Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Mechanisms of soil organic matter persistence vary across time and soil depth in long-term cropping systems of the North Central US","authors":"Tanner C. Judd ,&nbsp;Matthew D. Ruark ,&nbsp;Yichao Rui ,&nbsp;Gregg R. Sanford ,&nbsp;Zachary B. Freedman","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109769","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109769","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil organic matter (SOM) declines under agricultural production have been well documented, despite efforts to maintain or enhance SOM through practices like rotational diversity and increased carbon (C) input quantity and quality. However, a critical knowledge gap remains in understanding how system management alters the microbial processes that drive C input turnover and stabilization across time and soil depths. This study addresses this gap by leveraging a long-term cropping systems trial to investigate microbial mechanisms of SOM turnover and stabilization across a representative range of cropping systems in the North Central US. We assessed microbial and chemical soil characteristics at two key sampling times throughout the growing season and linked these measurements to indicators of SOM persistence. Particulate organic matter (POM) C:N exhibited significant (P &lt; 0.001) variation across cropping systems, depth, and time reflecting a gradient of system C input quality. POM-C was greatest in pasture systems (P &lt; 0.001) at both time points, suggesting stability of the relationship between POM inputs and decomposition across the growing season. Additionally, microbial growth and respiration were highest in pasture (P &gt; 0.001), which was consistent across time, indicating an active microbial community that facilitates SOM turnover and stabilization. Our findings provide novel insights on the role of rotational and plant input diversity for enhancing microbial turnover and slowing SOM decline through POM substrate quality, particularly in pasture systems, across time and soil depths. This research will serve to inform future cropping system-level soil management strategies aimed at improving SOM persistence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109769"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223045","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":"Feed grain polycultures mitigate weather risk, support arthropods, and suppress weeds in the Western Corn Belt","authors":"Dhurba Neupane ,&nbsp;Shannon L. Osborne ,&nbsp;Karl A. Roeder ,&nbsp;Avery E. Knoll ,&nbsp;Patrick M. Ewing","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ensuring sustainable food production while preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services under extreme weather is a challenge. We evaluated whether intercropping could enhance the yield, feed quality, and stability of crop production while also provisioning habitat for beneficial arthropods which could improve ecosystem services like pest predation. The study was conducted across two weather contexts at Brookings, SD, in 2023, with Planting A being cooler at germination, warmer at flowering, and generally drier than Planting B. Treatments included oat and pea monocultures, an oat-pea biculture, and in Planting A, an oat-pea-flax triculture. Overall grain yields were 2247 ± 151 kg ha⁻¹, 2498 ± 109 kg ha⁻¹, and 1423 ± 158 kg ha⁻¹ for oat-pea, oat, and pea, respectively. Yields of monocultures varied between the two weather contexts, with 30.4 % and 113 % higher yields of oats and peas in Planting B versus Planting A. However, the biculture yields were not different across weather conditions <em>(p</em> = 0.3)<em>.</em> The bi- and tri-cultures were at least as land-use efficient as monocultures while providing stable productivity and feed quality even under heat-stressed conditions. The oat-pea mix also had higher crude protein, similar acid detergent fiber and total digestible nutrient, and lower neutral detergent fiber content versus the oat grain, while pea had the highest crude protein and lowest fiber content. Both polycultures improved the habitat for predatory arthropods and effectively suppressed weeds. Our findings suggest that intercropping could improve the productivity, stability, and long-term sustainability of feed grain production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109773"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223044","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":"Straw incorporation mitigates methane emissions by facilitating the conversion of particulate organic carbon to mineral-associated organic carbon","authors":"Jiayu Qin ,&nbsp;Xinlu Long ,&nbsp;Yuxi Zhou ,&nbsp;Ligeng Jiang ,&nbsp;Pengli Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109780","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109780","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Incorporating straw return into tillage systems is a potential strategy for sustaining rice production, while achieving multiple environmental benefits. The effect of different tillage management on methane emissions has been well documented; however, the combined effects with straw return management require further exploration. To investigate this, an experiment was initiated in 2008 using five management practices: conventional tillage, no tillage, conventional tillage with straw mulching, conventional tillage with straw incorporation, and no tillage with straw mulching. Changes in soil carbon pool properties, hydrolytic and oxidative enzyme activities, phospholipid fatty acids, and the abundance of methanogenic and methanotrophic genes were measured during the early and late rice-growing seasons in 2022 and 2023. The results indicated the following: (1) Straw return significantly increased cumulative methane emissions by 75.5 % compared with straw removal. However, conventional tillage with straw incorporation reduced cumulative methane emissions by 37.2 % and 20.3 % compared to conventional tillage with straw mulching and no tillage with straw mulching, respectively. (2) Conventional tillage with straw incorporation enhanced β-acetylglucosaminidase and cellobiohydrolase activities and increased mineral-associated organic carbon content compared to conventional tillage with straw mulching and no tillage with straw mulching. (3) Under conventional tillage with straw incorporation, the content of phospholipid fatty acids in bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes increased by 7.6 %–19.3 %, 7.2 %–18.3 %, and 6.0 %–19.8 % compared with conventional tillage, no tillage, and conventional tillage with straw mulching, respectively. (4) Conventional tillage with straw incorporation reduced methanogens/methanotrophs by 14.1 % and 4.0 % compared with conventional tillage with straw mulching and no tillage with straw mulching, respectively. Structural equation modeling revealed that tillage and straw management promoted the conversion of particulate organic carbon to mineral-associated organic carbon by increasing the soil microbial populations and β-acetylglucosaminidase and cellobiohydrolase activities, which regulated methane production by methane-related functional communities. Thus, regulating the conversion of activated carbon to inert carbon through a rational combination of tillage and straw return methods can effectively reduce methane emissions from double rice paddies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109780"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223043","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 grassland management through an intercropping system based on cutting optimization","authors":"Longshuai Ma ,&nbsp;Guanrong Dai ,&nbsp;Fangru Wan ,&nbsp;Xiaozheng Wang ,&nbsp;Yinjuan Li ,&nbsp;Baoqing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109775","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109775","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In arid and semi-arid regions, the restoration of degraded grasslands necessitates strategies that balance agricultural production with ecological sustainability. Large-scale alfalfa cultivation has been implemented in the Loess Plateau of China to establish cultivated grassland aimed at vegetation recovery and soil erosion control. However, this approach presents a critical dilemma: although alfalfa effectively stabilizes soil and supports local livelihoods, its high water demand exacerbates the already severe water scarcity that exists in such dryland ecosystems. To address this issue, a two-year field experiment was conducted in Qingyang, Gansu Province to evaluate the effects of monocultures and intercropping of wheat and alfalfa, along with precision cutting management of alfalfa, on yield, water use (WU), and water productivity (WP). Three cropping patterns were implemented: sole wheat, sole alfalfa, and wheat/alfalfa intercropping with seven alfalfa cutting treatments (T-20C1, T-20C2, T-20C3, T-10C1, T-10C2, T-10C3, and T). Results indicated that a significant increase in productivity of the intercropping system by 8.7 %<img>21.2 % in 2022 and 16.3 %<img>31.0 % in 2023 compared to that of monocultures. The land equivalent ratio of the intercropping system under the T-10C2 treatment reached 1.15 in 2022 and 1.21 in 2023. Compared with that of sole wheat, the yield of intercropped wheat under the T treatment was significantly reduced, by 25.6 % in 2022 and 12.7 % in 2023. Except for the T-20C1 treatment in 2022, the yield of intercropped wheat under other treatments did not exhibit statistically significant differences when compared with that of sole wheat in both 2022 and 2023. Compared with the yield under the T treatment, the yield of intercropped wheat under the T-10C1, T-20C3, T-10C2, and T-10 treatments increased significantly, by 23.3 %<img>46.3 % in 2022 and 13.9 %<img>20.4 % in 2023. Compared with that of sole alfalfa, the yield of intercropped alfalfa increased significantly, by 45.4 %<img>48.8 % in 2022 and 49.7 %<img>44.6 % in 2023. Compared with the sole cropping system, the WU of all treatments in the intercropping system decreased by 1.1 %<img>13.1 % compared to the sole cropping system in 2022, while the WP increased by 0.1 %<img>24.0 % in 2022 and 7.7 %<img>23.5 % in 2023. Overall, results indicated that optimized cutting of alfalfa improves WP and reduces total WU in wheat/alfalfa intercropping systems. This provides a water-saving solution for cultivated grasslands in arid areas, achieving a synergy between ecological restoration and agricultural WU.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109775"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144203288","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":"Tree and landscape characteristics outweigh insect abundance in driving bat activity in West African rice fields","authors":"Gonçalo A. Fernandes ,&nbsp;Mark Massaad ,&nbsp;Patrícia A.P. Chaves ,&nbsp;Ana Rainho","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109774","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109774","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The urgent need to sustainably feed a growing human population is particularly pressing in tropical regions where food security remains uncertain. Ecological intensification strategies, such as integrating nature-based solutions, can help achieve this goal by leveraging ecosystem services. Isolated trees in agricultural landscapes play a vital role in enhancing productivity and biodiversity, supporting organisms like insectivorous bats that provide pest control services. The implementation of measures to strengthen insectivorous bat populations holds significant potential to increase insect predation, suppress agricultural pests, and improve food security. Understanding how tree characteristics and surrounding landscapes influence bat foraging activity in staple tropical crops is thus essential. This study investigated how isolated trees influence the activity of bats and insects in smallholder rice fields in Guinea-Bissau. Specifically, we evaluated how tree characteristics and landscape features affect bat guild activity, insect abundance, and richness, as well as the indirect effects of insects on bats. Our findings indicate that larger, isolated trees of specific species located closer to other trees but further from wooded edges are associated with increased bat activity and richness, mediated partly by higher insect abundance. These results emphasise the ecological and agricultural importance of isolated trees in promoting biodiversity and enhancing pest suppression in agricultural landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109774"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223157","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":"Cascading effects of landscape, mediated by mesoclimate, on carabid communities and weed seed predation in winter cereals","authors":"Léa Uroy ,&nbsp;Aude Ernoult ,&nbsp;Cendrine Mony ,&nbsp;Olivier Jambon ,&nbsp;Caroline Le Maux ,&nbsp;Hervé Quénol ,&nbsp;Benjamin Carbonne","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109776","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109776","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural intensification, landscape simplification, and climate change threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services in arable lands. Increasing semi-natural habitats and landscape heterogeneity can mitigate these impacts by providing diverse habitats, resources and modifying climate at the landscape scale. As effective natural enemies in arable lands, carabids play a key role in pest and weed seed regulation and are influenced by field management and landscape. This study hypothesized that field management directly influences carabid communities and weed seed predation, while landscape factors affect them directly and indirectly through air temperature at the landscape scale. We sampled 77 winter cereal fields across 20 landscape windows representing regional landscape heterogeneity and composition. We monitored air temperature, carabid communities, and weed seed predation during two sampling sessions in late spring and early summer 2023. Piecewise Structural Equation Models were built to test for the direct and indirect effects of field-scale factors, landscape and climate at the landscape scale on carabids and weed seed predation. For both sampling sessions, results showed that the amount of semi-natural habitats and landscape heterogeneity primarily influence carabid activity-density and composition, which in turn affect weed seed predation. Grasslands, by providing resources and refuges, favour carabids but also appear linked to higher maximum air temperature, possibly influencing carabid composition via thermotolerance traits. The study highlights the importance of semi-natural habitats and landscape heterogeneity in shaping carabid communities and their ecosystem services in arable fields. Furthermore, for the first time, we have highlighted the potential influence of landscape context on carabids mediated by air temperature, which may affect weed regulation services through seed predation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109776"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223158","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":"Linking stable soil carbon and microbes using rapid fractionation and metagenomics assays – First results screening fungal inoculants under wheat crops","authors":"Wolfram Buss ,&nbsp;Scott Ferguson ,&nbsp;Yolima Carrillo ,&nbsp;Justin Borevitz","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109798","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109798","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing soil carbon in agricultural systems can help mitigate and eventually reverse climate change. Soil microorganisms play a key role in regulating soil carbon accrual and stability. Questions remain about the link between microbes and soil carbon outcomes and how to leverage microbial processes. Here we screen microbial inoculation (endophytic fungal isolates) regarding their effects on soil carbon in a wheat pot trial using a rapid soil carbon fractionation assay and link the results with microbial community structure and function observations. Under the specific chemical and biological conditions of the plant-soil-environmental system, two of the 17 fungi tested increased soil carbon in close proximity to the roots by ∼15 %. This increase was associated with the medium stable, soil aggregate organic matter fraction (up to +21 %) and also mineral-associated organic matter, the long-term soil carbon storage (+10 %). Some of these changes were linked to a shift in predicted functional genes (whole metagenome, long read sequencing) and an increase in bacterial and fungal biomass (phospholipid fatty acid analysis). Microbial inoculation did not induce a statistically significant shift in the microbial composition (metagenomics), which, instead, correlated with the labile, particulate organic matter pool. While it is unclear whether the two endophytes directly influenced soil carbon cycling or had an indirect effect, through altering existing microbial processes, it demonstrates their potential for positive impacts on soil carbon that needs confirming in field trials. The combination of high throughput assays we present here could further help link carbon stability with microbial indicators and build more accurate soil carbon models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109798"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144223042","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":"How waterbird communities respond to seasonal and environmental factors in rice fields adjacent to a Ramsar wetland","authors":"Yu Zheng ,&nbsp;Yu Chen ,&nbsp;Yunwei Song ,&nbsp;Guangyao Wang ,&nbsp;Yong Zhang ,&nbsp;Xinsheng Chen ,&nbsp;Chunlin Li ,&nbsp;Willem F. de Boer","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109778","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109778","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Natural wetlands have been lost or degraded worldwide, negatively impacting waterbird populations. However, many species have capitalised on the creation of complementary habitats such as rice fields, a common and widespread type of artificial wetland. Despite the significance of rice fields as supplementary habitats for waterbirds, few studies have explored how waterbirds use these wetlands across seasons and how they respond to different local environmental factors. We surveyed waterbird communities in rice fields near Anhui Shengjin Lake National Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site, during the rice growing periods and the post-harvest periods from 2023 to 2024, to analyse the impact of environmental factors on the metrics of community diversity. We observed 15,085 waterbirds of 33 species in the rice fields, with diversity indices that were generally higher in rice fields inside the reserve than those outside the reserve in most periods. Waterbird densities peaked during the seedling and pre-wintering periods. Species richness, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, and the densities of ducks and shorebirds were highest during the seedling period, while gull densities peaked in the flowering period. In contrast, goose densities were highest during the pre-wintering period. Rice fields with larger areas, irregular shapes, deeper water, higher drain density, and closer proximity to larger adjacent rice fields and Shengjin Lake supported higher waterbird densities and species richness. Human disturbances from main roads and settlements negatively affected waterbirds. However, during certain periods, waterbirds were attracted by human activities that may expose food resources in rice fields. These findings provide important implications for waterbird conservation in these artificial wetlands, which are of global significance given their important role in the context of worldwide wetland loss and degradations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109778"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144189569","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":"The role of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions: Insights from a temperate agricultural ecosystem","authors":"Kristine Valujeva ,&nbsp;Inga Grinfelde ,&nbsp;Jovita Pilecka-Ulcugaceva ,&nbsp;Olga Skiste ,&nbsp;Sindija Frienberga ,&nbsp;Kristaps Siltumens ,&nbsp;Lidija Vojevoda ,&nbsp;Andis Lazdins","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109779","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109779","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agriculture, forestry, and land use contribute approximately 22 % of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, with nitrous oxide (N₂O), methane (CH₄), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) playing pivotal roles in climate change. This underscores the urgency of adopting sustainable practices such as crop rotation and cover cropping. Red clover, a nitrogen-fixing legume, offers potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing soil fertility, reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers, and improving soil health. This study examines the seasonal and management related dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions in temperate agricultural systems and evaluates the short-term and long-term effects of red clover cultivation on soil N₂O, CO₂, and CH₄ fluxes. In addition to crop specific effects, the study identifies key environmental and agronomic factors influencing emission patterns, including soil type, tillage system, farming system, and seasonal temperature and moisture fluctuations. Notably, red clover cultivation initially increased N₂O (7.06 g ha⁻¹ d⁻¹) and CO₂ (137.23 kg ha⁻¹ d⁻¹) emissions due to biological nitrogen fixation and elevated microbial activity, followed by emission fluctuations linked to organic matter mineralisation. In contrast, CH₄ fluxes remained consistently negative, indicating a methane sink effect (-6.54 g CH₄ ha⁻¹ d⁻¹ in year three). These findings highlight the complex interplay between management practices and environmental variables in regulating soil greenhouse gas emissions and underscore the need for further research on biomass contributions to support climate resilient agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144189448","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":"Green infrastructure provides important wild bee refuges in intensive agricultural landscapes: The case of Spanish drove roads","authors":"Paula Solascasas ,&nbsp;Francisco M. Azcárate ,&nbsp;Jose A. González ,&nbsp;Pablo Manzano ,&nbsp;Denis Michez ,&nbsp;Thomas J. Wood ,&nbsp;Violeta Hevia","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109777","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109777","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agricultural intensification and reduced proximity to natural habitats and their associated resources negatively impact wild bee diversity. The Spanish network of drove roads, a series of traditional routes which have been maintained through the practice of transhumant grazing and livestock movements, plays a fundamental role in mitigating some of these negative impacts. This network, functioning as a form of green infrastructure, provides permanent semi-natural grasslands that serve as refuges for pollinators in particularly intensively managed agricultural landscapes. To explore the effect of the <em>Conquense</em> drove road –over 400 km long and one of the most frequently used transhumant drove roads in Castilla-La Mancha (central Spain)– on the wild bee community, we sampled a 240 km section that extends across three distinct ecoregions (Campo de Calatrava, Llanura Manchega and Mancha Alta), which differ biogeographically in terms of geology and geomorphology, likely resulting in differences in bee communities. We collected wild bee specimens using pan traps across three land use types present within each ecoregion: drove road grasslands, patches of semi-natural vegetation and intensive crop fields. Wild bee community composition showed significant differences between the three ecoregions. Drove roads showed a significant positive effect on species richness and Shannon’s diversity when the availability of semi-natural habitat was low. Functional richness of wild bees was significantly higher in drove road grasslands compared to the other two land use types (semi-natural vegetation and crops). Moreover, the interaction between semi-natural cover and drove roads revealed a significant positive effect of drove roads on both functional richness and dispersion, particularly under conditions of low semi-natural habitat cover. Our study highlights that drove road grasslands can offer suitable habitat resources that support bee taxonomic and functional diversity, particularly in landscapes heavily transformed by intensive agriculture and with reduced availability of semi-natural areas. The EU Pollinators Initiative emphasizes the need of restoring natural habitats in agricultural landscapes and creating a network of ecological corridors for pollinators. In this context, the preservation of the Spanish network of drove roads is highly relevant. Drove road grasslands, when maintained through traditional transhumant grazing, can provide feeding and nesting resources to wild bees and other pollinators, especially within a highly intensified agricultural matrix.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"393 ","pages":"Article 109777"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144184729","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}