The interplay of landscape composition and configuration: new pathways to manage functional biodiversity and agroecosystem services across Europe
Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity and ecosystem services is a key aim of a sustainable agriculture. However, how the spatial arrangement of crop fields and other habitats in landscapes impacts arthropods and their functions is poorly known. Synthesising data from 49 studies (1515 landscapes) across Europe, we examined effects of landscape composition (% habitats) and configuration (edge density) on arthropods in fields and their margins, pest control, pollination and yields. Configuration effects interacted with the proportions of crop and non-crop habitats, and species’ dietary, dispersal and overwintering traits led to contrasting responses to landscape variables. O…
Data from: The interplay of landscape composition and configuration: new pathways to manage functional biodiversity and agro-ecosystem services across Europe
[Usage Notes] Martin et al_2019_datatables Data used in Martin et al. (2019) compiled from 49 studies and 1,515 landscapes across Europe. Includes data on the abundance of arthropod species per site and data on pollination, natural pest control and yields in crops across Europe. Martin et al_2019_data tables_300319.xlsx Martin et al_2019_traits database Functional traits data for 2088 species (morphospecies, individuals) from 144 arthropod families sampled in agricultural landscapes across Europe. All traits are categorical and based on published literature or expert knowledge. They are described in Table 1 and Appendix S1 of Martin et al. (2019). The traits included are: feeding habit ('Fu…
The effects of flower-rich fields on biodiversity-based ecosystem services in the agricultural landscape.
The rising demand of agricultural products has led to agricultural intensification based on external inputs. Therefore, biodiversity and semi-natural habitats in agricultural landscapes have decreased in the last decades. Biodiversity-dependent ecosystem services like pollination and natural pest control are negatively affected by this development. Pollination provided by animals is of major importance to a wide variety of crops as well as the majority of wild plants. Furthermore, natural pest control gains importance due to increasingly frequent pesticide resistances. In Germany, Agri-environmental schemes (AES) aim to restore biodiversity in the agricultural landscape and to compensate at…