The need to preserve and enhance biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is widely accepted. In the case of maize, there is a chance to combine production and biodiversity in the same field by microsegregation: wildflowers are sown between the future maize rows after harvest of the last main crop. These wildflower strips provide flowers and vegetation structure within fields and favour biodiversity without losing production area. The system is based on reliable cropping techniques such as strip-till, underground fertilization and band spraying, allowing the poor habitat quality of conventional maize caused by late soil tillage and lack of vegetation structure to be overcome. Field trials at two sites in Germany were conducted, testing the agricultural feasibility, ecological efficiency and yield impacts. The results show the successful establishment of the wildflower strips between the maize rows. Flowering diversity was up to eight times higher than in conventional maize crop stands. Positive implications for pollinators and ground beetles could be proved. The habitat quality for the skylark could be improved by a factor of 2–3, to nearly normal reproduction of the population. A yield reduction of at least 30% was observed. Further investigations will address this yield gap. Furthermore, the management of spontaneous weeds needs further improvement.

中文翻译：

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玉米作物中的微偏析-一种改善农田生物多样性的机会

保护和增强农业景观中生物多样性的需要已被广泛接受。以玉米为例，有机会通过微隔离将同一田间的生产和生物多样性结合起来：在收获最后一种主要农作物后，在未来的玉米行之间播种野花。这些野花条在田间提供花卉和植被结构，并在不损失生产面积的情况下有利于生物多样性。该系统以可靠的耕作技术为基础，如条带耕作，地下施肥和喷带施肥，可以克服传统的玉米因土壤耕作晚和植被缺乏而造成的栖息地质量差的问题。在德国的两个地点进行了田间试验，测试了农业可行性，生态效率和产量影响。结果表明玉米行之间的野花条成功建立。开花多样性是传统玉米作物的八分之一。可以证明对传粉媒介和甲虫有积极的影响。云雀的栖息地质量可以提高2-3倍，从而使种群的繁殖接近正常。观察到产率降低至少30％。进一步的研究将解决这一产量差距。此外，自发杂草的管理需要进一步改善。到人口的几乎正常繁殖。观察到产率降低至少30％。进一步的研究将解决这一产量差距。此外，自发杂草的管理需要进一步改善。到人口的几乎正常繁殖。观察到产率降低至少30％。进一步的研究将解决这一产量差距。此外，自发杂草的管理需要进一步改善。