Farming system archetypes help explain the uptake of agri-environment practices in Europe

The adoption of agri-environment practices (AEPs) is crucial for safeguarding the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services within European agricultural landscapes. However, the tailoring of agri-environment policies to the unique characteristics of farming systems is a challenging task, often neglecting local farm parameters or requiring extensive farm survey data. Here, we develop a simplified typology of farming system archetypes (FSAs), using field-level data on farms' economic size and specialisation derived from the Integrated Administration and Control System in three case studies in Germany, Czechia and the United Kingdom. Our typology identifies groups of farms that are assumed to react similarly to agricultural policy measures, bridging the gap between efforts to understand individual farm behaviour and broad agri-environmental typologies. We assess the usefulness of our approach by quantifying the spatial association of identified archetypes of farming systems with ecologically relevant AEPs (cover crops, fallow, organic farming, grassland maintenance, vegetation buffers, conversion of cropland to grassland and forest) to understand the rates of AEP adoption by different types of farms. Our results show that of the 20 archetypes, economically large farms specialised in general cropping dominate the agricultural land in all case studies, covering 56% to 85% of the total agricultural area. Despite regional differences, we found consistent trends in AEP adoption across diverse contexts. Economically large farms and those specialising in grazing livestock were more likely to adopt AEPs, with economically larger farms demonstrating a proclivity for a wider range of measures. In contrast, economically smaller farms usually focused on a narrower spectrum of AEPs and, together with farms with an economic value <2 000 EUR, accounted for 70% of all farms with no AEP uptake. These insights indicate the potential of the FSA typology as a framework to infer key patterns of AEP adoption, thus providing relevant information to policy-makers for more direct identification of policy target groups and ultimately for developing more tailored agri-environment policies

The Use of Multi-Criteria Analysis for Identifying Areas Sensitive to Land Degradation and water Retention

The article presents a method of selecting critical areas (4th river basin) in terms of landscape degradation, with an emphasis on water retention, from a relatively larger unit (3rd river basin). For this purpose, indicators that point directly or indirectly to soil and landscape degradation or water retention were selected with regard to the scale of processing. The indicators were processed in a multi-criteria context using principal component analysis, which, based on the spatial layout pattern of the indicators, assigns weights of importance. These weights were then subsequently used to calculate the aggregation index, which indirectly indicates the sensitivity of the area to degradation and, in particular, water retention. Two catchment areas of the 3rd order – Čížina and Kyjovka – with different soil, climatic and economic conditions were selected for the study. Among the indicators of water retention in the landscape, our analysis included the share of agricultural land in the total area, the share of arable land, the average size of the field block, soil degradation according to the degradation model, runoff curve number, potential water erosion and surface drainage. The resulting procedure can be used to evaluate smaller areas. For a more detailed solution, a number of other methods and indicators could be used, which are also outlined in the article

Změny ve využití krajiny a jejich vztah k vybraným přírodním faktorům na příkladu tří katastrálních území na Moravě, Česká republika

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Assemblages of millipedes and centipedes according to the type of pasture management: preliminary results from the Czech Republic

The aim of this study was to compare distribution and assemblage structures in centipedes and millipedes in pastures with different management arrangements. The evaluated types of management included sheep grazing, mowing, mulching and various combinations of these treatments. Different foundation modes of pasture were also evaluated – commercial mixtures of fodder crops, local mixtures of seeds with different proportions of dicotyledonous herbs, and spontaneous fallow land. Despite low abundance of both centipedes and millipedes, the most positive effect observed in millipedes was in mulching due to the surplus of dead organic matter. The best way to manage pasture is to use a mixture of local seeds with a high proportion of dicotyledonous herbs as food of highe r substantiality compared to grass.Les peuplements de millipèdes et de centipèdes résultant du type de gestion des pâturages : résultats préliminaires en République tchèque. Le but de cette étude était de comparer la répartition et les structures des groupements de centipèdes et de millipèdes dans les pâturages en fonction de différents types de gestion. Les types de gestion évalués étaient le pâturage de moutons, le fauchage et le paillage dans diverses combinaisons. Différents modes de fondations de pâturages ont également été évalués -mélange commercial des cultures fourragères, semences locales mélangées avec des proportions différentes de plantes dicotylédones, et une jachère spontanée. Malgré la rareté des centipèdes et des millipèdes, l’effet le plus positif pour les millipèdes a été observé dans le cadre du paillage car celui-ci offre de la matière organique morte. La meilleure façon de gérer le pâturage est d’utiliser un mélange local de semences à forte proportion de plantes dicotylédones comme nourriture de qualité supérieure en comparaison du gazon.Mikula Jan, Šarapatka Bořivoj, Kopecký Oldřich, Tuf Ivan H. Assemblages of millipedes and centipedes according to the type of pasture management: preliminary results from the Czech Republic. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 69, n°2, 2014. pp. 167-172

Character of woodland fragments affects distribution of myriapod assemblages in agricultural landscape

Volume: 930Start Page: 139-15

Characteristics of Fragments of Woodland and Their Influence on the Distribution of Soil Fauna in Agricultural Landscape

Fragments of woodland represent important natural and semi-natural elements that contribute to ecological stability and biodiversity in a landscape. In the Czech Republic, they are part of the Territorial System of Ecological Stability (TSES), which consists of bio-centers, bio-corridors, and interaction elements. The presence of fragments of woodland is of growing importance in the agricultural landscape, where they provide effective protection against soil erosion and serve as a refuge for many animals, whose presence is crucial in maintaining essential ecosystem functions. A functioning ecosystem is especially important in intensively farmed landscapes, which are exposed to frequent and heavy disturbance. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of certain habitat characteristics of fragments of woodland on the activity-density and species richness of selected groups of soil invertebrates (ground beetles, spiders, harvestmen, centipedes, millipedes, and isopods). The research was conducted in the agricultural landscape of South Moravia (Czech Republic) in the summers of 2016–2017, for which we used pitfall traps to collect soil invertebrates on preselected fragments of woodland. The results highlight a wide range of habitat preferences of individual groups of invertebrates, wherein it is not possible to clearly determine the most favorable environmental conditions for all organisms. Consequently, the priority should be to maintain the highest possible degree of heterogeneity among natural and semi-natural features, including with respect to their surrounding landscape. In addition, we found that due to their small size and width, fragments of woodland that are not included in the concept of bio-centers and bio-corridors can similarly support the activity-density and diversity of soil fauna

Posílení biologické rozmanitosti a ochrany půdy v zemědělské krajině s využitím konceptu konektivity/Enhancement of Biological Diversity and Soil Protection in the Agricultural Landscape Using the Connectivity Concept

The most serious degradation factor affecting soil quality in the Czech Republic, as in other countries, is water erosion. This threatens more than 50% of agricultural land. One of the contributing factors to accelerated water erosion is the structure of the agricultural land fund where there was land consolidation in the post-war period and disposal of landscape elements, including greenery. The present fragmented landscape thus forms a mosaic of significantly larger “grain” than it did in the pre-war period. For example, the average size of arable land blocks is now approximately 11 hectares, and this was much lower before World War II. The result is a remarkable decline in biodiversity, bound to the original heterogenous landscape which has disappeared from today’s dull environment. This paper presents a new approach to soil protection solutions while supporting biodiversity in the landscape. It offers a developed method for changes to landscape structure which considers erosion threats and the land’s potential to contribute to preserving both landscape and species biodiversity. Based on raster modelling of erosion processes and landscape connectivity in GIS and Statistics, we propose measures that will reduce the overall risk of erosion and other related degradation changes and increase functional connectivity of the landscape; thus resulting in increased biodiversity in areas of interest

The Use of Spectral Indices to Recognize Waterlogged Agricultural Land in South Moravia, Czech Republic

The agricultural landscape of the Czech Republic is facing climate change, and drought is among the most severe stress factors. Thousands of small ponds and naturally wet areas have been drained and transformed into agricultural parcels. Their restoration could increase the landscape’s resilience to climate change. Therefore, we describe the possibility of using hyperspectral aerial surveying for the identification of waterlogged areas in the agricultural landscape based on the example of one of the warmest and driest regions of the Czech Republic—the South Moravian region, an area where water retention in the landscape is highly relevant. Within our study, a total of 33 spectral indices related to the waterlogging of soil selected from previous studies were evaluated. The maximum entropy model (MAXENT) was used in the analysis of these indices. The analysis, which was carried out in several locations during different periods of the year (spring and autumn), shows the varying applicability of individual groups of indices. Regardless of the season, chlorophyll-based indices (MCARI—31.8, CARI—26.3, TCARI2—24.3 average percentage contribution) made the most significant contribution to the creation of probability maps of the occurrence of waterlogged areas. However, more accurate results could be achieved in the spring period by using the NVI index (40.5 average percentage contribution). The results show that remote sensing could be used for the identification of waterlogged sites, especially for initial identification, which should then be confirmed by field survey. Furthermore, the research points out the role of the LAI and chlorophyll content. According to the NVI, low LAI contributes the most to the probability of occurrence in the spring season, while chlorophyll-based indices prove to be the best, contributing high values, which is rather contradictory but could be resolved only by subsequent field research