Alpha-diversity of differently managed agro-ecosystems assessed at a habitat scale

• Autorzy: Balezentiene L.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

As agriculture continues to be a major contributor to water pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity in the EU, agro-environmental measures have been introduced to encourage conventional farmers to acquire more sustainable organic practices. This study analyzed the effect of different intensity farm management (conventional and organic) on variations of floristic diversity in crop fields (C) and non-production areas – uncropped field margins (UCM). The outcomes of the study can thus support the creation of a more diversified set of habitats and greater landscape heterogeneity. The main goal of this research was to evaluate and compare the impact of organic and conventional farming on plant diversity at a habitat scale (alpha-diversity). Assessments were carried out on differently anthropogenized agro-environment background (C and UCM) of organic and conventional agriculture at the Lithuanian University of Agriculture. It was observed that sustainable land use (OF) leads to preservation of biodiversity, which is the element of crucial importance for landscaping. Registered total plant diversity was represented by 127 species ranked in 21 plant families of Magnoliophyta (Angiopsermae) and 1 family of Equisetophyta, depending on farming type and habitat anthropogenic level. The field margins habitat of organic farming provide the maximal species diversity (71 sp.; 3.6 alpha-diversity index). Conventional farming management emerged as the negative impact on floristic diversity (2.1-2.9 alpha-diversity index) due to the intensive application of chemical fertilizers and various pesticides during plant vegetation.

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
• Rocznik: 2011
• Tom: 20
• Numer: 6
• Opis fizyczny: p.1387-1394,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Balezentiene L.

• Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu 11, Akademija, LT-53361 Kaunas distr., Lithuania

Bibliografia

• 1. JHA S., BAWA K.S. Population growth, human development, and deforestation in biodiversity hotspots. Conserv. Biol. 20, 906, 2006.
• 2. TAYLOR M. E., MORECROFT M. D. Effects of agri-environment schemes in a long-term ecological time series. Agric., Ecosyst. Environ. 130, (1-2), 9, 2009.
• 3. WALDHARDT R., SIMMERING D., ALBRECHT H. Floristic diversity at the habitat scale in agricultural landscapes of Central Europe – summary, conclusions and perspectives. Agric., Ecosyst. Environm. 98, (1-3), 79, 2003.
• 4. ADLER P.R., DEL GROSSO S.J., PARTON W.J. Life-cycle assessment of net greenhouse-gas flux for bioenergy cropping systems. Ecol. Appl. 17, 675, 2007.
• 5. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis. Island Press, 2005.
• 6. MATSON P. A., PARTON W. J., POWER A. G., SWIFT M. J. Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties. Sc. 277, 504, 1997.
• 7. BUHLER-NATOUR C., HERZOG F. Criteria for sustainability and their application at a regional level: the case of clearing islands in the Dubener Heide nature park (Eastern Germany). Landsc. Urban Plann. 46, (1), 51, 1999.
• 8. KORNECK D., SCHNITTLER M., KLINGENSTEIN F., LUDWIG G., TAKLA M., BOHN U., MAY R. Why impoverished our flora? Evaluation of the Red List of ferns and flowering plants in Germany. Schriftenr. fur Vegetat. 29, 299, 1998 [In German].
• 9. GIAM X., BRADSHAW C. J.A., TAN H. T.W., SODHI N. S. Future habitat loss and the conservation of plant biodiversity. Biol. Conserv. 143, 1594, 2010.
• 10. HAWES C., SQUIRE G.R., HALLETT P.D., WATSON C.A., YOUNG M. Arable plant communities as indicators of farming practice. Agric., Ecosyst., Environ., 138, (1-2), 17, 2010.
• 11. AAVIK T., LIIRA J. Agrotolerant and high nature-value species-Plant biodiversity indicator groups in agroecosystems. Ec. Indic. 9, 892, 2009.
• 12. BILLETER R., LIIRA J., BAILEY D., BUGTER R., ARENS P., AUGENSTEIN I., AVIRON S., BAUDRY J., BUKACEK R., BUREL F., CERNY M., DE BLUST G., DE COCK R., DIEKOTTER T., DIETZ H., DIRKSEN J., DORMANN C., DURKA W., FRENZEL M., HAMERSKY R., HENDRICKX F., HERZOG F., KLOTZ S., KOOLSTRA B., LAUSCH A., LE COEUR D., MAELFAIT J.P., OPDAM P., ROUBALOVA M., SCHERMANN A., SCHERMANN N., SCHMIDT T., SCHWEIGER O., SMULDERS M.J.M., SPEELMANS M., SIMOVA P., VERBOOM J., VAN WINGERDEN W.K.R.E., ZOBEL M., EDWARDS P.J. Indicators for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: a pan-European study. J. Appl. Ecol. 45, 141, 2008.
• 13. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). IUCN Red List of threatened species, 2008. <http://www.iucnredlist.org> (accessed 10/2010).
• 14. PIORR H. P. Environmental policy, agri-environmental indicators and landscape indicators. Agric., Ecosyst. Environ. 98, 17, 2003.
• 15. ELLENBERG H. Vegetation in the Central Europe and the Alps in ecological, historical and dynamic perspective. Ulmer: Stuttgart, 2001 [In German].
• 16. GABRIEL D., ROSCHEWITZ I., TSCHARNTKE T., THIES C. Beta diversity at different spatial scales: Plant communities in organic and conventional agriculture. Ecol. Appl. 16, 2011, 2006.
• 17. KAUFMANN P., STAGL S., FRANKS D.W. Simulating the diffusion of organic farming practices in two New EU Member States. Ecol. Econ. 68, (10), 2580, 2009.
• 18. SMUKLER S.M., SANCHEZ-MORENO S., FONTE S.J., FERRIS H., KLONSKY K., O’GEEN A.T., SCOW K.M., STEENWERTH, K.L. JACKSON L.E. Biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions in an organic farmscape. Agric., Ecosyst. Environ. 139, (1-2), 80, 2010.
• 19. TSCHARNTKE T., SEKERCIOGLU C.H., DIETSCH T.V., SODHI N.S., HOEHN P., TYLIANAKIS J.M. Landscape constraints on functional diversity of birds and insects in tropical agroecosystems. Ecol. 89, 944, 2008.
• 20. BENGTSSON J., AHNSTROM J., WEIBULL A.-C. The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: a meta-analysis. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 261, 2005.
• 21. Different Organic Farming Patterns within EU-25. 2007. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITYOFFPUB/KSSF-07-069/EN/KS-SF-07-069-EN.PDF.
• 22. NORTON L., JOHNSON P., JOYS A., STUART R., CHAMBERLAIN D., FEBER R., FIRBANK L., MANLEY W., WOLFE M., HART B., MATHEWS F., MACDONALD D., FULLER R.J. Consequences of organic and non-organic farming practices for field, farm and landscape complexity. Agric., Ecosyst., Environ. 129, (1-3), 221, 2009.
• 23. PEEL M. C., FINLAYSON B. L., MCMAHON T. A. Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11, 1633, 2007.
• 24. GALVONAITĖ A., MISIŪNIENĖ M., VALIUKAS D., BUITKUVIENĖ M. S. (Eds.) Lithuanian climate; Lithuanian service of hidrometeorology: Vilnius, pp. 180, 2007 [In Lithuanian].
• 25. FAO/UNESCO. Soil map of the world revised legend with corrections and updates. Technical Paper 20; ISRIC: Wageningen, pp. 1-140, 1997.
• 26. KRAUSS J., KLEIN A., STEFFAN-DEWENTER I., TSCHARNTKE T. Effects of habitat area, isolation, and landscape diversity on plant species richness of calcareous grasslands. Biodivers. Conserv. 13, 1427, 2004.
• 27. LIIRA J., SCHMIDT T., AAVIK T., ARENS P., AUGENSTEIN I., BAILEY D., BILLETER R., BUKAČEK R., BUREL F., DE BLUST G., DE COCK R., DIRKSEN J., EDWARDS P.J., HAMERSKY R., HERZOG F., KLOTZ S., KŰHN I., LE COEUR D., MIKLOVA P., ROUBALOVA M., SCHWEIGER O., SMULDERS M.J.M., VAN WINGERDEN W.K.R.E., BUGTERS R., ZOBEL M. Plant functional group composition and large-scale species richness in European agricultural landscapes. J. Veg. Sci. 19, 3, 2008.
• 28. KENT M., COKER P. Vegetation description and analysis: a practical approach. John Wiley, Sons: Chichester, 2003.
• 29. JANKEVICIENE J. (Ed.). Dictionary of plant names. Institute of Botany Publishers: Vilnius, 1998.
• 30. GUDZINSKAS Z. Vascular Plants of Lithuania. Institute of Botany: Vilnius, 1999.
• 31. BRAUN-BLANQUET J. Pflanzensoziologie. Grundzuge der Vegetationskunde; Aufl. Springer Verlag: Wien, 1964 [In German].
• 32. STOHLGREN T.J. Measuring plant Diversity. Oxford: University press, pp. 390, 2007.
• 33. WALKER K.J., CRITCHLEY C.N.R., SHERWOOD A.J., LARGE R., NUTTALL P., HULMES S., ROSED R., MOUNTFORD J.O. The conservation of arable plants on cereal field margins: An assessment of new agri-environment scheme options in England, UK. Biol.Conserv. 136, (2), 260, 2007.
• 34. PIORR H.-P., EPPLER G., EIDEN S. A. Proposal on Agri-Environmental Indicators – Interim Report. LANDSISg.e.i.e.: Luxembourg, Germany, United Kingdom, 2003.
• 35. EISWERTH M.E., HANEY J.C. Maximizing conserved biodiversity. Ecol. Econ., 38, 259, 2001.
• 36. DAUBER J., BENGTSSON J., LENOIR L. Evaluating effects of habitat loss and land-use continuity on ant species richness in seminatural grasslands. Conserv. Biol. 20, 1150, 2006.
• 37. HYVONEN T. Can conversion to organic farming restore the species composition of arable weed communities? Biol. Conserv. 137, (3), 382, 2007.
• 38. BUCHS W. Biotic indicators for biodiversity and sustainable agriculture-introduction and background. Agric., Ecosyst. Environm. 98, 1, 2003.
• 39. DONALD P.F., EVANS A.D. Habitat connectivity and matrix restoration: the wider implications of agri-environment schemes. J. Appl. Ecol. 43, 209, 2006.
• 40. CRICHLEY C.N.R., ALLEN D.S., FOWBERT J.A., MOLE A.C., GUNDREY A.L. Habitat establishment on arable land: assesment of an agri-environment scheme in England, UK. Biolog. Conserv. 119, 429, 2004.
• 41. AUDE E., TYBIRK K., PEDERSEN M. Vegetation diversity of conventional and organic hedgerows in Denmark. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 99, 135, 2003.
• 42. BOUTIN C., BARIL A., MARTIN P.A. Plant diversity in crop fields and woody hedgerows of organic and conventional farms in contrasting landscapes. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 123, 185, 2008.
• 43. POSCHLOD P., BAKKER J.P., KAHMEN S. Changing land use and its impact on biodiversity. Basic Appl. Ecol. 6, 93, 2005.
• 44. KIVINEN S., LUOTO M., KUUSSAARI M., HELENIUS J. Multispecies richness of boreal agricultural landscapes: effects of climate, biotope, soil and geographical location. J. Biogeogr, 33, 862, 2006