| 1. |
- Abdi, Abdulhakim M., et al.
(författare)
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Biodiversity decline with increasing crop productivity in agricultural fields revealed by satellite remote sensing
- 2021
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Ingår i: Ecological Indicators. - : Elsevier BV. - 1470-160X. ; 130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Increasing land-use intensity is a main driver of biodiversity loss in farmland, but measuring proxies for land-use intensity across entire landscapes is challenging. Here, we develop a novel method for the assessment of the impact of land-use intensity on biodiversity in agricultural landscapes using remote sensing parameters derived from the Sentinel-2 satellites. We link crop phenology and productivity parameters derived from time-series of a two-band enhanced vegetation index with biodiversity indicators (insect pollinators and insect-pollinated vascular plants) in agricultural fields in southern Sweden, with contrasting land management (i.e. conventional and organic farming). Our results show that arable land-use intensity in cereal systems dominated by spring-sown cereals can be approximated using Sentinel-2 productivity parameters. This was shown by the significant positive correlations between the amplitude and maximum value of the enhanced vegetation index on one side and farmer reported yields on the other. We also found that conventional cereal fields had 17% higher maximum and 13% higher amplitude of their enhanced vegetation index than organic fields. Sentinel-2 derived parameters were more strongly correlated with the abundance and species richness of bumblebees and the richness of vascular plants than the abundance and species richness of butterflies. The relationships we found between biodiversity and crop production proxies are consistent with predictions that increasing agricultural land-use intensity decreases field biodiversity. The newly developed method based on crop phenology and productivity parameters derived from Sentinel-2 data serves as a proof of concept for the assessment of the impact of land-use intensity on biodiversity over cereal fields across larger areas. It enables the estimation of arable productivity in cereal systems, which can then be used by ecologists and develop tools for land managers as a proxy for land-use intensity. Coupled with spatially explicit databases on agricultural land-use, this method will enable crop-specific cereal productivity estimation across large geographical regions.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Sofie, et al.
(författare)
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Är ekologisk odling bättre för miljön
- 2021
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Sverige har ambitiösa mål för att öka den ekologiskt odlade jordbruksmarken. Samtidigt är det inte självklart att ekologisk odling är bättre för miljön. Här sammanställer vi kunskap om skillnader mellan ekologisk och konventionell odling i Sverige. De miljöfaktorer vi tittar på är biologisk mångfald, näringsläckage och utsläpp av växthusgaser. Sammanställningen tyder på att när miljöpåverkan mäts per hektar åkermark ger ekologisk odling ökad biologisk mångfald, mindre näringsläckage och lägre utsläpp av växthusgaser. Om miljöpåverkan istället beräknas utifrån hur mycket mark som krävs för att producera en bestämd mängd livsmedel finner vi att ekologisk odling bara har en positiv effekt på biologisk mångfald. Däremot kan utsläppen av växthusgaser och näringsläckage öka ifall samma mängd livsmedel ska produceras med ekologiskt istället för konventionellt jordbruk. Detta beror på att mer jordbruksmark krävs för att producera samma mängd livsmedel vid ekologisk odling vilket minskar möjligheten att använda mark för exempelvis skogsbruk och naturområden. Slutsatsen är därför att ekologisk odling inte entydigt är bättre för miljön än konventionell odling och att stöd till ekologisk odling således inte självklart kan motiveras utifrån miljöhänsyn. Jordbruksstöden behöver därför utformas för att minska miljöpåverkan oavsett om odlingen sker ekologiskt eller konventionellt.
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| 3. |
- Bartkowski, Bartosz, et al.
(författare)
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Payments by modelled results : A novel design for agri-environmental schemes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Land Use Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From a theoretical point of view, result-based agri-environmental payments are clearly preferable to action-based payments. However, they suffer from two major practical disadvantages: costs of measuring the results and payment uncertainty for the participating farmers. In this paper, we propose an alternative design to overcome these two disadvantages by means of modelling (instead of measuring) the results. We describe the concept of agri-environmental payments by modelled results (PAMR), including a hypothetical example of payments for the protection and enhancement of soil functions. We offer a comprehensive discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of PAMR, showing that it not only unites most of the different advantages of result-based and action-based schemes, but also adds two new advantages: the potential to address trade-offs among multiple policy objectives and management for long-term environmental effects. We argue that PAMR would be a valuable addition to the agri-environmental policy toolbox in the EU and beyond, while also reflecting recent advancements in agri-environmental modelling.
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| 4. |
- Raatikainen, Kaisa J., et al.
(författare)
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Pathways towards a sustainable future envisioned by early-career conservation researchers
- 2021
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Ingår i: CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2578-4854. ; 3:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scientists have warned decision-makers about the severe consequences of the global environmental crisis since the 1970s. Yet ecological degradation continues and little has been done to address climate change. We investigated early-career conservation researchers' (ECR) perspectives on, and prioritization of, actions furthering sustainability. We conducted a survey (n = 67) and an interactive workshop (n = 35) for ECR attendees of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology (2018). Building on these data and discussions, we identified ongoing and forthcoming advances in conservation science. These include increased transdisciplinarity, science communication, advocacy in conservation, and adoption of a transformation-oriented social-ecological systems approach to research. The respondents and participants had diverse perspectives on how to achieve sustainability. Reformist actions were emphasized as paving the way for more radical changes in the economic system and societal values linked to the environment and inequality. Our findings suggest that achieving sustainability requires a strategy that (1) incorporates the multiplicity of people's views, (2) places a greater value on nature, and (3) encourages systemic transformation across political, social, educational, and economic realms on multiple levels. We introduce a framework for ECRs to inspire their research and practice within conservation science to achieve real change in protecting biological diversity.
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| 5. |
- Sidemo Holm, William
(författare)
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Effective conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Agricultural land use is a major driver of biodiversity losses and changes in ecosystem services. Thus, for the sake of both humans and wild organism per se, effective strategies that enable both agricultural production and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services are urgently needed. Such strategies can be divided into those that reduce the intensity of farming in general (such as organic farming), and those that target specific habitats of key importance for farmland biodiversity (e.g., maintaining semi-natural, grazed grasslands). In this thesis, I used a combination of scientific methods in five different studies to assess and propose such strategies that promote biodiversity and ecosystem services, effectively and cost-effectively, in agricultural landscapes. This included reviewing the literature on land-sharing vs. land-sparing strategies, which explicitly compare the merits of spatially integrating (land sharing) or separating (land sparing) biodiversity conservation and agricultural production, respectively. I found that the literature has focused on a limited number of taxonomic groups, ecosystem services and economic factors (particularly birds, carbon storage and agricultural output), which impedes a more holistic understanding of the strategies’ social and ecological consequences. In another study, I evaluated the potential of organic farming to preserve rare species, which includes species of high conservation concern. Using a meta-analysis on a global dataset, I showed that organic compared to conventional farming benefits both rare and common species of arthropods, birds, earthworms and plants. I also carried out an empirical study where I compared abundance and diversity of bumblebees and flowering weeds, as well as crop yields, across 19 organic and conventional farms. The study showed that organic farming benefits bumblebees by harboring more flowering weeds, but only when crop yields are low. This demonstrates the need for strategies to enhance yields in organic crop fields (which are typically lower than those in conventional fields) without degrading the benefits of organic farming to biodiversity. I found that one such strategy can be to reduce crop sowing density, which benefited flowering weeds and thus indirectly bumblebees, without significantly affecting crop yields. I subsequently used data from the same farms in a study where I modelled the influence of landscape complexity on the cost-effectiveness of organic farming in promoting plant species richness. The cost- effectiveness, in terms of achieving targets for increasing species richness at a landscape scale at the lowest possible cost, was highest in the least complex landscape. Lastly, I performed a study showing how a model can be used to predict environmental results in result-based payment schemes. The study demonstrated that result- based payments can promote substantially more cost-effective agricultural pollution abatement than action- based payments. In conclusion, this thesis has contributed with new knowledge about how existing conservation strategies affect biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as proposed novel conservation strategies. The findings of this thesis can contribute to more effective and cost-effective conservation and promotion of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.
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| 6. |
- Sidemo Holm, William, et al.
(författare)
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Land sharing versus land sparing—What outcomes are compared between which land uses?
- 2021
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Ingår i: Conservation Science and Practice. - : Wiley. - 2578-4854. ; 3:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Land sharing versus land sparing describes contrasting strategies to conserve biodiversity while maintaining agricultural production. We comprehensively reviewed empirical studies comparing land-sharing and land-sparing strategies to assess how these were conceptualized and how consequences for biodiver- sity, commodity production, and additional ecosystem services have been quantified. Out of 52 studies, a majority conceptualized land sharing as environmental-friendly agriculture or low-yielding agriculture, and land spar- ing as high-yielding agriculture combined with preserved natural habitats. However, the latter also represented land sharing in several studies, resulting in an overlap in how land sharing and land sparing were conceptualized. Stud- ies focuses on a limited number of taxonomic groups, primarily birds, whereas ecosystem services (mainly carbon storage) and economic outcomes were rarely considered. To facilitate comparisons and on-the-ground implementa- tion, we suggest to recognize the multitude of land-use combinations along a continuum from extreme land sharing to extreme land sparing. This includes being explicit about both the spatial scales of preserved habitats and the features in land sharing or intermediate strategies that are assumed to benefit biodiversity and hamper commodity production. We also suggest that taxonomic groups, ecosystem services, and welfare consequences should be analyzed based on conservation needs and impacts on social–ecological systems.
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| 7. |
- Sidemo-Holm, William, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced crop density increases floral resources to pollinators without affecting crop yield in organic and conventional fields
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 58:7, s. 1421-1430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Effective weed control in agricultural crop fields increases yields, but simultaneously reduces floral resources for pollinators because many weed species provide pollen and nectar. Consequently, efforts to enhance crop yields on organic farms by using effective weed control methods risk compromising positive effects of organic farming on pollinating insects. Thus, it is important to find management strategies that alleviate the trade-off between crop yields and flowering weeds on organic farms. We investigated the relationship between cereal yields, flowering weeds and bumblebees on organic and conventional arable land. We also investigated the potential of adjusting crop sowing density to benefit flowering weed species richness and floral resources to bumblebees without affecting crop yield. Floral resources and species richness of flowering weeds were higher in organic compared to conventional fields and were negatively related to crop yield in organic but not conventional fields (where the variation of floral resources and flowering weed species richness was comparatively low). Bumblebee species richness was higher in organic compared to conventional fields, and abundance was twice as high in organic as in conventional fields, but not significantly so. Yields in organic fields were two thirds of those in conventional fields. When simultaneously testing the effect of farming type (organic vs. conventional), crop yield and floral resources, only floral resources were related significantly to bumblebee abundance and species richness. A lower sowing density of the crop increased floral resources without negatively affecting crop yield. Synthesis and applications. We show that organic farming practices in cereals benefit bumblebees by allowing more flowering weeds, but at a cost in terms of lower yields. However, adjusting crop sowing density provides an opportunity to attain increased floral resources without negatively affecting crop yields. Thus, by increasing floral resources, adjusting crop sowing density may contribute to supporting high bumblebee densities, which in turn sustain pollination services to wild plants and insect-pollinated crops, such as oilseed rape and field beans, in agricultural landscapes. We suggest that sowing strategies have the potential to contribute to ecological intensification by supporting organisms that provide ecosystem services to agriculture.
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