causes, constraints and opportunities
Josefsson, Jonas
(2012).
Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.
Uppsala:
(NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology
(S) > Dept. of Ecology, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet.
Introductory research essay (Department of Ecology, SLU)
; 17
[Report]
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Abstract
In the past century, European agriculture has undergone profound changes. Through technical advances and structural changes, productivity is snowballing while farmland ecosystems are increasingly affected. These changes are taking place not only at the field scale through increased inputs and outputs, but also at the landscape scale through landscape simplification, with ecological effects being attributable to changes at both scales. While the decline of many farmland organisms in response to agricultural intensification is the most apparent effect, many of the biological functions provided by the systems biodiversity (so called ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycling etc.) are also threatened, which could have great economical implications. To counter negative effects of agricultural intensification, EU Member States are using agri-environmental schemes (AESs) to incite farmers to use environmentally friendly practices. However, the effects of these schemes have been questioned both on the uncertain effects on biodiversity and on farmers’ reluctance to participate. Many studies have tried to relate AES participation to characteristics of schemes, or demographics of farms and farmers including attitudes. Farmers seem to prefer schemes with flexible contract terms that only infer small changes in farm management. However, linking AES participation to farm characteristics is problematic, and studies often reach opposing results. Regarding ecological effects, lack of clearly stated objectives and the low scientific quality of the CMEF evaluations cloud the assessment of measures. Further, the effects of AESs have been found to vary with landscape composition (cleared/complex) and between taxa. With a deeper understanding of how AES effects interact with the landscape and how farmers relate to conservation initiatives, there are opportunities to improve scheme design. Collection of baseline data, evidence‐based measures and result-based payments are examples of ways to advance AESs. To increase farmer engagement in AESs, participatory approaches play an important part in bridging the attitudinal gap between conservationists, legislation and farmers.
Authors/Creators: | Josefsson, Jonas |
---|---|
Title: | Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes |
Subtitle: | causes, constraints and opportunities |
Series/Journal: | Introductory research essay (Department of Ecology, SLU)(11734440) |
Year of publishing : | 2012 |
Number: | 17 |
Page range: | 4-25 |
Number of Pages: | 25 |
Place of Publication: | Uppsala |
Publisher: | Institutionen för ekologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet |
Language: | English |
Publication Type: | Report |
Version: | Published version |
Full Text Status: | Public |
Agris subject categories.: | P Natural resources > P01 Nature conservation and land resources |
Subjects: | Obsolete subject words > FORESTRY, AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES and LANDSCAPE PLANNING > Landscape planning > Nature conservation and landscape management Obsolete subject words > NATURAL SCIENCES > Biology > Terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology > Terrestrial ecology |
Agrovoc terms: | agricultural landscape, farmland, biodiversity, birds, land use, intensification, environmental policies, sweden |
Keywords: | farmland biodiversity, agricultural intensification, farmland birds |
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-327 |
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-327 |
ID Code: | 8561 |
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology (S) > Dept. of Ecology |
External funders: | FORMAS |
Deposited By: | Mr Jonas Josefsson |
Deposited On: | 25 Jan 2012 07:50 |
Metadata Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2014 10:48 |
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