Farmlands with smaller crop fields have higher within-field biodiversity

Fahrig, Lenore; Girard, Judith; Duro, Dennis C.; Pasher, Jon; Smith, Adam C.; Javorek, Steve; King, Douglas J.; Lindsay, Kathryn; Mitchell, Scott; Tischendorf, Lutz

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2014.11.018

Cited by 305 publications

(253 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

223

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A study recently conducted at different crop fields (maize, soybean, forage crops, and wheat) in Canada revealed that farmlands with smaller field sizes had higher within-field biodiversity due to increase of landscape heterogeneity (Fahrig et al 2015). Similarly, we also found that the individual density and species richness of trees in the fields were lower in paddy fields with larger plot sizes in 2015 (Table 4).…”

Section: Effects Of Agricultural Intensification On the Density And Ssupporting

confidence: 55%

Reduction in woody plant diversity in paddy field landscapes during agricultural intensification in northeast Thailand

Pham

Miyagawa

Photchanachai

2016

Tropics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trees in paddy fields characterize the landscape of plain areas in mainland Southeast Asia. Although they play an important role in providing subsistence materials to local communities and in maintaining biodiversity, their distribution patterns are affected during agricultural intensification. In this study, we compared the density and species diversity of trees in two types of paddy fields (i.e., with and without land consolidation) to examine the effects of agricultural intensification on the woody plant community. Aerial photographs and satellite images were used to record changes in land use and tree-unit density from 1975 to 2014 at 18 target sites in three different rural landscapes. Field surveys were conducted in 2015 to investigate the total individual trees, species richness, and individual tree density. Tree species diversity was low at the local scale and varied greatly among sites, resulting in greater diversity at the landscape level. Tree species composition changed, with an increase in the number of ruderal and planted trees. During 1975 2014, the paddy plot size expanded three times due to land consolidation. As plot sizes increased, the density and species richness of remnant trees in the fields decreased, whereas planted trees on the levees were unaffected. Our results suggest that to enhance biodiversity in paddy fields, there should be a focus on improving the quality of trees planted on the levees. Smartly incorporation of various tree species onto paddy levees, together with appropriate guidelines for management of a paddy field-based agroforestry would be effective for preserving landscape sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Effects Of Agricultural Intensification On the Density And Ssupporting

confidence: 55%

Reduction in woody plant diversity in paddy field landscapes during agricultural intensification in northeast Thailand

Pham

Miyagawa

Photchanachai

2016

Tropics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This refers to the compositional heterogeneity, that can be complemented by the configurational heterogeneity, which evaluates the arrangement of the various types of habitats within a landscape (Fahrig et al, 2011). Landscapes with a high configurational heterogeneity can support predatory ladybeetle abundance and diversity (Woltz and Landis, 2014) and more generally a high abundance and diversity of species in crop fields (Fahrig et al, 2015). A high configurational heterogeneity produces long interfaces between crop and non-crop areas.…”

Section: At the Landscape Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Hatt

Boeraeve

Artru

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats in farming systems is promising for enhancing natural regulation of insect pests. Nevertheless, results from recent syntheses show variable effects.One explanation is that the abundance and diversity of pests and natural enemies are affected by the composition, design and management of crop and non-crop habitats. Moreover, interactions between both local and landscape elements and practices carried out at different spatial scales may affect the regulation of insect pests. Hence, research is being conducted to understand these interdependencies.However, insects are not the only pests and pests are not the only elements to regulate in agroecosystems. Broadening the scope could allow addressing multiple issues simultaneously, but also solving them together by enhancing synergies. Indeed, spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats can allow addressing the issues of weeds and pathogens, along with being beneficial to several other regulating services like pollination, soil conservation and nutrient cycling. Although calls rise to develop multifunctional landscapes that optimize the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, it still represents a scientific challenge today. Enhancing interdisciplinarity in research institutions and building interrelations between scientists and stakeholders may help reach this goal. Despite obstacles, positive results from research based on such innovative approaches are encouraging for engaging 2 science in this path. Hence, the aim of the present paper is to offer an update on these issues by exploring the most recent findings and discussing these results to highlight needs for future research.

show abstract

“…According to ODEPA [73], 83% of farms in central Chile are smaller than 10 ha, from which we argue that the proportion of hedgerows and live fences could be increased by planting native species along the metal wire fences. In the same way, Fahrig et al [74] suggest that diversified small farms provide habitat heterogeneity favoring biodiversity, and avoid the impacts of biotic homogenization associated with large crop monocultures [75,76].…”

Section: Land Cover Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural landscapes as habitat for birds in central Chile

Muñoz‐Sáez

Perez‐Quezada

Estades

2017

Rev. Chil. de Hist. Nat.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Understanding the role of agroecosystems as habitat for wildlife is crucial for long-term conservation planning, as different crop stratification and landscape elements can influence bird communities, which are also affected by seasonality. The goal of our study was to determine how agricultural landscapes varying in land cover characteristics affect bird richness and abundance. Bird surveys were conducted at 110 locations within agricultural landscapes in central Chile. The surveyed areas were characterized by land cover at two scales (50 and 500 m radii) through direct observation and photo-interpretation, during winter and spring seasons. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to evaluate the effects of different agricultural land covers on bird species and communities. Results: Our results show that birds were more abundant during winter, in particular for insectivorous and granivorous birds, and that bird species richness was significantly increased due to cover provided by hedgerows at the plot scale. Conclusions: We found that abundance of some bird species in agroecosystems in central Chile was higher in winter than in spring, and that overall bird richness was favored by structural diversity including non-crop structures such as hedgerows, which thus may be relevant for improving bird conservation management in temperate agroecosystems. Our results suggest that native vegetation proximity and area may affect seasonal changes in bird communities at larger scales, relationships which warrant further study.

show abstract

Farmlands with smaller crop fields have higher within-field biodiversity

Cited by 305 publications

References 59 publications

Reduction in woody plant diversity in paddy field landscapes during agricultural intensification in northeast Thailand

Reduction in woody plant diversity in paddy field landscapes during agricultural intensification in northeast Thailand

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Agricultural landscapes as habitat for birds in central Chile

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About