New Pathways for Sustainable Agriculture

GERMANY - Hedges, flowering strips and other semi-natural habitats provide food and nesting places for insects and birds in agricultural landscapes. This also has advantages for agriculture: bees, flies, beetles and other animal groups pollinate crops and control pest insects in adjacent fields.
calendar icon 9 April 2019
clock icon 2 minute read

But how much of these habitats is necessary and how should they be arranged to make use of these nature-based ecosystem services?


Small-scale agricultural landscapes (left) offer advantages: they promote biological diversity, pollination and natural pest control.
[Photos: Matthias Tschumi]

This question has been addressed by a new study from the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the Biocenter of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) in Bavaria, Germany. The results are published in the journal Ecology Letters.

Small-scale land use is advantageous

According to the study, biodiversity, pollination, and pest control can be improved in landscapes even with a relatively small amount of non-crop habitat. To reach this effect, these habitats must be arranged to create a small-scale agricultural landscape.

For this study, Dr Emily A. Martin's team took a closer look at data from ten European countries and 1,515 different agricultural landscapes. This clearly showed that small-scale land use is advantageous: it leads to a greater density of beneficial insects and spiders. And it increases the services provided by ecosystems for agriculture - pollination and natural pest control.

Creating a web of semi-natural habitats

"In order to reduce pests and promote biodiversity, increasing the density of semi-natural habitat elements can be an ideal solution for farms. You don't have to remove much land from cultivation to reach a significant effect," says Dr Martin.

"The implementation of these findings would be an important step forward in the effort to achieve a sustainable and biodiversity-friendly agriculture," Professor Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, head of the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology and co-author of the study, emphasises.

The JMU research team is now focusing on intensified cooperation with agricultural and environmental stakeholders. The scientists want to help implement a landscape management system that benefits everyone - nature and mankind.

TheCattleSite News Desk

© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.