Conservation of biodiversity within Canadian agricultural landscapes: Integrating habitat for wildlife

Mineau, Pierre; McLaughlin, Alison

doi:10.1007/bf03055296

Cited by 48 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Annual crops are regarded as a source of biodiversity loss, due to short permanence on soil and intensive management. 45,47 Th e blossoming period may, though, increase bird and insect abundance and diversity, as has been reported in sunfl ower fi elds. and ground-hugging crop).…”

Section: Wastementioning

confidence: 85%

Environmental impact assessment of energy crops cultivation in Europe

Fernando

Duarte

Almeida

et al. 2010

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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The production of energy crops must be studied and evaluated in terms of environmental impact, in order to integrate them into a sustainable agricultural development. As bioenergy carriers they offer ecological advantages over fossil fuels by contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases and acidifying emissions. However, there could be ecological shortcomings related to the intensity of agricultural production. There is a risk of polluting water and air, losing soil quality, enhancing erosion, and reducing biodiversity. In the scope of the project Future Crops for Food, Feed, Fiber and Fuel (4F Crops), supported by the European Union, an environmental impact assessment study was developed and applied to the production of potential energy crops in Europe. The following variables were selected as categories: use of water and mineral resources, soil quality and erosion, emission of minerals and pesticides to soil and water, waste generation and utilization, landscape, and biodiversity. In addition, a normalization and weighting procedure was applied, which attempts to aggregate environmental impacts. Results suggest that growing energy crops does not infl ict higher impact on the environment compared to potato and wheat farming (regarding the studied categories). Although the different indicators did not yield a common pattern, overall results suggest that woody and lignocellulosic crops have an advantage over annual crop systems, namely regarding erodibility and biodiversity. Some crop management options, such as pesticides and fertilizers inputs, can infl uence the outcomes.However, site-specifi c factors should be accurately assessed to evaluate the adequacy between crop and location.Environmental hotspots in the systems are detected and options for improvement are presented.

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Section: Wastementioning

confidence: 85%

Environmental impact assessment of energy crops cultivation in Europe

Fernando

Duarte

Almeida

et al. 2010

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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“…Although some cropping patterns such as intercropping are practiced to protect highly erodable land from soil erosion, fertilizer management, or weed control (Vandermeer, 1989;Theunissen, 1994), they can also enhance insect predator populations through their contribution to habitat diversification (Alderweireldt, 1994;Theunissen, 1994;Mineau and Mclaughlin, 1996;Obrycki and Kring, 1998;Mensah, 1999;Parajulee and Slosser, 1999;Prasifka et al, 1999). Relay intercropping is a pattern that allows planting of one inter-crop species before another so that their life cycles partially overlap (Kass, 1978) and provide a predator reservoir before the arrival of key pests of the primary crop (Gold et al, 1990;Lys and Nentwig, 1992).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of winter wheat as a potential relay crop for enhancing biological control of cotton aphids

Men

Yardim³

et al. 2004

BioControl

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A 2-year study was conducted to evaluate the role of winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L., as a potential relay crop to conserve arthropod natural enemies and suppress cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover, in seedling cotton. The results suggested that the natural enemies that moved from the adjacent wheat fields to cotton fields with the maturity and harvest of wheat could keep the cotton aphid population at the edges (0-4 m) of cotton fields under the action threshold of 100 aphids/m 2 . Data also suggested that the wheat strip served as a reservoir to conserve arthropod predators and ''relayed'' its predators to cotton when wheat matured and senesced.

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“…Such vegetated strips in areas adjacent to crops can provide food and habitat for beneficial insects and other invertebrates of conservation interest (Mineau and McLaughlin, 1996). When situated near fields, they can be of immediate benefit to the local farmers by preventing soil loss and providing refuges for pollinators and predators of damaging agricultural pests.…”

Section: Vegetation Enhancementsmentioning

confidence: 99%