Management options for the conservation of rare arable plants in Europe

Albrecht, Harald; Cambecèdes, Jocelyne; Lang, M.; Wagner, Markus

doi:10.1080/23818107.2016.1237886

Cited by 72 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 140 publications

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“…Changes in farming systems, mechanisation, increases in field size, as well as the use of chemical fertilisers and herbicides, have had a marked negative impact on weed species diversity and abundance (Marshall et al ., ; Albrecht et al ., ). Many European countries have reported significant decrease in abundance or even extinction of typical arable weed species (Storkey et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Weed species composition of small‐scale farmlands bears a strong crop‐related and environmental signature

et al. 2017

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Summary Weed species loss due to intensive agricultural land use has raised the need to understand how traditional cropland management has sustained a diverse weed flora. We evaluated to what extent cultivation practices and environmental conditions affect the weed species composition of a small‐scale farmland mosaic in Central Transylvania (Romania). We recorded the abundance of weed species and 28 environmental, management and site context variables in 299 fields of maize, cereal and stubble. Using redundancy analysis, we revealed 22 variables with significant net effects, which explained 19.2% of the total variation in species composition. Cropland type had the most pronounced effect on weed composition with a clear distinction between cereal crops, cereal stubble and maize crops. Beyond these differences, the environmental context of croplands was a major driver of weed composition, with significant effects of geographic position, altitude, soil parameters (soil pH, texture, salt and humus content, CaCO3, P2O5, K2O, Na and Mg), as well as plot location (edge vs. core position) and surrounding habitat types (arable field, road margin, meadow, fallow, ditch). Performing a variation partitioning for the cropland types one by one, the environmental variables explained most of the variance compared with crop management. In contrast, when all sites were combined across different cropland types, the crop‐specific factors were more important in explaining variance in weed community composition.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Weed species composition of small‐scale farmlands bears a strong crop‐related and environmental signature

et al. 2017

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“…At the same time, a large share of biodiversity in Germany is highly dependent on extensive land management and arable wild plants and farmland birds are among the most threatened species [79][80][81][82] (for comprehensive research on endangered arable wild plants in central Germany see Reference [83]). Agriculture is, on the one hand, the driver for biodiversity loss: reasons include intensification, improved weed control, fallow land of low-productive sites, and scales of agricultural operations [84][85][86][87]. On the other hand, agriculture fostered the evolution of a particular agrobiodiversity since its beginning.…”

Section: From Nature Conservation Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Production-Integrated Compensation in Environmental Offsets—A Review of a German Offset Practice

Druckenbrod

Beckmann

2018

Sustainability

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Environmental offset schemes designed to compensate for adverse development impacts are found in countries worldwide, pursuing no-net-loss policy. In Germany, a practice combining environmental improvements with farming evolved in the early 2000s, known as production-integrated compensation (PIC) (Produktionsintegrierte Kompensation). This paper provides a review of PIC, presenting origins, legal and cost aspects, as well as examples of PIC practice. PIC key challenges are the complexity of environmental improvements of agrarian habitats and the high efforts for communication among diverse actors and for designing and monitoring PIC. Benefits for nature conservation lie in the protection of strongly endangered species and an increase of acceptance of compensation measures. Positive effects for farmers are the sustaining of arable farmland and involvement in setting up land management terms. Investors profit from the increased availability of sites. However, a specific legal framework for PIC is still developing and representation of PIC in offset registries in the German States is only very small. In conclusion, targeted design, continuous monitoring, and long-term financing provided, PIC may (a) increase offset efficiency by focusing on implementation while avoiding land purchase and physical investments and (b) increase offset effectiveness by high conservation benefits and a collaborative approach towards farmers.

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“…The impoverished arable vegetation in large parts of the temperate zone requires new strategies in ecological restoration to counteract biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. One effort is the targeted reintroduction of rare arable plants on fields with appropriate habitat conditions (Albrecht et al ). Low‐intensity farming provides particularly suitable conditions for reintroduction of rare arable plants, as long as the use of herbicides is prohibited and fertilizer applications are restricted (Hole et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study focuses on reintroduction of rare arable plants by analyzing their seed production, seed bank, and dispersal under real farm conditions. We tested whether recent results from experimental plots (Albrecht et al ) can be implemented on organic farms. We used three endangered winter annuals as model species, that is, Legousia speculum‐veneris (L.) Chaix (European Venus' Looking Glass, Campanulaceae), Consolida regalis Gray (Forking Larkspur, Ranunculaceae), and Lithospermum arvense L. (Field Gromwell, Boraginaceae).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reintroduction of rare arable plants: seed production, soil seed banks, and dispersal 3 years after sowing

Lang

Prestele

Wiesinger

et al. 2018

Restoration Ecology

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Diversity of arable plants in Europe has markedly declined during the past decades and many species have become threatened. Low‐intensity farming can offer potential retreats for these species, while spontaneous dispersal between such fields is unlikely. Thus, reintroduction of endangered species is necessary to restore agrobiodiversity. To test the applicability under real farm conditions, we seeded a mixture of three winter annuals (Legousia speculum‐veneris, Consolida regalis, Lithospermum arvense) at 850 seeds/m2 on four organic farms near Munich, Germany, in autumn 2011. Seed production and soil seed banks were investigated on four plots within one field on each farm for 3 years. In addition, we evaluated seed dispersal caused by arable management along the main machining direction. In the first year, winter cereals were cultivated and the study species emerged at all sites with a seed production mostly exceeding the initial sowing rates. In the third year, species establishment varied depending on crop rotations. Seed production of L. speculum‐veneris was higher than in the two other species, and exceeded the number of originally sown seeds up to 20 times. While L. speculum‐veneris became very common in the seed bank, C. regalis was less abundant and L. arvense hardly developed a soil seed bank. Seeds of L. speculum‐veneris and L. arvense were found up to 15 m and seeds of C. regalis up to 13 m away from the sown plots. We suggest using seed production, seed bank, and dispersal as key indicators to evaluate establishment of reintroduced arable plants.

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Management options for the conservation of rare arable plants in Europe

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Cited by 72 publications

References 140 publications

Weed species composition of small‐scale farmlands bears a strong crop‐related and environmental signature

Weed species composition of small‐scale farmlands bears a strong crop‐related and environmental signature

Production-Integrated Compensation in Environmental Offsets—A Review of a German Offset Practice

Reintroduction of rare arable plants: seed production, soil seed banks, and dispersal 3 years after sowing

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