| 1. |
- Hoffmann, M., et al.
(författare)
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Leaching of nitrogen in Swedish agriculture - A historical perspective
- 2000
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 80:3, s. 277-290
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a need to examine long-term changes in nitrogen leaching from arable soils. The purpose of this study was to analyse variations in specific leaching rates (kg ha-1 per year) and gross load (Mg per year) of N from arable land to watercourses in Sweden from a historical perspective. The start of the study was set to 1865 because information on crop distribution, yield and livestock has been compiled yearly since then. The SOIL/SOILN model was used to calculate nitrogen leaching. Calculations were done for cereals, grass and bare fallow for three different soil types in nine agricultural regions covering a range of climatic conditions. Results indicate that both specific leaching rates and gross load of nitrogen in the middle of 19th century were approximately the same as they are today for the whole of south and central Sweden. Three main explanations for this were (1) large areas of bare fallow typical for the farming practice at the time, (2) enhanced mineralisation from newly cultivated land, and (3) low yield. From 1865, i.e. the start of the calculations, N leaching rates decreased and were at their lowest around 1930. During the same period, gross load was also at its lowest despite the fact that the acreage of arable land was at its most extensive. After 1930, average leaching increased by 60% and gross load by 30%, both reaching a peak in the mid-1970s to be followed by a declining trend. The greatest increase in leaching was in regions where the increase in animal density was largest and these regions were also those where the natural conditions for leaching such as mild winters and coarse-textured soils were found. Extensive draining projects occurred during the period of investigation, in particular an intensive exploitation of lakes and wetlands. This caused a substantial drop in nitrogen retention and the probable increase in net load to the sea might thus have been more affected by this decrease in retention than the actual increase in gross load. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.
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| 2. |
- Bisang, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Three decades of field surveys reveal a decline of arable bryophytes in the Swiss lowlands despite agri-environment schemes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. Applied Soil Ecology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0929-1393 .- 1873-0272. ; 313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural intensification represents one of the major drivers for the dramatic loss of biodiversity worldwide. To halt the decline of farmland biodiversity, Switzerland adopted agri-environment schemes (AES) in 1998. Here, we monitored the occurrence, abundance and habitats of two species of arable bryophyte specialists, the Field hornwort (Anthoceros agrestis) and the Carolina hornwort (Phaeoceros carolinianus), in 28 crop fields in the intensively cultivated Swiss Plateau from 1991–2018, to investigate the effects of arable management, AES directives, and weather conditions on their performance. The target species are characteristic of the specialized short-lived arable bryophyte flora of Central Europe that depend on bare substrate in low-intensively cultivated and regularly ploughed fields. Trends in their occurrence thus reflect in many respects the status of the arable bryophytes in cultivated fields. Hornwort occurrence significantly declined between 1991 and 2018. A strong decrease in stubble fields that remain unmanaged after harvest, the favourite habitat for many arable specialists in the study area, largely accounted for the decline. Stubble fields nearly disappeared in the study area because of a gradual reduction in the cultivation area of cereals and the increasing practice of immediate post-harvest tillage. The latter is common in intensive arable farming and was accentuated by AES directives amended in 2005. Hornwort occurrences were positively affected by high air humidity during summer, but weather effects were subordinate to management effects. We propose tailored amendments of AES regulations, that aremented at selected sites, to maintain the characteristic arable specialist bryophytes in the Swiss Plateau: crop rotation with adequate proportions of cereals that are regularly ploughed but not before the end of October, no post-harvest processing of stubble fields, and optimization of the existing instrument ‘Biodiversity Promoting Areas’, e.g., short-term fallows in crop fields. Late-autumn or overwintering stubbles and short-term fallows will benefit many other organisms that depend on extensively managed open habitats, for example arableflowers, farmland breeding birds and specialized arthropods
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| 3. |
- Alexandridis, Nikolaos, et al.
(författare)
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Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa : A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Assessing effects of climate change on agricultural systems and the potential for ecological intensification to increase food security in developing countries is essential to guide management, policy-making and future research. ‘Push-pull’ technology (PPT) is a poly-cropping design developed in eastern Africa that utilizes plant chemicals to mediate plant–insect interactions. PPT application yields significant increases in crop productivity, by reducing pest load and damage caused by arthropods and parasitic weeds, while also bolstering soil fertility. As climate change effects may be species- and/or context-specific, there is need to elucidate how, in interaction with biotic factors, projected climate conditions are likely to influence future functioning of PPT. Here, we first reviewed how changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO2 concentration can influence PPT components (i.e., land use, soils, crops, weeds, diseases, pests and their natural enemies) across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We then imposed these anticipated responses on a landscape-scale qualitative mathematical model of maize production under PPT in eastern Africa, to predict cumulative, structure-mediated impacts of climate change on maize yield. Our review suggests variable impacts of climate change on PPT components in SSA by the end of the 21st century, including reduced soil fertility, increased weed and arthropod pest pressure and increased prevalence of crop diseases, but also increased biological control by pests’ natural enemies. Extrapolating empirical evidence of climate effects to predict responses to projected climate conditions is mainly limited by a lack of mechanistic understanding regarding single and interactive effects of climate variables on PPT components. Model predictions of maize yield responses to anticipated impacts of climate change in eastern Africa suggest predominantly negative future trends. Nevertheless, maize yields can be sustained or increased by favourable changes in system components with less certain future behaviour, including higher PPT adoption, preservation of field edge density and agricultural diversification beyond cereal crops.
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| 4. |
- Alexandridis, Nikolaos, et al.
(författare)
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Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 352
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Assessing effects of climate change on agricultural systems and the potential for ecological intensification to increase food security in developing countries is essential to guide management, policy-making and future research. ‘Push-pull’ technology (PPT) is a poly-cropping design developed in eastern Africa that utilizes plant chemicals to mediate plant–insect interactions. PPT application yields significant increases in crop productivity, by reducing pest load and damage caused by arthropods and parasitic weeds, while also bolstering soil fertility. As climate change effects may be species- and/or context-specific, there is need to elucidate how, in interaction with biotic factors, projected climate conditions are likely to influence future functioning of PPT. Here, we first reviewed how changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO2 concentration can influence PPT components (i.e., land use, soils, crops, weeds, diseases, pests and their natural enemies) across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We then imposed these anticipated responses on a landscape-scale qualitative mathematical model of maize production under PPT in eastern Africa, to predict cumulative, structure-mediated impacts of climate change on maize yield. Our review suggests variable impacts of climate change on PPT components in SSA by the end of the 21st century, including reduced soil fertility, increased weed and arthropod pest pressure and increased prevalence of crop diseases, but also increased biological control by pests’ natural enemies. Extrapolating empirical evidence of climate effects to predict responses to projected climate conditions is mainly limited by a lack of mechanistic understanding regarding single and interactive effects of climate variables on PPT components. Model predictions of maize yield responses to anticipated impacts of climate change in eastern Africa suggest predominantly negative future trends. Nevertheless, maize yields can be sustained or increased by favourable changes in system components with less certain future behaviour, including higher PPT adoption, preservation of field edge density and agricultural diversification beyond cereal crops.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Georg, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of farming intensity, crop rotation and landscape heterogeneity on field bean pollination
- 2014
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2305 .- 0167-8809. ; 184, s. 145-148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organic farming has the potential to enhance ecosystem services such as crop pollination. However, it is not known if a similar effect can be generated on conventional farms, without reducing external inputs such as inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, by using more complex crop rotations including ley for animal fodder production. In two separate designs, both located in southern Sweden, we tested if local organic farming and the landscape proportion of conventionally managed leys, along a landscape heterogeneity gradient, affected the pollination success of field bean. The number of developed pods was higher on organic farms compared to conventional ones. Development of beans, which demands high pollination efficiency, increased with increasing landscape heterogeneity, but only on organic farms. Increasing proportion of ley on conventional farms did not significantly influence the development of beans. The number of developed pods was not affected by the proportion of ley in the landscape. Our results demonstrate that in order to maximize pollination success it is important to improve both field management and preserve semi-natural habitats in the agricultural landscape. Reducing farming intensity with conventionally managed leys does not seem to be as effective as organic farming for delivering crop pollination services. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Audet, Joachim, et al.
(författare)
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Nitrous oxide emissions from streams in a Swedish agricultural catchment
- 2017
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 236, s. 295-303
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excess nitrogen fertiliser in agricultural soils might be leached to streams and converted to the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). To assess the importance of N2O emissions from agricultural streams, concentration dynamics and emissions N2O emissions in streams were investigated in a 32 km2 lowland agricultural catchment located in Sweden. Dissolved N2O concentration was measured at nine occasions between December 2014 and August 2015 at nine stream stations. The stream stations represented sub-catchments with different land use characteristics with agricultural land use ranging from 0 to 63% of the area. Stream N2O percentage saturation ranged 40-2701% and showed large spatial and temporal variations. Statistical analysis using mixed models revealed that N2O concentration was significantly linked to nitrate concentration in the stream water, to the percentage arable land in the sub catchments as well as to the stream water discharge. Using two empirical equations to estimate the N2O emissions showed that streams were generally a source of N2O to the atmosphere (mean 108 and 175 mu g N m(-2) h(-1) with first and second equation). The catchment scale estimate of N2O stream emissions was compared to the estimate obtained using IPCC guidelines linking N fertilisation inputs and leaching to N2O emissions. The comparison suggested that N2O stream emission calculated using the IPCC methodology might be underestimated. A coarse estimate suggests that N2O stream emissions represent about 4% of the total N2O emissions from N-fertiliser at the catchment scale. Hence while streams covered only 0.1% of the catchment area they were of disproportionate importance as a source of N2O to the atmosphere.
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| 8. |
- Bahram, Mohammad
(författare)
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Cropping systems with higher organic carbon promote soil microbial diversity
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food systems need to become more sustainable. There is a need to investigate the agricultural management components that address the sustainability better. Long crop rotations are suggested to be environmentally friendly, yet, little is known how soil microbial communities may be affected by long-term rotation under organic cropping with cover crops and manure and conventional cropping with different nitrogen rates. We examined the composition and diversity of soil bacterial and fungal communities in a five-field crop rotation at the beginning and end, respectively in 2013 and 2018. Our analysis revealed that bacterial and to a lesser extent fungal diversity increased by the end of the rotation in all organic treatments and in conventional treatments with low to medium nitrogen rate (20‐100 kg of nitrogen per hectare). Conventional treatment with no added nitrogen decreased bacterial and fungal diversity. Nitrogen rate of 150 kg/ha decreased only bacterial diversity, while the impact on fungal diversity was neutral. Crop rotation significantly increased the relative abundance of bacterial taxa involved in nitrification and denitrification. Of fungal functional groups, the relative abundance of pathogenic functional groups decreased and mycorrhizal groups increased during crop rotation and especially with added cover crops. Our results suggest that crop rotation may outperform cropping systems in structuring soil microbial communities.
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| 9. |
- Benegas, Laura, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of trees on infiltrability and preferential flow in two contrasting agroecosystems in Central America
- 2014
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 183, s. 185-196
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We tested the hypothesis that trees have measurable effects on infiltrability, macroporosity, and preferential flows in agrosilvopastoral systems. Managing agricultural systems for water conservation is a critical component of sustainable systems. We investigated the relationship between infiltrability and the distance to the nearest tree, and whether differences in macroporosity can account for differences in infiltrability.In both systems, preferential soil water flows were dominant compared to matrix flow. Trees in the pasture landscape improved infiltrability and preferential flow but had no significant effect in the coffee agroforestry system. After comparing rainfall intensity and frequency data to the measured infiltrability values, we conclude that trees in the pasture system reduce surface runoff at the highest observed rainfall intensities (>50 mm h(-1)). The volcanic soils of the coffee plantation are less degraded and their high natural permeability has been maintained. Since the coffee plants at this site are established (40 years) perennial vegetation with substantial residues and extensive root systems like trees, they improve soil physical properties similarly to trees.Trees increase hydrologic services in pasture lands, a rapidly expanding land use type across Latin America, and therefore may be a viable land management option for mitigating some of the negative environmental impacts associated with land clearing and animal husbandry. However, in land management practices where understorey perennial vegetation makes up a large proportion of the cover, such as for coffee agroforestry systems, the effect of trees on infiltration-related ecosystem services could be less pronounced (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 10. |
- Berg, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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Linking occurrence and changes in local abundance of farmland bird species to landscape composition and land-use changes
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 204, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Changes in agricultural policies have caused dramatic changes in land-use in agricultural landscapes. To investigate whether such changes in land-use relate to temporal changes in bird communities a repeated inventory (1994 and 2004) of farmland birds was made in 212 point-count sites in south-central Sweden.Distinct changes in abundance of several species over the study period were recorded, abundance of the 16 studied species decreased by 23%. The decline was significant for eight species, while two species increased significantly. Persistence and colonisation models suggested similar species-habitat relationships as the snapshot models, i.e. eight of the 12 associations were in line with what could be expected from the snapshot models. Occurrence of nine species was linked to land-use whereas six species displayed links between changes in occurrence and changes in land-use. In line with previous studies positive effects of short rotation coppice and negative effects of autumn-sown crops were found, while set-asides showed fewer effects than expected. In the snapshot models several species showed links to landscape characteristics such as amount of forest (negative for five species) and landscape heterogeneity (positive for six species). The evidence for effects of the landscape variables on persistence/colonisation was more restricted.The results suggest that both land-use changes and the landscape setting may cause local changes in abundance of farmland birds, even for species displaying a general decline in numbers between years, the effects of land-use changes being, however, strongly species specific. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 11. |
- Berndes, Göran, 1966, et al.
(författare)
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Cadmium accumulation and Salix-based phytoextraction on arable land in Sweden
- 2004
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 103:1, s. 207-223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cadmium accumulation in arable soils causes concern due to possible direct environmental effects and health risks associated with exposure of humans to cadmium through agricultural products. This paper discusses the problem of cadmium accumulation in Swedish arable land, and evaluates Salix (Salix vinimalis) cultivation as a tool for addressing the problem. It is found that Salix cultivation offers an effective option for addressing the cadmium accumulation, especially when the topsoil has high cadmium content due to anthropogenic inflows, and the subsoil naturally contains little cadmium. The estimated practical potential for Salix-based cadmium management (ca. 490 000 ha) is very large compared to the present Salix plantation area in Sweden (ca. 15 000 ha). However, the estimates of the net economic value of cadmium removal from arable land indicate that the economics of Salix production will not improve dramatically due to an induced cadmium removal. Salix-based cadmium management will therefore most likely take place in counties where Salix cultivation can be expected to expand as a response to an unfilled biomass demand in the energy sector. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 12. |
- Birkhofer, Klaus, et al.
(författare)
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The contribution of CAP greening measures to conservation biological control at two spatial scales
- 2018
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809. ; 255, s. 84-94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To promote a more sustainable agricultural production, the European Commission implemented direct payments that require farmers to implement greening measures aimed at reducing negative effects of agriculture on the environment and biodiversity. These greening measures (including fallows and permanent grasslands) have been criticised for their potential inability to conserve biodiversity and promote associated ecosystem services. In this study, we investigate if the presence of old or recently established fallows and permanent grassland in the landscape are beneficial for the emergence, activity density and spillover of ground-running natural enemies and as a result aphid biological control in cereal fields. Lycosidae and Theridiidae were more numerous in fallows (emergence & activity density) compared to crop fields, while Staphylinidae and Linyphiidae showed opposite patterns. Spillover of Lycosidae was significantly higher from fallows into cereal fields, than between cereal fields. As a result of the opposite patterns in activity density in fallows between different groups of predators, a spillover from fallows did not result in a significantly higher aphid control in crop fields adjacent to them. A high proportion of permanent grassland in the landscape resulted in lower emergence of Linyphiidae and Carabidae. Our results support the assumption that a higher emergence and activity density of ground-running predators generally results in higher spillover to adjacent fields. However, patterns of emergence and activity density differed between individual natural enemy groups. Fallows, independent of age, can therefore act as source or sink depending on the focal predator group and more permanent grassland in the landscape can result in lower local emergence. Fallows at the local scale and permanent grassland at larger spatial scales therefore did not generally promote aphid biological control services provided by ground-running natural enemies.
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| 13. |
- Blanchet, Guillaume, et al.
(författare)
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Responses of soil properties and crop yields to different inorganic and organic amendments in a Swiss conventional farming system
- 2016
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 230, s. 116-126
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In agro-ecosystems, fertilization practices are crucial for sustaining crop productivity. Here, based on a 50-year long-term experiment, we studied the influence of fertilization practices (inorganic and/or organic) and nitrogen (N) application rates on (i) soil physicochemical properties, (ii) microbial and earthworm communities and (iii) crop production. Our results showed that soil organic carbon content was increased by incorporation of crop residues (+2.45%) and farmyard manure application (+6.40%) in comparison to the use of mineral fertilizer alone. In contrast, soil carbon stock was not significantly affected by these fertilization practices. Overall, only farmyard manure application improved soil physicochemical properties compared to mineral fertilization alone. Soil microbial population was enhanced by the application of organic amendments as indicated by microbial biomass and phospholipid-derived fatty acids contents. The fertilization practices and the N application rates affected significantly both the biomass and composition of earthworm populations, especially the epigeic and endogeic species. Finally, farmyard manure application significantly increased crop yield (+3.5%) in comparison to mineral fertilization alone. Crop residue incorporation rendered variable but similar crop yields over the 50-year period. The results of this long-term experiment indicate that the use of organic amendments not only reduces the need for higher amount of mineral N fertilizer but also improves the soil biological properties with direct effects on crop yield.
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| 14. |
- Blanke, Jan Hendrik, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing the impact of changes in land-use intensity and climate on simulated trade-offs between crop yield and nitrogen leaching
- 2017
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809. ; 239, s. 385-398
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, a global vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS) is forced with spatial information (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) 2 level) of land-use intensity change in the form of nitrogen (N) fertilization derived from a model chain which informed the Common Agricultural Policy Regionalized Impact (CAPRI) model. We analysed the combined role of climate change and land-use intensity change for trade-offs between agricultural yield and N leaching in the European Union under two plausible scenarios up until 2040. Furthermore, we assessed both driver importance and uncertainty in future trends based on an alternative land-use intensity dataset derived from an integrated assessment model. LPJ-GUESS simulated an increase in wheat and maize yield but also N leaching for most regions when driven by changes in land-use intensity and climate under RCP 8.5. Under RCP 4.5, N leaching is reduced in 53% of the regions while there is a trade-off in crop productivity. The most important factors influencing yield were CO2 (wheat) and climate (maize), but N application almost equaled these in importance. For N leaching, N application was the most important factor, followed by climate. Therefore, using a constant N application dataset in the absence of future projections has a substantial effect on simulated ecosystem responses, especially for maize yield and N leaching. This study is a first assessment of future N leaching and yield responses based on projections of climate and land-use intensity. It further highlights the importance of accounting for changes in future N applications and land-use intensity in general when evaluating environmental impacts over long time periods.
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| 15. |
- Boeraeve, Margaux
(författare)
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Cascading effects of management and landscape on insect pollinators, pollination services and yield in apple orchards
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 352
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent insect pollinator declines, mainly due to the expansion and intensification of agricultural land use, are jeopardizing ecosystem service provisioning in agroecosystems. Organic farming has been suggested as a biodiversity-friendly alternative to conventional farming, but additional insights evaluating its effectiveness in perennial cropping systems are needed. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of local and landscape effects on the provided pollination services and yield in apple crops. We first used mixed models to disentangle effects of agricultural management and landscape effects on both taxonomic and functional diversity of wild bees and hoverflies during bloom in both organic and integrated pest management (IPM) apple orchards in Belgium, and then compared these biodiversity indicators with semi-natural grasslands as a benchmark. Next, we applied piecewise structural equation modeling to quantify the direct and indirect effects of orchard management type and landscape on fruit set, seed set and ultimately on crop yield. Orchards, regardless of their type of man-agement, hosted lower taxonomic and functional pollinator diversity compared to the semi-natural benchmark. Yet, pollinator abundance and diversity were higher in orchard edges and increased with small-scale landscape diversity, which was positively associated with the presence of semi-natural habitat, as well as arable and urban land. Investigating the cascading effects on apple yield, we found that yield levels were not shaped by the observed pollinator diversity or by the measured pollination services, but were lower in organic orchards. Overall, we conclude that apple yield was likely not pollinator limited in our study system, but that conserving and restoring semi-natural habitats, maintaining and expanding orchard edges through reducing field sizes and promoting landscape diversity are the most promising avenues for pollinator conservation in orchard landscapes.
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| 16. |
- Bolinder, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term soil organic carbon and nitrogen dynamics in forage-based crop rotations in Northern Sweden (63-64 degrees N)
- 2010
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 138, s. 335-342
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For carbon sequestration estimates it is necessary to evaluate effects of management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (SON) dynamics in a wide range of production systems and climatic zones. At higher latitudes with cold temperate climate, crop rotations dominated by forage are common and often highly productive-and the climate as well as the forage cropping systems favour large stocks of SOC and SON. The objective of this study was to estimate SOC and SON stock dynamics in the arable layer (0-25 cm) for different 6-year forage-based rotations using sampling data from three long-term field experiments in Northern Sweden. At the site with the lowest initial amount of SOC (8.2 kg C m(-2)), SOC stocks increased by 12 g C m(-2) yr(-1) over a 50-year period for the continuous forage rotation ('A'), which received ca. 10 Mg ha(-1) of cattle manure per year (wet mass). At the same site, SOC stocks were more or less at steady state in rotation 'B' with 4 years of forage and 2 years of annuals, receiving the same amount of manure. For rotation 'C' with 3 years of forage and receiving ca. 6.5 Mg ha(-1) of manure, the SOC stocks decreased by 18 g C m(-2) yr(-1,) while the SOC stocks for rotation 'D' with only annuals and no manure application decreased by 24 g C m(-2) yr(-1). At the other two sites, with higher initial SOC stocks (12.1 and 12.8 kg C m(-2)), the SOC stocks in all treatments decreased during a 30-year period, at a rate ranging from 11 to 95 g C m(-2) yr(-1). Similar trends were found for the change in SON stocks, although they were more variable. The topsoil SOC stocks were high compared to southern Sweden and regions of similar climate in northeast Canada, in particular for rotation A. These results indicate that the estimates of SOC and SON storage rate changes for a particular management system van vary widely within a small region of a given climatic zone. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 17. |
- Bommarco, Riccardo
(författare)
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Landscape context and habitat type as drivers of bee diversity in European annual crops
- 2009
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 133, s. 40-47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To better understand the dynamics of bee populations in crops, we assessed the effect of landscape context and habitat type on bee communities in annual entomophilous crops in Europe. We quantified bee communities in five pairs of crop-country: buckwheat in Poland, cantaloupe in France, field beans in the UK, spring oilseed rape in Sweden, and strawberries in Germany. For each country, 7-10 study fields were sampled over a gradient of increasing proportion of semi-natural habitats in the surrounding landscape. The CORINE land cover classification was used to characterize the landscape over a 3 km radius around each study field and we used multivariate and regression analyses to quantify the impact of landscape features on bee abundance and diversity at the sub-generic taxonomic level. Neither overall wild bee abundance nor diversity, taken as the number of sub-genera. was significantly affected by the proportion of semi-natural habitat. Therefore, we used the most precise level of the CORINE classification to examine the possible links between specific landscape features and wild bee communities. Bee community composition fell into three distinct groups across Europe: group I included Poland, Germany, and Sweden, group 2 the UK, and group 3 France. Among all three groups, wild bee abundance and sub-generic diversity were affected by 17 landscape elements including some semi-natural habitats (e.g., transitional wood land-shrub), some urban habitats (e.g., sport and leisure facilities) and some crop habitats (e.g., non-irrigated arable land). Some bee taxa were positively affected by urban habitats only, others by semi-natural habitats only, and others by a combination of semi-natural, urban and crop habitats. Bee sub-genera favoured by urban and crop habitats were more resistant to landscape change than those favoured only by semi-natural habitats. In agroecosystems, the agricultural intensification defined as the loss of semi-natural habitats does not necessarily cause a decline in evenness at the local level, but can change community composition towards a bee fauna dominated by common taxa. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 18. |
- Bommarco, Riccardo, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term trends in functional crop diversity across Swedish farms
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The diversity of cultivated crops is relevant on various spatial scales, from the field and farm to the landscape. We apply a decomposition of the Shannon diversity index that allows the differentiation of functional diversity of production. The decomposition separates diversity of functional crop groups from related diversity, which shows the species diversity within the crop groups. Using population-based field and farm-level data from Sweden 2001–2018, we are able to study the development of overall (Shannon), functional and related crop diversity among a total of 83770 farms. Crop diversity indices are calculated by farm and year based on the Swedish Land Parcel Identification system (LPIS). We find that functional crop diversity has declined among Swedish farms over the period. Related crop diversity has declined but regained in recent years. Accounting for farm size and pedoclimatic conditions, organic farms have a higher functional diversity, and the uptake of organic practices leads to an increase in functional crop diversity over the period.
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| 19. |
- Broberg, Malin, 1989, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of ozone, drought and heat stress on wheat yield and grain quality
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - 0167-8809. ; 352:15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a gaseous phytotoxic plant stressor known to reduce wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop yields at current concentrations. O3 is predicted to increase in many crop-growing regions, together with higher frequencies of heatwaves and droughts. In this study, wheat crops were exposed to two levels of O3 (ambient and ~70 ppb) in combination with ambient or elevated temperature (+8 ◦C) and two watering regimes (well-watered and 50% reduced water supply) during the grain-filling period. With this experimental setup, we assessed the interactive effects between O3, temperature and water supply on wheat yield and grain quality, and measured leaf gas exchange to explore the underlying mechanisms. Overall, O3, warming and drought all decreased grain yield and average grain mass but increased grain concentration of N and other nutrient elements. Increasing daytime O3 from 25 to 73 ppb resulted in a 25% yield reduction in treatments with ambient temperature and well-watered soil. Drought reduced the impact of O3 on light-saturated photosynthesis, grain mass, total aboveground biomass and grain concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Mo. In contrast, concentrations of K and Ca increased to a larger extent when O3 stress was combined with elevated temperature. Grain concentrations of N, Ca and Zn were closely and negatively related to grain yield regardless of O3, heat and drought stress, likely explained by the reduction in grain filling period, with starch accumulation reduced to a larger extent than that of these elements. P, K, Mg, Mn, Mo concentrations were weakly related to grain yield, but were clearly altered by environmental stress. The modifying effect of water availability is crucial to include in assessments of O3 impacts on global food production in relation to climate change, considering effects on wheat yield variables and grain nutrient concentrations.
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| 20. |
- Bundschuh, Mirco
(författare)
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Runoff of veterinary pharmaceuticals from arable and grassland-A comparison between predictions from model simulations and experimental studies
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 218, s. 33-39
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Veterinary pharmaceuticals (VPs) are routinely used in livestock breeding. As a consequence, high concentrations of such VPs can be found in liquid manure, which is often applied to arable crops and grassland. From the soil, the VPs may enter surface water bodies via edge-of-field runoff, representing a potential risk to aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, the worst-case runoff predictions obtained by the FOCUS step 3 modeling approach, which is recommended for environmental-risk assessment of VPs in Europe, were compared with fate data obtained from experimental plot studies involving both arable and grassland plots. Five VPs were selected comprising three sulfonamides (sulfadiazine, sulfadimidine, sulfamethoxazole) and two benzimidazoles (fiubendazole, fenbendazole). The respective concentrations in runoff were initially estimated using literature data for model parameterization. Subsequently, the scenarios were parameterized specifically for each experimental plot study performed, enabling a direct comparison of the model performance with the close-to-field relevant situation.Generally, substantial variations between the predicted and measured concentrations of VPs in the runoff were uncovered. Although the FOCUS prediction suggested higher concentrations than were actually measured in 65% of the cases, the runoff concentrations of VPs were underestimated in the remaining 35%. This frequent underestimation of runoff concentrations was primarily observed for the grassland plots (85% of the underestimated situations), whereas the FOCUS predictions largely overestimated the measured concentrations for the arable plots. More strikingly, when involving a difference between the measured and predicted concentrations of 10% as a validity criterion for the model, only one (out of a total of 17) runoff concentration among the five VPs (i.e., sulfadimidine) assessed in the seven scenarios fell within this tolerance margin. Thus, these results demonstrate the substantial uncertainties related to the use of the FOCUS surface water modeling approach for the prediction of VPs introduced with manure and their environmental risk. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 21. |
- Burra, Dharani, et al.
(författare)
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Soil fertility regulates invasive herbivore performance and top-down control in tropical agroecosystems of Southeast Asia
- 2017
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 249, s. 38-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In terrestrial ecosystems, changes in soil nutrient availability, plant growth or natural enemies can generate important shifts in abundance of organisms at various trophic levels. In agroecosystems the performance of (invasive) herbivores and their impacts on crops is of particular concern. Scientists are presently challenged with making reliable inferences on invader success, natural enemy performance and efficacy of biological control, particularly in tropical agroecosystems. In this study, we assess how trophic regulatory forces (bottom-up vs. top down) influence the success of three globally important pests of cassava. We examine the mealybug species (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) of differing host breadth and invasion history: Phenacoccus manihoti, Paracoccus marginatus, and Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi. Potted plant fertilizer trials were combined with a regional survey in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia of 65 cassava fields of similar size and age, but with varying soil fertility. Relative abundance of each mealybug invader was mapped along a soil fertility gradient, and contrasted with site-specific measures of parasitism. Potted plant trials revealed strong bottom-up effects for P. manihoti, such that impacts of nitrogen and potassium additions were propagated through to higher trophic levels and substantially boost development and fitness of its specialist parasitoid, Anctgyrus lopezi (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Field surveys indicate that mealybug performance is highly species-specific and context-dependent. For example, field-level abundance of P. jackbeardsleyi and P. marginatus, was related to measures of soil fertility parameters, soil texture and plant disease incidence. Furthermore, for P. manihoti, in-field abundance is equally associated with soil texture (i.e., silt content). Principal component analysis (PCA) and regression suggested that P. manihoti and P. marginatus are disproportionately favored in low-fertility conditions, while P. jackbeardsleyi prospers in settings with high organic carbon and phosphorus. Parasitism of P. manihoti by A. lopezi varied greatly with field and soil fertility conditions, and was highest in soils with intermediate fertility levels and where management practices include the addition of fertilizer supplements. Our characterization of the relative performance of invasive mealybugs and strength of parasitism across variable soil fertility conditions will help guide parasitoid release programs and soil management practices that enhance mealybug biological control.
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| 22. |
- Börjesson, Gunnar
(författare)
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Thresholds of target phosphorus fertility classes in European fertilizer recommendations in relation to critical soil test phosphorus values derived from the analysis of 55 European long-term field experiments
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 332
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phosphorus (P) fertilizer recommendations of individual countries may differ in many aspects, but often the main principle is to reach or maintain a target range of plant-available P in soil. Within this target P fertility class, the soil is expected to supply enough P to the crop, while P fertilization replaces what is exported by the harvested crop. However, the threshold values of the target P fertility classes are based on a multitude of different soil test P (STP) methods and vary by a factor of up to three, even for countries using the same STP method. This study aimed to provide a comparison of the thresholds of target P fertility classes of different European countries and critical soil test P values (P-crit; STP below which the average relative yield falls below 95% due to P insufficiency) derived from the analysis of data from 55 long-term field experiments in eight European countries. To overcome the issue of diverging STP methods, all values were converted to Olsen-P using empirically based conversion equations from the literature. Converted threshold values varied by a factor of up to five. For the experimental data, we fitted multi-level Mitscherlich-type models to determine P(crit )values of unfertilized soils corresponding to 95% of maximum yield. We found an average Olsen-P-crit value of 15 mg P kg(-1) (adj. R-2 = 0.37; RMSE = 14.1% relative yield; n = 2368; 55 experiments), which lies far below several country-specific thresholds of target P fertility classes. Crop-specific analyses resulted in higher Olsen-P(crit )values for sugar beet (22 mg P kg-( 1)), potato (19 mg P kg (-1)) and winter rapeseed (18 mg P kg (-1)). Among the texture classes (loam, sand, silt and clay), sandy soils exhibited the highest average Olsen-P(crit )value (22 mg P kg( -1)). We consider a reevaluation of extraordinarily high country-specific thresholds as well as an inclusion of crop type and soil texture (where not already implemented) to be a reasonable measure towards more cost-effective and environment-friendly P fertilization.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Chala, Workneh Bedada, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term addition of compost and NP fertilizer increases crop yield and improves soil quality in experiments on smallholder farms
- 2014
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 195, s. 193-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil fertility decline due to low nutrient input is a constraint for sustainable agriculture in smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia. In this study, crop productivity and soil organic matter buildup were compared in soils receiving locally made compost, applied either alone or in combination with NP fertilizer. The experiments had four treatments: full dose of compost (C), full dose of fertilizer (F), half compost and half fertilizer (CF), and unfertilized control (control). The full dose of compost was equivalent to 2.4 t ha(-1) organic matter. The field study was conducted on four farm fields in the village Beseku, each representing different sub-villages. Participating farmers were selected based on their willingness and an assessment of dedication to carry out the experiment. The experiments, a randomized complete block design with three replications, were replicated across four farm fields. The treatments were repeated for six cropping seasons (years), and data on soil nutrient status and crop (maize, wheat, potato, and faba bean) harvests were collected. In the 0-10 cm soil layer, pH was (P < 0.05) lower in the F treatments than in the C and CF treatments. Compared with the F treatment, the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen stocks increased (P < 0.05) by 4.60 and 0.42 t ha(-1) in C treatment, and by 4.74 and 0.45 t ha(-1) in CF treatment. Treatment effects on crop harvests were significant (P < 0.05) for all crops grown across the sites and seasons. The highest maize yield was obtained from CF, with relative harvest of 178% compared with the control and 126% compared with F, but was comparable to C. For wheat and potato, the yields obtained from CF, C and F were comparable. For faba bean, CF had a relative harvest of 145% over the control. Maize harvest was in the order of CF > F> C> control in the initial season, CF > C> F> control in the next three consecutive seasons, and C> CF> F> control in the final year of the experiment. The overall combined yield was in the order of CF > C> F> control for maize and faba bean, CF > F> C> control for potato, and F> CF > C> control for wheat. The addition of either compost alone or in combination with NP fertilizer improved soil properties and crop productivity, compared with control and only fertilizer addition. Therefore, compost addition can serve as a complement to fertilizer use and reduce dependence on mineral fertilizer in low-input crop production system. The apparent synergy between compost and fertilizer addition needs further research in order to be explained. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 25. |
- Chala, Workneh Bedada, et al.
(författare)
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Soil nutrient build-up, input interaction effects and plot level N and P balances under long-term addition of compost and NP fertilizer
- 2016
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 218, s. 220-231
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Decline in farmland soil fertility due to nutrient depletion is a concern for smallholder farmers in the highlands of Ethiopia. In this study we tested if long-term addition of compost, either alone or in combination with nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) fertilizer, affected available soil nutrient status, grain/tuber harvests, agronomic N use efficiency, and plot level N and P nutrient balances. The on-farm experiments were conducted on four farm fields for up to 6 years in Beseku, Ethiopia. A randomized complete block design was used, with four treatments: full dose of compost applied alone at 2.4 t ha(-1) DW organic matter (C); full dose of fertilizer (F); half compost and half fertilizer (CF); and, unfertilized control. In the upper 10 cm of the surface soil, several Mehlich-3 extractable nutrients (B, Ca, K, Mg, P, S, and Zn) had significantly higher concentrations in the C treatment (P < 0.01), and some in the CF treatment (P < 0.05) than in the control. Phosphorus was the only nutrient with a higher concentration in the F treatment than the control. Maize and faba bean showed added benefits (synergy) in terms of yield increase in the CF treatment and a better agronomic efficiency for added N. Plot level N balances were negative for all treatments except C, with strong depletion in the control (-76 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) and F (-65 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) treatments. When the N balance was compared to measured change in soil N, the F and control treatments were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than zero. N in the CF and C treatments was close to steady-state, i.e., the input of N in organic matter compensated for the loss of N through mineralization. The control treatment had a negative P balance of 11 kg P ha(-1) yr(-1), with moderately negative balance of 4 kg P ha(-1) yr(-1) in the C treatment. The CF and F treatments had positive P balances. Thus, the addition of compost, both alone or in combination with mineral fertilizer, can prevent N and reduce P mining and improve the nutrient status of the soil. When only NP fertilizer was used, the crop utilized all N that was mineralized indicating that the crop was N limited. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 26. |
- Cheeke, Tanya
(författare)
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Effect of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) maize cultivation history on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization, spore abundance and diversity, and plant growth
- 2014
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 195, s. 29-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Greenhouse studies have reported that maize expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal toxins may have nontarget effects on symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), however, field studies have not detected the same pattern. This may be due to the short-term nature of previous field experiments, differences in soil properties between studies, or plant-soil feedbacks that influence AMF communities in roots and soil over time. In this field experiment, we used split plots to evaluate the effect of Bt or non-Bt maize cultivation history on AMF spore abundance, diversity, root colonization, and growth of seven different genotypes of Bt maize and five corresponding non-Bt parental (P) isolines. We found that Bt plants had higher leaf chlorophyll content when they were grown in plots that had been cultivated with Bt maize the previous year, and similarly, non-Bt plants had higher chlorophyll content when they were grown in plots with a non-Bt cultivation history, indicative of a positive feedback effect. There was a lower density of AMF spores in plots with a Bt maize cultivation history than in plots where P maize had been grown in the previous year, but no difference in spore diversity. Despite the differences in spore density, we found no significant differences in AMF colonization or root or shoot biomass between plots with a cultivation history of Bt and P maize. This study presents the first evidence of an effect of Bt maize cultivation on the soil ecosystem, but also provides further evidence that this effect is not necessarily large or easily detectable within the range of normal environmental variation. Management of agroecosystems will need to consider the potential effects of reduced numbers of AMF propagules in soil as this could have an effect on ecosystem processes including carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, drought tolerance, soil aggregation, and plant resistance to pathogens. Taken together with greenhouse experiments, we can now make predictions on how Bt maize cultivation may affect AMF under different environmental conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 27. |
- Curveira-Santos, Goncalo, et al.
(författare)
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Mediterranean mesocarnivores in spatially structured managed landscapes : community organisation in time and space
- 2017
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 237, s. 280-289
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the multi-functional and biodiverse cork oak landscapes of Iberia (Montado), agro-silvo-pastoral practices promote landscape heterogeneity and create intricate habitat and resource availability patterns. We used camera-traps to investigate the temporal and spatial organisation of a mesocarnivore community in a Montado landscape in central Portugal. The target carnivore assemblage was largely dominated by three generalist species - the red fox Vulpes vulpes, the European badger Meles metes and the Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon - while remaining community members - the common genet Genetta genetta and the feral cat Felis silvestris spp. - exhibited restricted distributions. Interspecific differences in activity rhythms and habitat use were particularly marked among widespread species. Low temporal overlap was reported between the diurnal mongoose and predominantly nocturnal red fox and badger. For the latter two species, contrasting differences in habitat use were associated with anthropogenic-induced environmental heterogeneity. Whereas the red fox used more intensively Montado areas preserving dense shrubby understory and avoided semi-disturbed mosaics of sparse shrubs, the badgers displayed the opposite pattern. Our findings add to previous evidence suggesting that the spatial structure created in highly managed landscapes, particularly the diversity of resulting understory structures, promotes the abundance and spread of generalist mesocarnivore species. These may benefit from the surplus of resource amount (e.g. prey) and the creation of different human-made habitats conditions that provide particular combinations of ecological resources favourable to each species requirements. We concur the common view that maintaining understory heterogeneity in Montado landscapes, menaced by current intensification and extensification trends, is important where carnivore persistence is a relevant conservation goal, but alert for potential effects on carnivore assemblages structuring and impacts for specialist species less tolerant to disturbance.
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| 28. |
- Dahlin, Sigrun
(författare)
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Living within their means: Reallocation of farm resources can help smallholder farmers improve crop yields and soil fertility
- 2016
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 216, s. 125-136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Slash and burn agriculture is no longer feasible due to the rising population pressure and a dwindling resource base. Crop production intensification is required to produce more food per unit area of land, while rebuilding soil fertility. We explored the impact of reallocation of limited resources on crop productivity across farms of different resource endowment in central Mozambique. The results suggested that decreasing the cropped area and concentrating resources (fertiliser, manure and labour within the farmers' means) to smaller fields can increase total farm maize production for poor as well as relatively richer farmers in central Mozambique, but that the fertility of the retained and abandoned land is important for the overall outcome. Concentrating resources to smaller areas would in most cases also lead to increased concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC), indicating positive effects on soil fertility and crop productivity in the long term. However, this apparently does not apply when only fertiliser is used and if harvest residues and weeds are removed or burnt. Organic inputs are thus also required, such as retention of crop residues, and applications of manure if available can further increase SOC. The study has revealed that sustainable intensification or crop production requires that multiple constraints be addressed simultaneously. Success of crop intensification options will also depend on proper targeting to different farm types as well as variability in soil fertility. Differences in resource ownership and biophysical circumstances lead to different opportunities for individual farmers even within the same area. While targeted interventions for individual farmers might not be feasible, targeting defined farmer/endowment groups may be a sustainable pathway to increase productivity. Although smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have limited assets, the study revealed opportunities to increase crop productivity without substantial capital inputs, but more efficient use and targeting. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 29. |
- Daouti, Eirini Lamprini, et al.
(författare)
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Agricultural management intensity determines the strength of weed seed predation
- 2022
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 339
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural intensification both increases disturbances at the field level and reduces habitat heterogeneity at the landscape level and this can have detrimental effects on biodiversity-driven ecosystem services. A few studies have shown that agricultural intensification can diminish the ecosystem service of weed seed predation, but it is not known to what extent availability of crop and non-crop habitat can provide disturbance refugia for weed seed predators and how those effects cascade to ecosystem service provisioning. Using data from 13 fields in Southern Sweden, we first combined diet preference traits, activity density and metabolic theory, in order to develop a metric that approximates the community strength of seed predation. We then explored how the impact of field management intensity and habitat refugia on seed card predation rates mediated by weed seed availability and the metric of community strength of seed predation. We found that increasing field management intensity directly reduced seed card predation rates and weed seed availability and that reduced weed seed availability in turn impaired the community strength of seed predation. This suggests an indirect mechanism by which field management limits seed predator potential for weed seed predation. We found no evidence that either crop or non-crop refugia can increase seed card predation rates or community strength of seed predation during dis-turbances in the crop. Consequently, weed seed predation can be promoted by reducing disturbances at the field level, regardless of the availability of disturbance refugia in the landscape. Reduction of field management in-tensity can directly increase weed seed predation and indirectly seed predator communities' potential for weed seed predation by increasing weed seed availability. Future research is needed to explore if supporting a diversity of non-competitive weeds to enhance seed availability can improve the suppression of dominant and competitive weed species.
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| 30. |
- Diekötter, Tim, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape and management effects on structure and function of soil arthropod communities in winter wheat
- 2010
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2305 .- 0167-8809. ; 137:1-2, s. 108-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluates the impact of agricultural management (organic vs. conventional) and landscape context on species richness and abundance of five soilarthropod taxa (ground beetles, spiders, springtails, millipedes, woodlice) and associated ecosystem functions (soil biological activity, weed seed predation, litter decomposition). A significant interaction between management type and landscape context was revealed in several cases. Activity density of millipedes and wood lice and species richness of ground beetles were higher in fields where local and regional management types were complementary, indicating a beneficial effect of environmental heterogeneity. In addition, seed predation on arable weeds was higher in organically than conventionally managed fields. It is concluded that the effect of agricultural management on soilarthropod biodiversity and functioning is often context dependent. The diversity of functionally important taxa such as ground beetles and decomposers may be enhanced by increasing environmental heterogeneity, a measure that is also beneficial for other components of agrobiodiversity. Thus, in a conventional agricultural context even managing only a fraction of fields organically may help to increase environmental heterogeneity and thereby promote soilarthropod diversity and the associated ecosystem functions.
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| 31. |
- Dile, Yihun Taddele, et al.
(författare)
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The role of water harvesting to achieve sustainable agricultural intensification and resilience against water related shocks in sub-Saharan Africa
- 2013
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 181, s. 69-79
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poverty alleviation in rural areas is a top priority for social and economic development, particularly against a backdrop of rising populations up to 2050 and to meet growing food demands in a rapidly urbanizing world. Sustainable intensification of agricultural techniques are therefore required, such as water management practices that result in higher agricultural production without causing severe environmental impacts, whilst at the same time improving resilience to drought and dry spells. Water harvesting practices have shown promising results in reducing risks, and improving yields whilst also delivering positive impacts on other ecosystems. However, before large scale implementation of water harvesting, further investigation of local downstream impacts are warranted. We conclude that water harvesting remains a promising option for sustainable agricultural intensification in the water scarce tropics, resulting in both risk reduction and yield improvements.
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| 32. |
- Dos Reis Vechi, Natalia, 1992, et al.
(författare)
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Quantification of methane emissions from cattle farms, using the tracer gas dispersion method
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809. ; 330
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Denmark, agriculture is the largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions (81%), mainly from cattle (dairy and beef) farms. Whole-farm methane emissions were quantified at nine Danish cattle farms, using the tracer gas dispersion method. Five to six measurement campaigns were carried out at each farm, covering a full year. Of the nine cattle farms, seven were home to dairy cows and two to beef cattle. The farms represented typical breeds, housing and management systems used in Denmark. Whole-farm methane emission rates ranged from 0.7 to 28 kg h−1, with the highest measurements seen at locations with the highest number of animals. Emissions tended to be higher from August to October, due to elevated temperatures and high amounts of stored manure during this period of the year. The average emission factor (EF) for dairy cow farms was 26 ± 8.5 g Livestock Unit (LU)−1 h−1, whereas it was 16 ± 4.1 LU−1 h−1 for beef cattle farms, i.e. 38% lower for the latter. The use of deep litter house management explained some of the differences found in the EFs for dairy cows. Methane emission rates estimated using IPCC models and national guidelines tended, on average for all farms and measurements, to be underestimated by 35% in comparison with the measured methane emissions, for all models and farms. The results suggest that future improvements to inventory models should focus on enteric methane emissions from beef cattle and manure methane emissions for both dairy cows and beef cattle, especially from deep litter management.
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| 33. |
- Eckersten, Henrik
(författare)
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Coincidence of variation in yield and climate in Europe
- 2010
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 139, s. 483-489
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We aimed to characterise the coincidence of yield variations with weather variables for major field crops using long-term datasets and reveal whether there are commonalities across the European agricultural regions. Long-term national and/or regional yield datasets were used from 14 European countries (total of 25 regions). Crops studied were spring and winter barley and wheat, winter oilseed rape, potato and sugar beet. Relative yield deviations were determined for all crops. Meteorological data on monthly means for temperature variables, solar radiation, accumulated precipitation and evapotranspiration were provided for the relevant agricultural regions of each country for 1975-2008. Harmful effects of high precipitation during grain-filling in grain and seed crops and at flowering in oilseed rape were recorded. In potato reduced precipitation at tuber formation was associated with yield penalties. Elevated temperatures had harmful effects for cereals and rapeseed yields. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 34. |
- Eeraerts, Maxime, et al.
(författare)
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Pollination deficits and their relation with insect pollinator visitation are cultivar-dependent in an entomophilous crop
- 2024
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - 0167-8809. ; 369
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Insects contribute considerably to global crop pollination, with pollination deficits being documented for multiple entomophilous or pollinator-dependent crops. Different cultivars of crops are being cultivated within and across production regions, so it is essential to understand the cultivar variability of pollination deficits. Here, we used a dataset from 286 sites from multiple production regions to develop a synthesis on pollination deficits in two widely cultivated highbush blueberry cultivars, ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Duke’. Additionally, we determined if bee visitation or bee richness reduces pollination deficits in these cultivars. On average, neither cultivar showed pollination deficits regarding fruit set. However, for ‘Bluecrop’ we found pollination deficits for berry weight and seed set, which was not the case for ‘Duke’. Increasing total bee visitation reduced pollination deficits of both berry weight and seed set for ‘Bluecrop’. More specifically, a non-linear, negative exponential model best predicted this relation between bee visitation and pollination deficits. Our results highlight that pollination deficits and responses to pollinator visitation are variable between different cultivars of a single crop, which suggests opportunities to use certain cultivars that are less dependent on insect-mediated pollination in landscapes and regions where pollination services have been compromised. In addition, the non-linear response between bee visitation and pollination deficits suggests that optimal bee visitation rates need to be determined to improve pollination management and crop yield and to support accurate economic valuations of pollination services.
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| 35. |
- Eggers, Sönke, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape composition influences farm management effects on farmland birds in winter: A pan-European approach
- 2010
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 139, s. 571-577
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined the effects of agricultural intensity, various farming practices, landscape composition and vegetation cover on the abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds, assessed simultaneously across seven European regions.The abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds were negatively affected by agricultural intensity. The effects of yield and farm type were interlinked. Of the 10 farming practices assessed, mechanical weeding and the amount of organic fertilizer applied negatively affected farmland birds, presumably due to reduced food availability on arable fields. Positive effects of organic farming on farmland birds proved to be limited to simplified landscapes. More farmland birds were observed in areas with more stubble, pasture and green manure crops. Species richness was higher in areas with more pasture.The results of this study show that farm management, vegetation cover and landscape composition all influence wintering farmland birds. Heterogeneous landscapes comprising arable crops as well as grasslands support most species of farmland birds in winter. The effectiveness of organic farming and agri-environment schemes depends on landscape composition. Therefore, different agri-environment schemes should be designed for different landscape types. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 36. |
- Emery, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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High agricultural intensity at the landscape scale benefits pests, but low intensity practices at the local scale can mitigate these effects
- 2021
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 306
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural production has intensified over the last century both across increasingly homogenized landscapes and at the field level. This study analyzes the effects of land-use intensity at both landscape and local scales on the main insect pests, predators and yield of grain sorghum as a summer crop in Uruguay. It represents one of very few landscape studies focused on a reduced intensity production system other than organic agriculture and adds information from an under-studied subtropical region. Piecewise structural equation models were used to compare the direct and indirect effects of intensification at landscape scales and more sustainable practices at a local scale on densities of Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) and Rhopalosiphum maidis (corn leaf aphid), coccinellid abundance and yield over a two-year period in sorghum fields in western Uruguay. Greater landscape intensity resulted in increased S. frugiperda densities. Lower intensity crop-grazing rotation production systems reduced R. maidis densities compared to continuous cropping systems. Additionally, S. frugiperda and R. maidis interacted indirectly through apparent commensalism in continuous cropping systems, but not in crop-grazing rotational systems. Single cropping management resulted in lower S. frugiperda density, while insecticide use had no effect on pest or predator species. Our analysis affirms that agricultural intensification benefits herbivorous arthropod pests at the landscape scale, but that local management practices can mitigate some of these effects.
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| 37. |
- Eriksson, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
-
Addressing semantics and historical data heterogeneities in cross-temporal landscape change analyses
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 139:139, s. 516-521
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The process of recreating historical land cover dynamics, needed to understand trends and transient states in ecosystems, includes difficulties such as the sensitivity of applied spatial analyses to heterogeneities in historical material. This paper compares the handling of quantitatively dominating categories in two matrix analyses of land cover change within a Swedish boreal landscape (1725–1859). The focus is on how inconsistencies between historical maps can be handled without violating the inherent semantic potential. The study shows that analyses of land cover support different indications of change depending on the treatment of dominating categories. The type of landscape and research questions in focus should therefore be part of choosing matrix method and classification scheme. The observed patterns need to be evaluated against drivers of change and semantic plasticity in classification schemes to separate ecological change from semantic confusion. This paper recommends aggregated classification schemes with maintained original relationships between categories in comprehensive analyses. However, no pathway is persistent over time and categories should be allowed to disappear and new to appear. Analysis of historical dynamics with extended transition matrixes is recommended to account for the dynamics of small categories in relation to dominating categories within a landscape.
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| 38. |
- Ernfors, Maria
(författare)
-
The effect of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) on nitrous oxide and methane emissions after cattle slurry application to Irish grassland
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 199, s. 339-349
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Application of cattle slurry to grassland can lead to gaseous losses of nitrogen (N). The dynamics of ammonia (NH3) emissions are well documented, but emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and other trace gases from land application of cattle slurry, are not as well understood. Nitrification inhibitors such as dicyandiamide (DCD) help to retain soil N in the ammonium (NH4+) form, which is expected to result in reduced N loss and increased N use efficiency. Emissions of methane (CH4) could potentially be affected by DCD, since the enzyme ammonia monooxygenase (AMO), which DCD is thought to inhibit, can oxidise CH4 as well as NH3. The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of DCD on N2O and CH4 emissions from grassland soils after slurry application. At one experimental site, Johnstown Castle (JC), County Wexford, Ireland, slurry was applied in March, June and October for two years, at a rate of 33 m3 ha1, by either bandspread (BS) or splashplate (SP) application methods, with and without DCD. A second site at Hillsborough (HB), County Down, Ireland, was treated in the same way for one year only, using the SP application method. Emissions of N2O and CH4 were measured using static chambers. Over the entire experiment DCD significantly reduced cumulative N2O emissions by 47 and 70% at both sites. Slurry spreading method had no significant effect on direct N2O emissions and there was no effect of DCD on CH4 emissions throughout the experiment. Using an emission factor for indirect N2O emissions of 1%, modelled losses of NH3 through volatilisation, resulted in an estimated 13 times greater indirect than direct N2O emissions. The results suggest that, under typical Irish field conditions, DCD can be used to decrease direct N2O emissions, without increasing CH4 emissions, and bandspreading can be used as a method of decreasing NH3 volatilisation, without increasing direct N2O or CH4 emissions. Since direct N2O emissions were relatively small, targeting indirect N2O emissions through mitigation of NH3 volatilisation and nitrate (NO3) leaching could be an effective way of decreasing total N2O emissions from slurry application at these sites.
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| 39. |
- Farahbakhshazad, Neda, et al.
(författare)
-
Modeling biogeochemical impacts of alternative management practices for a row-crop field in Iowa
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 123:1-3, s. 30-48
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The management of contemporary agriculture is rapidly shifting from single-goal to multi-goal strategies. The bottleneck of implementing the strategies is the capacity of predicting the simultaneous impacts of change in management practices on agricultural production, soil and water resources and environmental safety. Process-based models provide an opportunity to quantify the impacts of farm management options on various pools and fluxes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in agroecosystems. The denitrification-decomposition or DNDC model was recently modified for simulating N cycling for the U.S. Midwestern agricultural systems. This paper reports a continuous effort on applying the model for estimating the impacts of alternative management practices (e.g., no-till, cover crop, change in fertilizer rate or timing) on agroecosystems in the Midwestern U.S. A typical row-crop field in Iowa was selected for the sensitivity tests. The modeled results were assessed with a focus on four major indicators of agro-ecosystems, namely crop yield, soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, nitrate-N leaching loss and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The results indicated that no-till practice significantly increased SOC storage and reduced nitrate-N leaching rate, but slightly decreased crop yield and increased N2O emissions. By modifying the methods of fertilizer application in conjunction with the no-till practice, the disadvantages of no-till could be overcome. For example, increasing the fertilizing depth and using a nitrification inhibitor could substantially reduce N2O emissions and increase crop yield under the no-till conditions. This study revealed the complexity of impacts of the alternative farming management practices across different climate conditions, soil properties and management regimes. Process-based models can play an important role in quantifying the comprehensive effects of management alternatives on agricultural production and the environment.
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| 40. |
- Gagic, Vesna
(författare)
-
Landscape composition and configuration influence cereal aphid-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions and biological control differentially across years
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 183, s. 1-10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The loss of landscape heterogeneity through agricultural intensification is known to affect aphid-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions, with consequences for biological control. Various aspects of landscape heterogeneity (e.g. landscape composition and configuration) are expected to affect these interactions differentially, but there were few attempts to empirically compare the influence of separate landscape features on pest-parasitoid dynamics. To address these questions, we conducted three simultaneous studies in wheat fields in northern Serbia, to compare the effects of contrasting landscape contexts: (1) simple vs. more complex landscapes; (2) large- vs. small-field landscapes; (3) large-field areas with contrasting character of their marginal vegetation. We (1) found that aphid densities, parasitism rates and species richness of parasitoids and hyperparasitoids were higher in landscapes with more extensive and diversified non-crop habitats, positively affecting the biological control. We (2) did not find significant differences in aphid abundance and parasitism between large- and small-field landscapes, but we detected some contradictory patterns in aphid growth and parasitism increase; we relate both findings to certain region-specific landscape features of wider relevance. The character of marginal vegetation (3) had mixed effects on aphid-parasitoid interactions and dynamics, with respect to source of colonization. Parasitism rates above 22-24% were associated with population decline in the aphids, consistently across analyzed landscape contrasts. Other relationships were subject to significant inter-annual variability (over 2-4 years period), suggesting that effectiveness of landscape management for conservation biological control would also fluctuate year by year. Our findings show that a well-founded landscape-scale management for biological pest control in agriculture must be adjusted for differential aspects of landscape heterogeneity effects on pest-parasitoid interactions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 41. |
- Gérard, Maxence, et al.
(författare)
-
Impact of crop exposure and agricultural intensification on the phenotypic variation of bees
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 338
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a context of rapid global change, understanding how environmental stressors can impact phenotypic variation, and which phenotypic traits are predominantly affected can be particularly relevant. Indeed, potential phenotypic modifications could affect the functionality of traits from taxa that are in decline but that are keystone species in many ecosystems. In this study, we assessed the impact of environmental drivers and agricultural intensification on two crucial pollinator species: the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Among eight countries representing four major European biogeographical regions [i.e., Boreal (Sweden and Estonia), Atlantic (Ireland and United Kingdom), Continental (Germany and Switzerland) and Mediterranean (Spain and Italy)] and two type of crops (i.e., apple orchards and oilseed rape) we assessed how landscape structure, latitude and pesticide management could impact their wing morphology. Two sampling sessions were conducted: the first one when the hives/nests were settled on the field (T0) and a second sampling session after the potential effect of agricultural intensification (T1). Using a dataset of more than 7238 wings, we measured the wing size, shape and asymmetry. We observed that, in several countries, a shift in most of the morphological traits occurred between T0 and T1. When focusing on the drivers of phenotypic variation in T1, the levels of significance for some potential drivers were sometimes high, while most of the variation remained unexplained. The latitude and, more rarely, grassland cover were found to partly explain the wing modifications. In light of these results, we conclude that phenotypic shifts can occur in a very short period, after encountering new field conditions. Further studies should be conducted to better understand which alternative drivers could explain morphological changes in the agro-ecosystem after crop exposition, as well as the potential consequences of these changes on foraging performance or pollination efficiency.
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| 42. |
- Getachew, Merkebu, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of shade tree species on soil biogeochemistry and coffee bean quality in plantation coffee
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 347
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Shade trees are used in many coffee production systems across the globe. Beyond the benefits on biodiversity conservation, climate buffering, carbon sequestration and pathogen regulation, shade trees can impact the soil nutrient status via, for instance, litter inputs and nitrogen fixation. Since soil nutrients affect coffee quality and taste, there is also a potential indirect effect of shade tree species on coffee quality. Yet, in spite of the potentially large impact of shade tree species, quantitative data on the effects of shade trees on (i) soil biogeochemistry and (ii) the associated coffee bean quality remain scarce. To what extent four widely used shade trees species (Acacia abyssinica L., Albizia gummifera L., Cordia africana L. and Croton macrostachyus L.) in a plantation coffee agroforestry system impact soil biogeochemistry, and how this in turn affects coffee quality, measured as cupping scores and bean size. A significant negative impact of N-fixing shade tree species on soil pH and base cation concentrations was found. Plant-available and total phosphorus was enhanced by the presence of Albizia gummifera L. Thus, the present findings demonstrate that careful selection and integration of shade tree species such as Acacia abyssinica L. and Albizia gummifera L. into coffee production systems is a good practice for sustaining soil chemical properties in coffee agroecosystem. Despite the impacts on soil chemical characteristics, the shade tree species had no effect on coffee cup quality but did affect the bean mass. In this particular study, an attempt was made to quantify the impacts of widely used shade tree species on soil biogeochemistry and the subsequent effect on coffee bean quality in a plantation agroforestry system over the course of one season in southwest Ethiopia. However, it might be feasible to accommodate both relatively sparse time-series experimental data consisting of coffee farms from plantations and smallholders, which needs to be the goal of future research to accurately examine the impacts on the outcome variables.
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| 43. |
- Goded, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of organic farming on bird diversity in North-West Spain
- 2018
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809. ; 257, s. 60-67
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many studies have investigated effects of organic farming on the abundance and diversity of farmland birds, but few have considered how these effects vary between seasons. We analysed the effects of organic farming during an entire year in a previously understudied region, Galicia (North-West Spain), a relatively heterogeneous landscape which is an important wintering and breeding ground for birds. We compared bird abundance and species richness on farmland in 0.5 × 0.5 km study squares on 16 paired organic and conventional farms. In addition, at each organic farm we compared bird abundance and species richness between one similar study square with a high and one with a low proportion of organic farming, respectively. During winter, species richness was higher in organic farms compared to conventional ones. Throughout the year bird abundance was higher in squares with a high proportion of organic farming compared to those with a low proportion of organic farming, but only when they were surrounded by land with a low proportion of agriculture. Bird abundance in organic squares increased with the proportion of land being native forest resulting in more mosaic landscapes. Seedeaters particularly benefited from organic farming, with high abundances on organic farms in landscapes with a low proportion of agricultural land. Our results suggest that organic farming can benefit farmland birds in heterogeneous landscapes, particularly during winter, probably due to increased food availability, but future studies are needed to clarify the mechanism behind the effects.
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| 44. |
- Goded, Sandra, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of organic farming on plant and butterfly functional diversity in mosaic landscapes
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809. ; 284
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organic farming can benefit plants and butterflies in terms of species richness and abundance, in particular in homogeneous landscapes. Nevertheless, whether organic farming can benefit functional diversity of these two organism groups is not well understood. Organic farming could benefit functional diversity by counteracting simplification and homogenisation of biotic communities caused by earlier agricultural intensification, and therefore contribute to communities more resilient to environmental or land use changes. We analysed species richness and four functional diversity indices (functional richness, evenness, divergence and dispersion) of plants and butterflies on 15 pairs of organic/conventional farms in North-West Spain, whilst accounting for independent and joint effects of landscape context. To better understand links between functional diversity and taxonomic species assemblages, we applied an indicator species analysis to determine whether any particular plant or butterfly species were significantly more abundant on organic or conventional farms. Both butterfly species and functional richness were higher on organic than on conventional farms. In addition, when the farms were surrounded by low proportions of agriculture, butterfly functional evenness was higher on organic farms. In contrast, organic farming did not affect plant species richness or functional diversity. Nevertheless, plants were affected by landscape openness and field size, so that plant functional richness decreased with increasing landscape openness while functional evenness showed a complex relationship to the interaction between field size and landscape openness. Indicator analyses revealed that three plant species, but no individual butterfly species, were significantly related to organic farming. In conclusion, organic farms provide higher-quality habitat for butterflies than conventional farms, either by promoting specific grassland plants benefiting butterflies, or more generally by providing a wider niche space, fostering functionally diverse butterfly communities.
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| 45. |
- Gonda, Horacio
(författare)
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Combination of cattle urine and dung patches synergically increased nitrous oxide emissions from a temperate grassland under wet conditions.
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 340
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During grazing, some of the nutrients ingested by cattle are returned to grassland as urine and dung patches and can be lost as greenhouse gases. Sites where cattle congregate are more likely to have overlapping excreta patches favouring enhanced nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. However, there is no consensus about the magnitude of these or simultaneous methane (CH4) emissions or potential mitigation options. This study investigated the effect of combined cattle dung and urine depositions on N2O and CH4 emissions, compared with emissions from separate depositions, under different weather conditions. Local emission factors (EFs) were then calculated for both gases. A quantitative assessment of published studies was also performed to search for N2O emissions drivers. Two field experiments were performed during two 98-day trials under dry and wet conditions in Tandil, Argentina. Treatments included fresh excreta patches of urine (0.75 L), dung (2.50 kg), dung + urine (2.50 kg + 0.75 L) from Holstein dairy cows, and a control (without excreta). Soil and excreta properties were analysed, and N2O and CH4 fluxes from the patches were measured using the static chamber technique. Patches containing dung were shown to be localised CH4 hotspots. Urine applied to soil, and the addition of urine to dung patches had a negligible effect on CH4 fluxes. Urine, dung and combined patches were found to be localised N2O sources. Adding urine to dung patches under wet weather had a significant synergetic effect (threefold increase) on cumulative N2O emissions compared with the theoretical sum of separate excreta patches. Adding urine to dung patches under dry conditions gave an additive effect on N2O. These findings suggest that preventing overlapping excreta patches under wet conditions can help mitigate N2O emissions from temperate managed grazed pastures. The effect of combining excreta patches was also evident in the EF values obtained. That for CH4 was consistent with the default IPCC value (0.75 g CH4 kg−1 VS), while N2O (EF = 0.03–0.39%) was lower than the updated IPCC 2019 value of 0.6%.
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| 46. |
- Gustafson, G.M., et al.
(författare)
-
Barn balance calculations of Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, N, P, S and Zn in a conventional and organic dairy farm in Sweden
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 119:1-2, s. 160-170
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Calculations of flows and balances of plant nutrients in agricultural production systems provide some basic information for the assessment of their long-term sustainability. The objectives of this study were to assess the possible impacts of variations in element concentrations between years and of undefined sinks and sources of elements on the accuracy of balance calculations. A 3-year study was conducted on Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, N, P, S, and Zn fluxes in the barns (subsystem) of a Swedish farm with separate conventional and organic milk production. Our main focus in this subproject was on barn balance calculations, the barn housing only cows. Barn balance for an element was defined as amount of that element in [feeds, heifers, bedding, water] - [milk, manure, urine, calves, culled cows]. The focus was on: (1) variations in element concentrations in the main flow carriers [feeds, milk, manure, urine]; (2) information about element dynamics and flows of dairy farming systems obtained from internal flows of elements in the barn balance compared with that obtained from the flows associated with milk production in a farm gate balance; (3) differences in element flows and concentrations between the organic and conventional farming systems on this farm. Our conclusions were: (1) the sampling methods used had low coefficients of variation and thus pooled samples can reduce the costs of element analyses. However, urine must be thoroughly mixed if less water-soluble elements are to be monitored. Magnesium differed significantly in concentrations between years in all feedstuffs; (2) year-to-year fluctuations in harvest can influence a calculation negatively if calculations are based on annual harvest and not on feed supplied. The barn balance calculation showed a source of Cu, Mn and Zn that would not have been obvious in a farm gate balance. The element content of manure and urine calculated as [inputs - milk] would have underestimated the amount of Cu, Mn and Zn in manure and overestimated the amount of K and N. The Cu analysis showed an example of conflicting goals between short-term welfare of the cows and long-term soil fertility. EU legislation regarding land for spreading of manure is not a guarantee against soil contamination by heavy metals; (3) the differences between the organic and conventional system related more to differences in forage: concentrate and home-grown: purchased ratios, which were typical for the average Swedish farm of each type, and less to differences in element concentrations of the feed ingredients. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 47. |
- Han, Guilin, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon-nitrogen isotope coupling of soil organic matter in a karst region under land use change, Southwest China
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 301, s. 1-11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The soil stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes are widely used to indicate C3/C4 vegetation history, N sources and transformation processes, respectively. However, land use change, particularly converting forest into farm land, alters soil organic matter (SOM) sources and processes in soils, resulting in a hard understanding of soil C and N fate. In the present study, soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil organic nitrogen (SON) contents, and their stable isotope compositions (δ13C and δ15N) were determined in the five soil profiles under land use change (i.e., conversion of native forest land into shrub land, grass land, maize field, and paddy land) in Lobo county, Guizhou province, Southwest China. A coupling of 13C and 15N isotope in SOM under land use change was verified whether it could provide more accurate indications of sources and transformation processes.The SOC and SON contents of native forest land at the 0∼20 cm depth were significantly larger than these under other transformed lands. The SOC and SON contents decreased exponentially with increasing soil depth under all land use types, and showed opposite trends with soil pH. The C/N ratios of SOM in the soils under undisturbed native forest decreased from 10 to 7 with increasing soil depth, while an irregular fluctuation along soil profile was shown in other transformed lands. Similarly to the most study in the soils under C3 forest, the δ13C and δ15N values of SOM in the soils under native forest at the 0∼50 cm depth increased with increasing soil depth, with the range of −27.7‰∼−25.7‰ and 6.5‰∼10.0‰, respectively. While decreasing trends of them in the soils below 50 cm depth were attributed to the mixing of 13C and 15N-depleted organic matters from bedrocks. However, the δ13C and δ15N values of SOM along the soil profiles under other transformed lands were intensively irregularly fluctuated between −29.1‰ and −19.0‰, 1.2‰ and 7.9‰, respectively. The single δ13C and δ15N signals in the soil profiles of transformed lands indeed revealed the alterations of historical C3/C4 composition and N transformation processes after land use change, but these indications were not specific. The result of the coupling of 13C and 15N isotope under native forest land reveals a positive relationship between them, which associated with full plant-absorption against 15N-depleted inorganic nitrogen derived from SOM mineralization. This study suggests that the coupling of CN isotope fractionation more likely occurs in the C3 forest ecosystem with high N utilization efficiency. However, the replacement of native forest by farm land or grass land will reduce soil N utilization efficiency.
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| 48. |
- Hanson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
-
Agricultural management reduces emergence of pollen beetle parasitoids
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2305 .- 0167-8809. ; 205, s. 9-14
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Natural enemies such as predatory arthropods and parasitoids have the potential to suppress pest species and provide the ecosystem service biological control. When predicting the potential of biological control in agriculture it is important to give evidence on how agricultural management influence the abundance and functions of the natural enemies. In this study we examined whether managements practices as insecticide application and different tillage regimes, can influence biological control of a herbivorous pest on oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). The endoparasitoids Phradis interstitialis Thomson and Tersilochus heterocerus Thomson were studied as they are important for the biological control of the pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus F.) which is a common pest on oilseed rape in Europe. The number of emerging female parasitoids was quantified by capturing the parasitoids in emergence tents from fields where the oilseed rape plants were grown the previous year. The number of emerging P. interstitialis and T. heterocerus were significantly reduced in insecticide treated fields, but the tillage regimes had no effect on the number of emerging females of either parasitoid species. We conclude that when predicting the biological control potential by pollen beetle parasitoids in agricultural landscapes it is important to consider insecticide treatment of former oilseed rape fields as that can influence population densities at the landscape scale the following year. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 49. |
- Happe, Anne-Kathrin, et al.
(författare)
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Predatory arthropods in apple orchards across Europe : Responses to agricultural management, adjacent habitat, landscape composition and country
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-8809 .- 1873-2305. ; 273, s. 141-150
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Local agri-environmental schemes, including hedgerows, flowering strips, organic management, and a landscape rich in semi-natural habitat patches, are assumed to enhance the presence of beneficial arthropods and their contribution to biological control in fruit crops. We studied the influence of local factors (orchard management and adjacent habitats) and of landscape composition on the abundance and community composition of predatory arthropods in apple orchards in three European countries. To elucidate how local and landscape factors influence natural enemy effectiveness in apple production systems, we calculated community energy use as a proxy for the communities' predation potential based on biomass and metabolic rates of predatory arthropods. Predator communities were assessed by standardised beating samples taken from apple trees in 86 orchards in Germany, Spain and Sweden. Orchard management included integrated production (IP; i.e. the reduced and targeted application of synthetic agrochemicals), and organic management practices in all three countries. Predator communities differed between management types and countries. Several groups, including beetles (Coleoptera), predatory bugs (Heteroptera), flies (Diptera) and spiders (Araneae) benefited from organic management depending on country. Woody habitat and IP supported harvestmen (Opiliones). In both IP and organic orchards we detected aversive influences of a high-quality surrounding landscape on some predator groups: for example, high covers of woody habitat reduced earwig abundances in German orchards but enhanced their abundance in Sweden, and high natural plant species richness tended to reduce predatory bug abundance in Sweden and IP orchards in Spain. We conclude that predatory arthropod communities and influences of local and landscape factors are strongly shaped by orchard management, and that the influence of management differs between countries. Our results indicate that organic management improves the living conditions for effective predator communities.
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| 50. |
- Hederström, Veronica, et al.
(författare)
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White clover pollinators and seed set in relation to local management and landscape context
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. - 0167-8809. ; 365
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bees are declining, which is worrisome since they both have intrinsic conservation value and play a major role as pollinators in both natural and managed ecosystems. Land use change and lack of suitable habitats are often suggested as driving forces of bee decline. To propose mitigation measures to halt bee decline, it is important to understand how land use relates to bee abundance and diversity, and to explore consequences for their provision of pollination services. White clover, Trifolium repens, is an outcrossing mass-flowering crop, which could serve as an abundant, although ephemeral, food resource for bees. We investigated how the bee community in 39 fields of white clover grown for seed, related to local field management (organic, conventional without insecticides and conventional with insecticides) and landscape context (proportion semi-natural land), and how this pollinator community related to white clover seed set. The honey bee, Apis mellifera, was the most commonly observed bee species, and two generalist bumble bee species, Bombus terrestris and B. lapidarius, were the subsequently most common. We observed fewer non-Apis bees, and a lower bee species richness in organic white clover seed fields compared to conventional fields independent of insecticide treatment. Bee species richness in both conventional and organic fields were positively related to the proportion of semi-natural land in the landscape, likely because of a larger species pool in such landscapes. Initial seed set in immature inflorescences was positively related to bee abundance, whereas final seed set in mature inflorescences was unrelated to bee abundance, possibly as a consequence of seed-eating weevils consuming a large proportion of the seeds. We conclude that both bee visitation and seed set in white clover benefit from conventional management and that landscapes rich in semi-natural habitats will make future crop production more resilient. The observed positive relationship between bee abundance and initial seed set suggests that if we can mitigate pest impacts and increase bee abundance in clover seed fields, the final seed yield can be increased. Thus, bee decline should be considered and mitigated both to maintain biodiversity in general and for crop seed production specifically.
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