Conservation value of the herbaceous vegetation in hedgerows – does organic farming make a difference?

Aude, Erik; Tybirk, Knud; Michelsen, Anders; Ejrnæs, Rasmus; Hald, A. B.; Mark, Susanne

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2003.09.022

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It would also be interesting to take into account the phenology of surrounding crops and the agricultural practices applied to hedgerows, such as the use of pesticides, to improve the model developed in this study (Aude et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing ecological habitat structure from local to landscape scales using synthetic aperture radar

Betbeder

Hubert‐Moy

Burel

et al. 2015

Ecological Indicators

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Ecological studies need accurate environmental data such as vegetation characterization, landscape structure and organization, to predict and explain the spatial distribution of biodiversity. Few ecological studies use remote sensing data to assess the biophysical or structural properties of vegetation to understand species distribution. To date, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data have seldom been used for ecological applications. However, these sensors provide data allowing access to the inner structure of vegetation which is a key information in ecology. The objective of this article is to compare the predictive power of ecological habitat structure variables derived from a TerraSAR-X image, an aerial photograph and a SPOT-5 image for species distribution. The test was run with a hedgerow network in Brittany and assessed the spatial distribution of the forest ground carabid beetles which inhabit these hedgerows. The results confirmed that radar and optical images can be indifferently used to extract hedgerow network and derived landscape metrics (hedgerow density, network grain) useful to explain the spatial distribution of forest carabid beetles. In comparison with passive optical remotely sensed data, VHSR SAR images provide new data to characterize vegetation structure and more particularly hedgerow canopy cover, a variable known to explain the spatial distribution of carabid beetles in an agricultural landscape, but not yet quantified at a fine scale. The hedgerow canopy cover derived from the SAR image is 2 a strong predictor of the abundance of forest carabid beetles at two scales i.e. a local scale and a landscape scale. Keywordsbiodiversity, remote sensing, forest carabid beetles, hedgerow canopy cover, landscape scale, quantitative maps

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing ecological habitat structure from local to landscape scales using synthetic aperture radar

Betbeder

Hubert‐Moy

Burel

et al. 2015

Ecological Indicators

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“…Moreover, while most of the studies analysing patterns of plant species richness in field boundaries have been carried out in temperate regions and have studied a single factor (Aude et al 2004;Petersen et al 2006), very little research has focused simultaneously on several factors acting at different scales (Boutin et al 2008;Weibull et al 2003). Here we focus on boundary plant species richness in the Mediterranean region in order to disentangle the relative importance of boundary structure, farming management and surrounding landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting plant species richness in field boundaries in the Mediterranean region

et al. 2012

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Field boundaries are expected to support the maintenance of biodiversity in agroecosystems, since they provide the habitat for a range of plant species. However, plant diversity in field boundaries has decreased substantially in recent decades. This pattern is generally linked with the intensification of agricultural land use at field and landscape level. Therefore, we aimed to test the effect of farming management (field and boundary management), boundary structure (width and habitat assemblage considering the Mediterranean grassland element), and landscape heterogeneity on plant species richness of field boundaries. Plants were recorded along 30 field boundaries next to organic fields and 30 next to conventional fields located in 15 agrarian localities of NE Iberian Peninsula along a gradient of landscape complexity. A total of 517 plant species were identified in the 60 field boundaries. We recorded 162 species (31%) catalogued as rare, very rare or extremely rare in the flora of the Catalan Countries. Our results showed the importance of landscape heterogeneity, field management and habitat assemblage, since they were found to be the most influential variables for plant species richness; whereas boundary width and boundary management were seen to contribute less to explaining plant diversity. Accordingly, agri-environmental schemes should be designed to promote organic farming and maintain the structure of the landscape mosaic in order to benefit plant diversity in field boundaries in the Mediterranean region.

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“…Field margins, hedgerows, pollard willows, and other non-crop habitats that are important elements of agricultural landscapes have different ecological benefits (Figure 7). They support more diverse invertebrate communities (Denys and Tscharntke, 2002), provide important nesting and feeding habitat for birds (Fuller et al, 2004), serve as corridors or islands to facilitate the dispersal of birds (Hinsley and Bellamy, 2000), result in greater floral diversity Marshall et al, 2006) and reduce herbicide drift (Aude et al, 2004). Furthermore, there is also evidence that multifunctional agriculture may contribute to a solution for carbon sequestration (West and Marland, 2003), flood control and water conservation (Mitsh and Gosselinck, 2000;Scrase and Sheate, 2005).…”

Section: Environmental Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multifunctionality of Agriculture: A Review of Definitions, Evidence and Instruments

Huylenbroeck¹,

Vandermeulen²,

Mettepenningen³

et al. 2007

Living Rev. Landscape Res.

202

141

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In this contribution we try to look at the new role for agriculture in rural areas by reviewing the concept of multifunctional agriculture as well as the analytical frameworks used. Next, we review the existing evidence about the multifunctional role of farming. Although not overwhelming, the existing literature shows that agriculture contributes to the rural wealth not only through the production of commodities, but also by the delivery of non-tradable goods. This contribution can be both direct through increased values for properties or economic benefits in the tourism sector, but also indirect through conservation of rural heritage or agriecological systems. Next we focus on how this role of agriculture can be stimulated. It is argued that multifunctionality can be a unifying principle to bring the productive and non-productive functions into harmony. This requires the development of new institutional arrangements and a major change in policy incentives.

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Conservation value of the herbaceous vegetation in hedgerows – does organic farming make a difference?

Cited by 26 publications

References 33 publications

Assessing ecological habitat structure from local to landscape scales using synthetic aperture radar

Assessing ecological habitat structure from local to landscape scales using synthetic aperture radar

Factors affecting plant species richness in field boundaries in the Mediterranean region

Multifunctionality of Agriculture: A Review of Definitions, Evidence and Instruments

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