Field margin vegetation (FMV) refers to the plant community in the interface between agriculture and natural environments. Substantial work has been carried out on the management of field margins in European countries with the aim of conserving field-level biodiversity and enhancing agronomic benefits. India, instead, is lagging behind in the assessment of FMV and formulating subsequent management strategies for biodiversity conservation at the field boundaries. This study is a first step to better understand the structural and functional dimensions of field margin vegetation along an agricultural transformation gradient near the megacity of Bengaluru, India. Empirical field studies along with the detection of vegetation change using remote sensing and geo-informatics technique were used to record information on field margin vegetation. The phytosociological study, revealed a total of 81 species, comprising 29 species of trees, 21 shrubs and 31 herbs at the field margins of six selected villages of northern Bengaluru. Randomly selected 355 field boundaries were delineated from high-resolution Worldview 3 images for the year 2018 and from Google Earth images for the year 2004–2005. The FMV area was around to 85.40 ha in 2004–2005 but declined to 76.69 ha in 2017–2018. The survey also indicated that local farmers have in-depth ecological knowledge on the importance of FMV in ensuring a sustainable flow of resources within the agricultural landscape. The results demonstrate that rural and transition zones of the study area have higher dominance of planted tree species on the margins, whereas urban zone exhibits comparatively uniform dominance for all species. Our study also highlights the need for conservation of FMV to ensure agroecosystem health as a prerequisite for sustainable socioecological development.

中文翻译：

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印度班加罗尔城乡交界处田间边缘植被的结构和组成：以未开发的农业生态系统规模为例。

田间边缘植被（FMV）是指农业与自然环境之间的界面中的植物群落。在欧洲国家，为保护田间生物多样性和提高农艺效益，已在田间边界管理方面进行了大量工作。相反，印度在FMV评估和制定后续的田间边界生物多样性保护管理战略方面落后。这项研究是更好地了解印度班加罗尔特大城市附近沿农业转化梯度的田间边缘植被的结构和功能尺度的第一步。利用实地研究以及使用遥感和地理信息技术检测植被变化来记录有关田间边缘植被的信息。植物学社会学研究表明，在班加罗尔北部六个选定村庄的田野边缘，共有81种植物，包括29种树木，21种灌木和31种草药。从2018年的高分辨率Worldview 3图像和2004-2005年的Google Earth图像中划定了随机选择的355个场边界。FMV面积在2004–2005年约为85.40公顷，但在2017–2018年下降至76.69公顷。调查还表明，当地农民对FMV在确保农业景观内可持续资源流动方面的重要性具有深入的生态知识。结果表明，研究区的农村和过渡带在边缘处的植树种占主导地位，而城市带在所有树种上表现出相对统一的支配地位。