e. at all sites, plant species attracted similar types of insects. Legume species mainly attracted large bees (honey bees and bumblebees), while herbs attracted other insect groups, in particular syrphids and other flies. Our results suggest that multi-species grassland mixtures can be designed to support a higher diversity of pollinators without compromising herbage yield. In particular, adding forbs to the grass-legume mixtures and using a two-cut strategy rather than four cuts per year, may increase flower resources available for a larger range of wild pollinators

Værktøj skal fremme biodiversitet i landbrugslandet

Organic+ kronik i ØKOLOGISK NU omkring projektets værktøj og hvordan det skal fremme biodiversitet i landbruget, og tankegangen bag tilgangen ”land-sharing” - at både naturen og landbrugsdrift skal deles om pladsen på landbrugsarealer

Can strip-cropping enhance pollination and fruit set in Hokkaido pumpkins?

The demand for organic vegetables is increasing rapidly but cannot be met by current agronomic methods. Alternative methods, which enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services including pollination, are currently under development. In SureVeg (a Core Organic Co-fund funded project), we tested strip-cropping systems, i.e. a diversified cropping system in which alternating rows of different vegetable crops are sown. It is hypothesized that strip-cropping will provide floral resources during an extended period, supporting agroecosystem services provided by beneficial insects, including natural biological control and insect pollination. In the current study, we investigated a cropping system involving two insect pollinated crops: hokkaido pumpkin and faba beans, in addition to wild-flower strips. The study focused on pollination and fruit set of hokkaido pumpkin. The experimental set-up was established as an on-farm experiment hosted by an organic farm (Skiftekær Øko, Denmark), and included three fields: (1) hokkaido mono-culture (2) hokkaido mono-culture with flower strips and (3) strip cropped hokkaido pumpkin and faba bean and flower strips. In all fields, numbers of flowers and number and identity of flower-visiting insects were counted in transect walks carried out 2-3 times during the flowering season. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) were the main visitors, while bumblebees (Bombus spp) visited the flowers to a lesser extent. Pollinator abundances differed temporally and across different fields. Fruit weight was significantly higher in the strip cropped and flower strip hokkaido fields than the pure hokkaido field without flower strips. However, as the study did not include replicated fields, it cannot be concluded if other factors than cropping practice may have affected pollination and fruit set in hokkaido pumpkins. Furthermore, due to extreme drought in 2018, results may not reflect normal flowering and crop yield

Can strip-cropping enhance pollination and fruit set in Hokkaido pumpkins?

The demand for organic vegetables is increasing rapidly but cannot be met by current agronomic methods. Alternative methods, which enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services including pollination, are currently under development. In SureVeg (a Core Organic Co-fund funded project), we tested strip-cropping systems, i.e. a diversified cropping system in which alternating rows of different vegetable crops are sown. It is hypothesized that strip-cropping will provide floral resources during an extended period, supporting agroecosystem services provided by beneficial insects, including natural biological control and insect pollination. In the current study, we investigated a cropping system involving two insect pollinated crops: hokkaido pumpkin and faba beans, in addition to wild-flower strips. The study focused on pollination and fruit set of hokkaido pumpkin. The experimental set-up was established as an on-farm experiment hosted by an organic farm (Skiftekær Øko, Denmark), and included three fields: (1) hokkaido mono-culture (2) hokkaido mono-culture with flower strips and (3) strip cropped hokkaido pumpkin and faba bean and flower strips. In all fields, numbers of flowers and number and identity of flower-visiting insects were counted in transect walks carried out 2-3 times during the flowering season. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) were the main visitors, while bumblebees (Bombus spp) visited the flowers to a lesser extent. Pollinator abundances differed temporally and across different fields. Fruit weight was significantly higher in the strip cropped and flower strip hokkaido fields than the pure hokkaido field without flower strips. However, as the study did not include replicated fields, it cannot be concluded if other factors than cropping practice may have affected pollination and fruit set in hokkaido pumpkins. Furthermore, due to extreme drought in 2018, results may not reflect normal flowering and crop yield

Bæredygtighed af økologisk græsprotein

Erkendelser fra livscyklusvurdering af græsprotei

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Til Økologi Kongressen 2023, d. 21-22. november, deltog Organic+ projektleder Yoko Dupont og 3 projektdeltagere fra AU, samt Bent Rasmussen, projektdeltager, samt kollegaer fra Innovationscenter for Økologisk Landbrug. Her var Yoko Dupont oplægsholder i session "F3 Biodiversitet - Integration af landbrug og natur til fremme af biodiversitet", hvor hun satte fokus på, hvordan den igangværende forskning (Organic+ projektet m.fl.) arbejder for at optimere og dokumentere effekten af tiltag til fremme af biodiversitet i landbrugslandskaber på tværs af dyrkede marker samt små og større arealer med natur (oplæg vedhæftet). Yderligere holdt Organic+ deltagere Bent Rasmussen (Innovationscenter for Økologisk Landbrug) samt mælkeproducent Torsten Wetche oplæg i session "G3 Biodiversitet - Kommunikation, samarbejde og målrettede tiltag" med links til Organic+ projektet. Ca. 650 personer deltog i Økologi Kongressen. Program og nyheder delt på sociale medier fra deltagelsen er også vedhæftet

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SESS centret (AU), I samarbejde med partnere i projektet Organic+, Innovationscenter for Økologisk Landbrug (ICØL), Thise Mejeri, Gram Slot og Stenalt Gods, afholdte en spændende workshop på Bovbjerg Fyr. Vedhæftet er oplæg af projektleder Yoko Dupont (AU), samt af projektpartner Bent Rasmussen (ICØL). Sammen diskuterede vi hvordan økologisk landbrug kan bidrage til biodiversiteten i landskabet - hvilket resulterede i handlinger og store ambitioner, der bliver spændende at følge udviklingen af i den kommende tid. Blandt deltagerne i workshoppen var: Coop i Danmark, Danmarks Naturfredningsforening, Aurion, Økologisk Landsforening, ØkologiRådgivning Danmark, Naturstyrelsen, Vesthimmerland Kommune, Lemvig Kommune og RGS Nordic

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