Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Land-use intensity and landscape structure drive the acoustic composition of grasslands","authors":"Sandra Müller ,&nbsp;Martin M. Gossner ,&nbsp;Caterina Penone ,&nbsp;Kirsten Jung ,&nbsp;Swen C. Renner ,&nbsp;Almo Farina ,&nbsp;Lisa Anhäuser ,&nbsp;Manfred Ayasse ,&nbsp;Steffen Boch ,&nbsp;Falk Haensel ,&nbsp;Janine Heitzmann ,&nbsp;Christoph Kleinn ,&nbsp;Paul Magdon ,&nbsp;David J. Perović ,&nbsp;Nadia Pieretti ,&nbsp;Taylor Shaw ,&nbsp;Juliane Steckel ,&nbsp;Marco Tschapka ,&nbsp;Juliane Vogt ,&nbsp;Catrin Westphal ,&nbsp;Michael Scherer- Lorenzen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107845","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107845","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Understanding drivers and monitoring changes of biodiversity forms the basis for evidence-based management and policy recommendations that aim to reduce biodiversity loss and to ensure the delivery of ecosystem services on which we rely. Ecoacoustic monitoring can be applied across large spatial and temporal scales, offering the potential for less resource-intensive ecosystem monitoring. Indices of acoustic diversity have been shown to correlate with species richness of various taxa, as well as vegetation and landscape structure. In order to apply ecoacoustic monitoring at large scales we need to improve our understanding of the effects of local and regional land-use on acoustic patterns, and assess how temporal aspects of acoustic patterns can be integrated in these analyses. We hypothesized that land-use intensity and landscape structure affect species richness and composition of birds and orthopteran<span><span>, and therefore indirectly affect acoustic diversity and composition. To test this, we set up autonomous recording systems in grassland plots along land-use intensity gradients in three regions in Germany. We applied structural equation modelling to analyze the direct and indirect drivers of acoustic diversity and composition, including mowing and </span>grazing intensities<span>, landscape diversity, distance to the nearest road, vascular plant species richness as well as bird and orthopteran species richness and composition. Single indices of acoustic diversity did not reflect changes in bird or orthopteran species richness, making them poor predictors for local land-use related changes in species richness in grassland plots. Acoustic composition (non-metric multidimensional scaling combination of mean monthly acoustic indices at different day phases), however, did relate to differences in landscape structure, land-use intensity, vocalizing species composition and orthopteran species richness. We propose the developed acoustic composition metric as suitable proxy to detect ecosystem changes in grasslands.</span></span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"328 ","pages":"Article 107845"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44667718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Estimation of maize straw production and appropriate straw return rate in China","authors":"Wanmao Liu ,&nbsp;Yuee Liu ,&nbsp;Guangzhou Liu ,&nbsp;Ruizhi Xie ,&nbsp;Bo Ming ,&nbsp;Yunshan Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaoxia Guo ,&nbsp;Keru Wang ,&nbsp;Jun Xue ,&nbsp;Yonghong Wang ,&nbsp;Rulang Zhao ,&nbsp;Wenjie Zhang ,&nbsp;Yongjun Wang ,&nbsp;Shaofeng Bian ,&nbsp;Hong Ren ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Zhao ,&nbsp;Peng Liu ,&nbsp;Jianzhi Chang ,&nbsp;Guohe Zhang ,&nbsp;Jiayou Liu ,&nbsp;Peng Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2022.107865","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2022.107865","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Accurate estimation of maize (<em>Zea mays</em><span> L.) straw production and exploration of appropriate straw return rate have important reference for guiding the comprehensive utilization of crop straw. In this study, we estimated the maize straw production (including aboveground straw and root straw) in recent ten years (2009–2018) of the four largest maize growing regions across China using the latest obtained region-specific maize straw index and root-shoot ratio and then determined the appropriate straw return rate of different regions based on the carbon (C) balance between straw C input and the total C emissions generated in maize cultivation. Our results showed that there were significant differences in maize straw index (MSI) and root-shoot ratio between different maize growing regions in China with spatial distribution trends of Huanghuaihai (HM) &gt; North (NM) &gt; Southwest (SW) &gt; Northwest (NW) maize regions and SW &gt; NW &gt; NM &gt; HM, respectively. On average, in the recent ten years, the total maize straw production of the four major regions was 216.03 Mt yr</span>⁻¹, including 192.73 Mt yr⁻¹ for the aboveground straw production and 23.30 Mt yr⁻¹<span> for root straw production. Nationally, when the maize straw return rate was 70.4% (45.8%, 57.4%, 62.2% and 84.5% in SW, HM, NW and NM respectively), the straw C input into soil can theoretically counterbalance the total C emission generated in maize cultivation. Additionally, the total soil organic C sequestration increased from 11.26 to 18.88 Mt C yr</span>⁻¹ for the whole four regions under the scenarios of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% maize straw return.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"328 ","pages":"Article 107865"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44143162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks to improve grazing management on Mediterranean mountain grasslands","authors":"Miguel Castillo-Garcia ,&nbsp;Concepción L. Alados ,&nbsp;Javier Ramos ,&nbsp;David Moret ,&nbsp;Olivia Barrantes ,&nbsp;Yolanda Pueyo","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The surface of many European mountain grasslands is decreasing due to global change and extensive grazing stands out as a key tool for their conservation. Sound knowledge of grassland ecosystem functioning and its feedback processes is required to implement sustainable grazing management. This study aimed to understand the effect of different grazing intensities on herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks in Mediterranean mountain grasslands. We estimated spatial distribution of sheep grazing intensity using GPS technology in order to assess the effect of grazing pressure on vegetation and soil properties measured throughout the study area. Our results showed that grazing intensity ranged from 0.06 to 2.85 livestock units / ha, corresponding to a gradient of pasture utilisation rates varying from 2.38% to 45.60% of annual productivity from pasture. Increasing grazing pressure was associated with smaller relative cover and species richness of non-leguminous forbs, while the opposite trends were observed for graminoids. Forage had a greater concentration of N and smaller C:N ratio in more heavily grazed areas. Increasing grazing intensity was also associated with higher values of total soil N, NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass C and activity of β-glucosidase. Higher litter quality was the main factor explaining greater content of soil organic matter, which favoured both soil microbes and plant productivity. Grazing induced changes in the plant community triggered positive hervibore-plant-soil feedbacks, as they ultimately improved forage quality and productivity, which significantly influenced the pasture preference of free-ranging domestic grazers. Our work showed that grazing management aiming pasture utilisation rates of around 45% is critical in sustaining positive herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks and preserving or enhancing the whole ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean mountain grasslands studied.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 107833"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921005375/pdfft?md5=6057a078c2ae53d7b24f30ca6f26cda6&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880921005375-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43159401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Organic maize and bean farming enhances free-living nematode dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"Janet G. Atandi ,&nbsp;Noah Adamtey ,&nbsp;Agnes W. Kiriga ,&nbsp;Edward N. Karanja ,&nbsp;Martha W. Musyoka ,&nbsp;Felix M. Matheri ,&nbsp;Chrysantus M. Tanga ,&nbsp;Danny L. Coyne ,&nbsp;Komi K.M. Fiaboe ,&nbsp;David Bautze ,&nbsp;Solveig Haukeland","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107846","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107846","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Despite their important ecological roles for soil health and soil fertility, free-living nematodes (FLN) have received relatively limited research attention. The present study evaluated the community structure and diversity of FLN in a field setting. The experiments were conducted in on-farm and on-station field plots sown to maize (</span><em>Zea mays</em>) and beans (<em>Phaseolus vulgaris</em><span>) under four cropping practices. These farming systems included organic (compost and biopesticide<span><span> use), conventional (synthetic fertilizer and pesticide applications), farmer practice (organic and synthetic amendments) and a control (non-amended plots). Nineteen genera of free living nematodes<span><span>, belonging to bacterivores, </span>fungivores, </span></span>omnivores<span> and predators were recorded. Among these, bacterivores (Cephalobidae and Rhabditidae) were the most dominant group in the organic systems when compared to the conventional and control systems. Farming systems influenced the abundance and diversity of free living nematodes, with the organic farming system<span> having higher values of maturity, enrichment and structural indices than other farming systems. This would indicate greater stability in soil health and improved soil fertility. This implies that the organic farming systems play a key role in improving the biodiversity and population buildup of FLN, compared with other systems. Our study helps to improve our understanding of how farming systems influence soil biodynamics, while studies on the longer-term effects of organic and conventional farming systems on the build-up or reduction of free living nematodes for improved ecosystem services are needed.</span></span></span></span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 107846"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44918550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions through a combination of pig manure and reduced inorganic fertilizer application in a double-rice cropping system: Three-year results","authors":"Cong Wang ,&nbsp;Xiaofang Ma ,&nbsp;Jianlin Shen ,&nbsp;Dan Chen ,&nbsp;Liang Zheng ,&nbsp;Tida Ge ,&nbsp;Yong Li ,&nbsp;Jinshui Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107799","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107799","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Manure amendment in croplands is common practice for soil carbon sequestration, and may also reduce </span>greenhouse gas emissions<span>. Few studies focus on the effects of manure application on the net greenhouse gas emissions (NGHGE, the global warming impacts of soil carbon sequestration and CH</span></span>₄ and N₂<span>O emissions) in double-rice cropping fields. Herein, a field experiment was conducted to analyze the effects of pig manure<span><span><span> application in combination with reduced chemical fertilizers on the NGHGE, </span>soil properties, and yields in a double-rice </span>paddy field<span> in 2012–2015. Four treatments were included: 0 N (no nitrogen fertilizer); 1/2 N (chemical nitrogen fertilizer reduced by 50%); N (100% chemical nitrogen fertilizer); and 1/2 N + PM (pig manure complemented with chemical fertilizer application). The average annual CH</span></span></span>₄ emissions for 1/2 N + PM were 53%, 50%, and 32% higher than those for 0 N, 1/2 N, and N treatments, respectively (<em>p</em><span> &lt; 0.05). The soil organic carbon sequestration rates (SOCSR) for 1/2 N + PM were 224%, 208%, and 192% higher than those for 0 N, 1/2 N, and N treatments, respectively (</span><em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). The average annual N₂<span><span>O emissions from 1/2 N + PM were 51% lower than those from the N treatment. Compared to 0 N, 1/2 N and N treatments, the average NGHGE for 1/2 N + PM decreased by 41%, 41%, and 52%, and the average greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI, the yield-scaled NGHGE) from 1/2 N + PM reduced by 67%, 52%, and 53%, respectively. The decreases in NGHGE and GHGI were predominantly due to increased SOCSR (contributions of 187–308% and 81–325%, respectively) in 1/2 N + PM. The average soil nitrate, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, soil organic carbon contents, and pH value for 1/2 N + PM treatment were higher than those for the 1/2 N and N treatments (p &lt; 0.05). Compared to 0 N and 1/2 N treatments, 1/2 N + PM treatment significantly increased the average rice yield. However, no significant difference in average yield was observed between the 1/2 N + PM and N treatments. Gross margin analysis showed that the economic profit for 1/2 N + PM was higher than that for the other three treatments. Thus, the combined application of reduced chemical fertilizers and pig manure is an effective and economic way to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and increase </span>soil fertility in double-rice cropping systems.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107799"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42734177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cover crops control nitrogen and phosphorus transport from two agricultural watersheds at multiple measurement scales","authors":"Shannon L. Speir ,&nbsp;Jennifer L. Tank ,&nbsp;Matt T. Trentman ,&nbsp;Ursula H. Mahl ,&nbsp;Lienne R. Sethna ,&nbsp;Brittany R. Hanrahan ,&nbsp;Todd V. Royer","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Environmental impacts on freshwater ecosystems<span> persist due to inputs of excess fertilizer to agricultural landscapes. Conservation efforts, such as cover crops, are being encouraged to reduce nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) runoff from fields, but their effects on working lands are rarely documented. We quantified reductions of nitrate-N and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) losses from cropland in response to widespread planting of cover crops in two </span></span>agricultural watersheds<span> (Indiana, USA) over four water years (2016–2019). We collected water samples bimonthly from tile drains and stream sites to measure nitrate-N and SRP losses across scales. Cover crops consistently reduced tile drain nitrate-N loss by 27–72%, while SRP reductions were more variable, ranging from 7%–58%. Subwatershed<span> nitrate-N yields were consistent across each watershed, while headwaters disproportionately contributed SRP to the stream, suggesting targeted cover crop implementation may be required to reduce SRP export. Finally, watershed-scale nitrate-N export was reduced by 2–67% (5/8 site-years) and SRP export by 31–88% (7/8 site-years) in spring. However, given the effect of interannual variability in runoff and spatial heterogeneity in N and P loading, regional-scale planting of cover crops may be needed to confer consistent reductions in annual export, with meaningful impacts on downstream water quality.</span></span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107765"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44001199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frequent stover mulching builds healthy soil and sustainable agriculture in Mollisols","authors":"Yali Yang ,&nbsp;Xuelian Bao ,&nbsp;Hongtu Xie ,&nbsp;Hongbo He ,&nbsp;Xudong Zhang ,&nbsp;Pengshuai Shao ,&nbsp;Xuefeng Zhu ,&nbsp;Yuji Jiang ,&nbsp;Chao Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107815","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107815","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Returning plant residue<span><span> to farmland maintains or enhances the fertility and productivity of soils to offset degradation of soil quality in cultivated agricultural ecosystems. Although stover mulching serves as a manageable, efficient practice that has been widely used to restore soil health and to sustain ecosystems, it is unclear how changing the frequency and quantity of stover mulching in the long run affects the soil ecosystem, and it remains elusive what the underlying mechanisms are that associated with the features and responses of belowground </span>microbiomes<span><span> in the process. Here, we investigated a China Mollisol subjected to a 10-year, no-till management scheme with two-level frequencies (i.e., high frequency with continuous mulching per year and low frequency with interval mulching every 3 years) and two-level quantities (i.e., low quantity, 33%, and high quantity, 67%) of maize stover mulching. We found that the frequency, but not the quantity, significantly influenced life-history strategies of </span>bacterial communities<span> and crop yields. Specifically, frequency of stover mulching significantly affected structure of bacterial communities in deeper soil layers at 5–10 cm and 10–20 cm; at 5–10 cm, high frequency of stover mulching showed significantly higher bacterial diversity and richness than low frequency mulching. The complex and close-knit co-occurrence network of bacterial communities in soils under high frequency stover mulching was associated predominately with copiotrophs (e.g., Bacteroidetes and Alphaproteobacteria) and potential metabolic functions that involved carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids; under low frequency stover mulching, the simple and loose co-occurrence networks were associated with oligotrophs (e.g., </span></span></span></span><span><em>Arthrobacter</em></span><span>) and potential functions that involved cell processes. We also found that high frequency stover mulching maintained the storage of soil organic carbon<span>, improved the stocks of soil total phosphorus at 16.0% and potassium at 4.7%, and enhanced crop productivity at 14.1% than low frequency, independent of the quantity of stover mulching. Together, we suggest maintaining a low-quantity while high-frequency of mulch might efficiently boost soil health without compromising crop yields and as well optimize the use of stover. Our study revealed that applying a small quantity of stover mulching at high frequency might be sufficient for regenerative agriculture by efficiently improving soil health.</span></span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107815"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41600688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainable farming techniques and farm size for rice smallholders in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: A slack-based technical efficiency approach","authors":"Le Canh Bich Tho,&nbsp;Chieko Umetsu","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107775","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107775","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Small farm<span><span><span> size and fragmented land are considered constraining agricultural development. This study uses the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2016 (VHLSS 2016) dataset to measure the technical efficiency of rice smallholders and its determinants, including farm size, in the Mekong Delta. </span>Data envelopment analysis was employed to examine efficiency scores in the first stage based on data of 506 </span>paddy<span> farms. The overall efficiency calculated through slack-based measure was low at 0.59 and the input slacks were quite large. This indicated that local farmers have not been using their resources efficiently in producing paddy. Further, farms smaller than 2 ha faced low overall efficiency at 54% and higher slacks in terms of all input types. The second-stage Tobit result showed that all types of efficiency could be improved if farmers expanded their farm size and reduced the over-use of inputs. Thus, enabling small farms to achieve economies of scale through collective farming in the Large Field Model (LFM) will be critical for upgrading production efficiency and reducing slacks as labor costs rise and natural resources<span> are constrained. It is recommended that farmers should follow strictly eco-friendly farming packages in order to reduce their current excessive usage of seed cost by 28 USD/ha, pesticides by 61 USD/ha, and fertilizers by 155 kg/ha to reach efficient production frontier. The government needs to take measures to replicate and closely monitor climate smart agriculture programs in large-scale production to improve the overall efficiency of paddy sector, in addition to the important goal of protecting the environment and natural resources of the region.</span></span></span></p></div><div><h3>Availability of data and materials</h3><p>The VHLSS 2016 questionnaire section and dataset analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107775"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43882809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pollen and landscape diversity as well as wax moth depredation determine reproductive success of bumblebees in agricultural landscapes","authors":"Sandra Elena Schweiger ,&nbsp;Nicole Beyer ,&nbsp;Annika Louise Hass ,&nbsp;Catrin Westphal","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107788","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107788","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Bumblebees are important pollinators in </span>agricultural landscapes<span> that are facing global declines. Main pressures include food scarcity mainly due to the reduction of semi-natural habitats (SNH) and parasite-induced vulnerability. Even though intensive agricultural landscapes are poor habitats for bumblebees, the cultivation of mass-flowering crops (MFC) can provide a high amount of floral resources and therefore can promote pollinators. In contrary to SNH, which provide a high diversity of floral resources, MFC provide only monofloral, short-term and unbalanced resources for bees. We explored the direct and indirect effects of landscape composition (proportions of MFC, SNH, urban areas), landscape diversity, diversity of pollen diets and wax moth depredation on the growth and reproductive success of bumblebee colonies. We placed 44 experimental </span></span><span><em>Bombus terrestris</em></span><span><span> L. colonies in 22 agricultural landscapes. The study landscapes represented gradients of the cover of SNH, urban areas and </span>oilseed rape<span> (OSR) and differed in the availability of the mid-season flowering<span> MFC faba bean (</span></span></span><span><em>Vicia faba</em></span> L.). We recorded colony growth and reproductive success of the bumblebee colonies, diversity of collected pollen types and depredation by the specialized wax moth <em>Aphomia sociella</em> L. We found no effects of landscape composition or landscape diversity on the diversity of pollen collected by the bees. However, we found a positive effect of landscape diversity on the reproductive success of bumblebees. Moreover, pollen diversity and the availability of faba bean interacted and resulted in higher numbers of young queens in landscapes without faba bean. In addition, colonies that collected a higher pollen diversity had a reduced <em>A. sociella</em> depredation. Increased parasitism had a cascading negative effect on the reproductive success of bumblebees by limiting colony growth. Our study showed that high landscape diversity and diverse pollen diets can enhance the reproductive success of bumblebees. A diverse diet even mitigated depredation by wax moths. To sustain vital bumblebee populations and their pollination services, diverse and floral rich habitat types should be conserved or restored in agricultural landscapes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107788"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44959898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Context-dependent foraging habitat selection in a farmland raptor along an agricultural intensification gradient","authors":"Giacomo Assandri ,&nbsp;Jacopo G. Cecere ,&nbsp;Maurizio Sarà ,&nbsp;Carlo Catoni ,&nbsp;Federico De Pascalis ,&nbsp;Jennifer Morinay ,&nbsp;Alessandro Berlusconi ,&nbsp;Sara Cioccarelli ,&nbsp;Alessandro Mercogliano ,&nbsp;Aliona Pazhera ,&nbsp;Anna Terras ,&nbsp;Simona Imperio ,&nbsp;Michelangelo Morganti ,&nbsp;Diego Rubolini","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107782","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107782","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Gradients of agricultural intensification in agroecosystems may determine uneven resource availability for predators relying on these man-made habitats. In turn, these variations in resource availability may affect predators’ habitat selection patterns, resulting in context-dependent habitat selection. We assessed the effects of gradients of landscape composition and configuration on habitat selection of a colonial farmland bird of prey, the lesser </span>kestrel (</span><span><em>Falco naumanni</em></span><span>), relying on 76 GPS-tracked nestling-rearing individuals from 10 populations scattered along an agricultural intensification gradient. Analyses were conducted considering two ecological levels of aggregation (the population and the individual) and two spatial scales of habitat availability (the colony surroundings and the individual home-range). Overall, non-irrigated croplands and semi-natural grasslands were the most preferred habitats at both spatial scales. At the colony scale, lesser kestrels showed a preference for grassland compared to non-irrigated crops, whereas the opposite was the case within individual home-ranges. Conversely, croplands were positively selected with comparable intensity at both spatial scales. Strong selection for grassland at the colony scale highlights the importance of this semi-natural habitat for the species. The weaker preference for grassland at the home-range scale is likely due to the phenology and structure of the vegetation in the late breeding season. Spatial scale differences in selection patterns may thus derive from spatio-temporal changes in resource availability through the breeding season. The strength of selection for the two most used habitats varied markedly among individuals. At the spatial scale of the colony, individual selection strength for grasslands increased with decreasing compositional diversity of the surrounding landscape, suggesting that agroecosystem heterogeneity may at least partly buffer the loss of semi-natural habitats. At the within home-range scale, higher cropland availability reduced the strength of individual preference for this habitat, suggesting a negative functional response possibly related to density-dependent processes acting on foraging movements. Our study provides evidence that farmland species show context-dependent habitat selection patterns in response to landscape gradients shaped by agricultural intensification as well as by intrinsic characteristics and habitat availability. Our findings highlight the importance of addressing both individual and population-level variability and considering multiple spatial scales in studies of habitat selection to inform species’ management and conservation.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"326 ","pages":"Article 107782"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44583650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}