| 1. |
- Andersson, Lars
(författare)
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The status of arable plant habitats in scandinavian countries
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Changing Status of Arable Habitats in Europe : A Nature Conservation Review. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783030598747 ; , s. 47-54
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scandinavia is situated in the northern part of Europe where climate conditions limit both agricultural production and weed diversity. Scandinavian countries differ from each other in terms of climate conditions, land use intensity and agricultural production. In Finland and Denmark, the status of arable plant populations has been recorded by regular weed surveys covering several decades. In both countries, a tremendous decline in weed abundance was documented between 1960s and 1980s caused by the significant intensification of the cropping practices. The decline was attributed to the higher rate of nitrogen fertiliser application, more effective fertilisation methods, the increased use of crop monocultures and the application of herbicides. During the following decades, a slight increase in weed abundances was recorded in both countries probably mainly caused by stricter regulation of herbicide use decided nationally and by the EU. In the 1990s, agri-environmental support schemes to facilitate environmental issues were introduced, which resulted in, among other things, increasing area of organic farming. Organic farming has enhanced weed species diversity. However, conservation of rare arable weeds has not been a primary focus in Scandinavian countries and there are no specific conservation methods to protect rare plant species on arable land.
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| 2. |
- Bisang, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Agricultural intensification, sustainable farming and the fate of arable bryophytes in Switzerland
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Changing Status of Arable Habitats in Europe. - Cham, Switzerland : Springer. - 9783030598754 - 9783030598747 ; , s. 139-156
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Land-use changes including agricultural intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss. As other countries, Switzerland introduced agri-environment schemes (AES) to counteract declining agro-biodiversity. Among numerous bryophytes of the agricultural landscape, arable bryophytes have adapted to recurrent tillage. They are short-lived above-ground, while their diaspores may build up a persistent diaspore bank in the soil. We monitored the field hornwort and the Carolina hornwort, characteristic species of the Central European arable bryophyte flora over a period of almost three decades, and studied effects of Biodiversity Promoting Areas (BPAS), a key element of Swiss AES, on arable bryophyte diversity. Hornwort occurrences strongly declined, and stubble-fields left unprocessed until late autumn, the favourite habitat of arable specialist bryophytes, nearly disappeared from 1991 to 2018. The loss of suitable habitats follows from decreased cereal cultivation and direct post-harvest management. Different BPA-fallows, designed to promote birds, flowering plants, or ecosystem services, harboured arable bryophyte specialists, but their richness decreased with fallow age. Diaspore banks contained arable bryophyte specialists not occurring above-ground and may serve as a reservoir during unsuitable cultivation. Targeted modifications of current AES, aiming to maintain habitats favourable for arable bryophytes, are necessary to safeguard the typical arable bryophytes in the Swiss arable landscape.
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