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…
Harnessing the biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland
A large proportion of European biodiversity today depends on habitat provided by low‐intensity farming practices, yet this resource is declining as European agriculture intensifies. Within the European Union, particularly the central and eastern new member states have retained relatively large areas of species‐rich farmland, but despite increased investment in nature conservation here in recent years, farmland biodiversity trends appear to be worsening. Although the high biodiversity value of Central and Eastern European farmland has long been reported, the amount of research in the international literature focused on farmland biodiversity in this region remains comparatively ti…
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…