Using the response–effect trait framework to quantify the value of fallow patches in agricultural landscapes to pollinators

Abstract

Questions:What is the role of managed fallow habitats in providing resources for pollination services in agricultural landscapes? How is resource provision affected by fallow management and landscape structure? Can the resulting variation in the value of fallows to pollinators be explained using the response-and-effect trait framework?Location: Four semi-arid Mediterranean agricultural regions (NE Iberian Peninsula).Methods: Landscape complexity, fallow field age and management practices were identified as the explanatory factors that interact which each other and affect the provision of resource for pollination communities. A trait-based approach was taken to model the system. Plant traits were selected on the basis of their response to abiotic factors (response traits) and those that influence the interaction with pollinators (effect traits). Plant community characterization was calculated based on both taxonomic and functional indices. The linkages between the selected plant traits on contrasting fallows were analysed using community-weighted mean redundancy analysis (CWM-RDA). Results:The presence of semi-natural areas in the landscape was shown to enhance the value of fallows for pollinators, providing a source of diverse flower forms. In contrast, we found that field edges act as a relatively poor reservoir for flowering plant species in these areas. Land-use practices promoting mid-successional plant communities that support the coexistence of diverse life forms with overlapping flowering periods and a range of flower morphologies had the greatest potential to support a diverse pollinator community. Conclusions:Early herbicide application (Feb) combined with shredding were identified as the best fallow practices for enhancing resources for pollinators. The construction of our framework will help policy makers to identify management recommendations that will result in the most beneficial plant communities for pollinators in fallows.

Testate Amoeba Functional Traits and Their Use in Paleoecology

“…Trait-based approaches are used to gain a mechanistic understanding of key processes in community ecology (Díaz and Cabido, 2001). They have predictive capabilities, and as such, have been adopted by a wide array of researchers through the last decade to, for example, explain the distribution of species along various abiotic gradients (e.g., Kaustuv et al, 2001;Berg et al, 2010;Diamond et al, 2011), the processes underlying the assembly of species into communities (e.g., Kraft et al, 2008;Jung et al, 2010;Kraft and Ackerly, 2010), the relationship between ecological community structure and ecosystem functions and services (e.g., de Bello et al, 2010;Lavorel and Grigulis, 2012;Robleńo et al, 2018), and the impact of climate change on species assemblages (Bjorkman et al, 2018;Henn et al, 2018). The response/effect traits framework has been used in various fields including ecological restoration (Laughlin, 2014), environmental change prediction (Suding et al, 2008), and ecosystem services (Lavorel and Grigulis, 2012).…”

Effects of herbicides on non-target plant species diversity and the community composition of fallow fields in northern China

“…Furthermore, the response of plant communities to herbicides is related to community characteristics 47,48 . The succession of the vegetation with fallow age also revealed a gradient of plant strategies 1,49 . In this study, the fallow field was in an early fallow stages immediately following agricultural disturbances.…”

“…In this study, the fallow field was in an early fallow stages immediately following agricultural disturbances. The communities in early fallow stages are often dominated by opportunistic ruderal species with fast growth and an annual life cycle 1 . The herbicides, particularly atrazine, killed or inhibited annuals, which may be one of the reasons for annuals appearing more frequently in the blank control plots and perennials appearing more frequently in the herbicide treated plots.…”

“…The community diversity and the functional diversity of wild plants in agroecosystems, especially in field edges, fallow fields, and other semi-natural habitats, provide us with ecosystem and agricultural production services [1][2][3] , such as agricultural pest control and soil and water conservation [4][5][6][7] . The diversity of wild plants in agroecosystems is an important part of global biodiversity 8 .…”

Assessing Diversity Levels in Selected Wine Regions of South Moravia (Czech Republic)

“…Baumgartner et al used distance-based RDA analysis to examine the effect of cover crop systems on weed communities in California vineyards [14]. The relationships between beneficial insects and flowering plant species [15] or between pollinators and landscape complexity, fallow field age and management practices [16] have also been analysed using RDA ordination.…”