Evaluation of arable land ecosystem services capacity and arable land-use intensity (ALUI) is important for recognising key regional factors that impact arable land attributes changes, which is crucial for planning sustainable patterns of arable land use. The chronic lack of coordination between these two types of evaluation studies has made it hard to provide enough information for developing arable

Changes in agricultural land productivity have become a crucial criterion for assessing the effectiveness of land consolidation (LC). In this study, agricultural land productivity under LC was observed and monitored in terms of two important factors: vegetation productivity and soil productivity, which were represented by net primary productivity (NPP) and soil organic matter (SOM), respectively. Based

Many studies have shown that the microbial biomass content in paddy soils is much higher than that in upland soils, but a comprehensive review of the underlying mechanisms and processes is lacking. We conducted a meta-analysis of published literature on the microbial biomass content in continuous paddy soils (>1700 data pairs) and paddy-upland rotation soils (>1100 data pairs) as compared to that in

Gradients of agricultural intensification in agroecosystems may determine uneven resource availability for predators relying on these man-made habitats. In turn, these variations in resource availability may affect predators’ habitat selection patterns, resulting in context-dependent habitat selection. We assessed the effects of gradients of landscape composition and configuration on habitat selection

Different types of fertilizer can significantly change soil fertility. The response of soil bacterial communities to different fertilization regimes has been studied widely, but the inconsistent results urged us to systematically study the effect of multiple environmental factors on bacterial diversity and composition under different fertilization regimes. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of a global

Tailoring agricultural practices to enhance the soil carbon (C) stock is seen as a promising mitigation tactic to offset greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in croplands. Tea plantations are not only the important part of economic industry but also one of the crucial agricultural sources of non-carbon dioxide emissions. Although many studies have measured GHG emissions from tea plantations, it remains unknown

We investigate the potential benefits to pollinators of two agri-environment scheme habitats, annually cultivated and floristically enhanced grass margins. The former encourages annual plant species whereas the latter targets the provision of perennial plants, both may benefit foraging pollinators, many of which have declined in the UK since the 1980s. We surveyed thirty cultivated margins and thirty

Bat populations are threatened in many regions of the world, partly due to the loss of foraging and commuting habitats in farmland and declines in insect prey populations caused by agricultural intensification. Given that bats play an important role as bioindicators and in suppressing crop pests, it is crucial to mitigate negative impacts that arise from these threats. In this study we evaluated the

Increasing heavy rainfalls can strongly affect ecosystem nitrogen (N) cycling processes and thereby alter soil N fluxes and pools. However, the effects of heavy rainfalls on soil N fluxes and pools are poorly understood, particularly with regards to high rainfall timing under field conditions. We conducted a 3-year (2014–2016) manipulative experiment in which heavy rainfall was imposed in middle (plant

Intensively managed agricultural landscapes have degraded the provisioning of diverse and continuous forage and shelter habitats for arthropods and weakened the delivery of ecosystem services such as insect crop pollination and biological pest control. In response, farmers are incentivised to sow flower strips along field margins to counteract resource bottlenecks. Yet, it is poorly understood how

Several studies have documented the semi-natural habitats and heterogeneous landscape patterns play a crucial role in maintaining spider diversity in agricultural landscapes. However, which types of semi-natural habitat contribute more to conserve spider diversity and functional traits, and how they respond to landscape patterns at different landscape scales are still poorly understood. Thereby, we

Massive grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau(QTP) provide vital ecosystems services, which have been decreased by land degradation associated with global change. Effective efforts and actions of restoration and management are required to promote the sustainable development of these grassland ecosystems with global importance. This special issue collected numerous papers to address share the innovative

Primary parasitoid species, usually Hymenopteran wasp species, contribute to pest regulation services in agroecosystems by parasitizing crop pests and reducing their abundance. However, this positive effect can be limited if primary parasitoids themselves are parasitized by secondary parasitoids, also known as hyperparasitoids. These trophic dynamics that influence pest regulation take place within

Catch crop (green manure) planting is considered an efficient strategy to improve soil fertility in agro-ecosystems. Methane (CH4) emissions from paddies subjected to continuous green manure amendment though is a topic that remains unexplored. To clarify the impact of continuous green manure amendment on rice yield and CH4 emissions, a long-term trial (established in 2003, Yixing, China) was designed

Agri-environment schemes are programmes where landholders enter into voluntary agreements (typically with governments) to manage agricultural land for environmental protection and nature conservation objectives. Previous work at local scale has shown that these features can provide additional floral and nesting resources to support wild pollinators, which may indirectly increase floral visitation to

The application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and straw (S) is a common practice in rice cultivation. However, the dynamic changes in the long-term effects on methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (STN) sequestration rates are poorly documented. A field experiment was performed in the years of 1–2, 6–7 and 12–13 in China with three treatments:

New land uses can drive complex changes to local biodiversity. In the Northeastern U.S., cultivated milkweed has arisen as a new crop with potentially promising outcomes for monarch butterflies, but has unknown effects on surface-active and soil-dwelling arthropods. We assessed differences in arthropod communities among nearby sites containing milkweed and three common regional land uses: conventional

Cover cropping is a practice with potential to reduce post-harvest surplus of soil nitrate (NO3-), a mobile form of nitrogen naturally susceptible to losses. Increased soil NO3- leaching occurs when high soil NO3- coincides with high drainage events – a common occurrence during the non-growing season in cold and humid climates. The potential of cover crops to reduce NO3- leaching can be affected by

Adding habitat within agricultural ecosystems is necessary to reverse declines in pollinator abundance and diversity. Understanding pesticide exposure to pollinator habitat near crop fields is necessary to support risk assessments. Neonicotinoids applied to maize and soybean seeds can be transported from crop fields to adjacent habitat through dust drift during planting and/or through overland runoff

Soil erosion can dramatically alter soil nitrogen (N) cycling, but it has rarely been examined under in-situ conditions due to the complicated interaction between erosion and vegetation. Comparing the effects of vegetation presence at eroding and depositional sites would provide a direct understanding of such effects. Herein, we investigated how soil N dynamics (mineral N pools and net N mineralization

Grain crops are an important part of the human diet, accounting for a third of the consumed calories. Throughout human history, annual grain crops with high yields have been obtained through domestication. However, the “annual” characteristic brings associated a series of economic and environmental disadvantages, such as soil erosion or low soil resources use, that can be solved if the agriculture

Managing ecosystem services might reduce the dependence of modern agriculture on external inputs and increase the sustainability of agricultural production. Insect pollinators and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide vital ecosystem services for crop production, but it has not been tested whether their effects on crop yield interact and how their effects are influenced by nutrient availability

The population of barnacle geese wintering in Denmark has shown a steep increase during the last decades, prompting a parallel escalation of agricultural conflicts. In Denmark, economic compensation to farmers suffering goose damage to crops is not practiced, but despite that the barnacle goose is fully protected, landowners can obtain a permit to undertake so-called derogation shooting (lethal scaring)

Cellulose is an essential component of plant cell walls, and one of the major constituents of soil organic matter. Decomposition of cellulose, mediated by microorganisms, is critical to the sustainable development of arable soils. However, how exogenous cellulose addition, as a surrogate for organic material amendment, influences the diversity and community compositions of soil microorganisms and their

Many insects have a crucial role as pollinators in both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. Reports of declining pollinator populations highlight the question how we can support them. Next to semi-natural habitat, different land use types can provide resources for pollinators. However, whether and how different cultivars of pollinator-dependent crops support pollinator populations has not

Long-term, systems-based experiments have previously demonstrated how different cropping systems change soil physiochemical properties and, less commonly, soil microbial communities. These long-term experiments allow for isolating the effects of management on soil microbial communities by minimizing variability in soil type, climate, and short-term effects of management intra-annual variability, and

In order to act as effective agricultural pollinators wild bees must not only pollinate the target crop, but also have nesting behaviours that allow them to nest nearby or in situ. To establish their potential as crop pollinators we studied stem-nesting bees in the genus Exoneura, in and around Rubus berry farms in the Yarra Valley, Australia, where they had been observed nesting in nearby forested

Although grazing is the primary land use in the savanna lowland of southern Kenya, the effects of grazing on soil carbon dioxide flux (RS) remain unclear. A 12-month study was conducted from January to December 2020 on the effects of six grazing intensities sites (overgrazed (OG), heavily grazed (HG), moderately grazed (MG), moderately to lightly grazed (M-LG), lightly grazed (LG) and no grazing (NG))

Understanding the mechanisms of interannual variations (IAVs) in cropland respiration (ER) can aid in optimizing field management strategies and accurately assessin bon budget. The long-term carbon exchange over a (winter) wheat-(summer) maize double-cropping system was measured with the eddy covariance technique to identify the IAVs in ER and the influencing factors, and investigate whether field

Haitian watersheds suffer from a lack of environmental management and the absence of conservation practices, which impairs natural resources and agricultural productivity. This is aggravated by harvesting trees to compensate for reduced crop production and income. Deforestation can further deteriorate the natural and agricultural systems by increasing the temporal variability of water availability

The quality of a landscape’s matrix is a key condition for the conservation of biodiversity and affects the diversity and composition of bird assemblages in agricultural landscapes with forest remnants. In southern Brazil most agricultural landscapes are a mosaic of cultivated areas, treeless pastures and forest remnants. These landscapes must be planned and managed for food production while synergically

Reactive N in the runoff from paddy fields is considered to be the dominant contributor to the deterioration of river and lake water quality in China. However, there has been little researches on the interaction between N fertilizer rates and N losses via runoff from the paddy water during the summer rice-growing seasons. In the present study, we monitored the rice grain yield, N agronomic efficiency

Biodiversity directly influences the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, most notably within agriculture. Projected future global demands for food, fiber and bioenergy will require enhancement of agricultural productivity, but favoring biodiversity-based ecosystem services generally remains underutilized in agricultural practice. In addition, agricultural intensification is a key driver of biodiversity

Quantifying nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grazed pastures can be problematic due to the presence of hotspots and hot moments of N2O from animal excreta and synthetic fertilisers. In this study, we quantified field scale N2O emissions from a temperate grassland under a rotational grazing management using eddy covariance (EC) and static chamber techniques. Measurements of N2O by static chambers

Mineral nutrient fluxes derived from litterfall are key components of nutrient biogeochemical cycles in both natural and agroforesty systems. Cocoa production systems are generally nutrient depleted and may benefit from on external nutrient application to maintain primary productivity. However, in developing countries the main source of nutrients is often nutrient recycling through decomposing leaf

The application of nitrification and urease inhibitors with urea can increase the residence time of ammonium (NH4+) in soils and thus reduce nitrogen (N) losses to the environment. We therefore hypothesized that these inhibitors would perform better in enhancing crop yield and lowering nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3) emissions in rice preferring NH4+ than in wheat preferring nitrate (NO3–). Additionally

Biofuels have the potential to mitigate global warming by partially replacing fossil fuels. Long-term cultivation of bioenergy crops may affect soil quality and C exchange between the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum depending upon crop type and duration of cultivation. Thus, studies are needed to compare the impact different bioenergy crops have on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks to estimate the net

Seasonal fallows – periods with no living plant cover – are frequently implemented in dryland cropping systems to allow recharge of soil moisture for the subsequent cash crop. Over time, repeated fallow periods deplete soil organic matter, a foundation of soil health that affects the long-term functional capacity of soils. Reducing fallow periods by growing cover crops (non-harvested crops terminated

Although pastoral systems make a significant contribution to food security, they are also pointed out as being responsible for substantial environmental impact. Ecological intensification through process- rather than input-based technologies has been proposed as a means to achieve economic, environmental, and social win-win situations. We studied structural diversity, technology adoption, farmer´s

Agroforests are of well-known importance for biodiversity conservation, especially in the tropics, because they are structurally stable and may resemble natural forests. Previous studies have characterized jointly taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in these agro-ecosystems to comprehensively examine the mechanisms by which agriculture impacts on biodiversity. However, this approach has

The conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture is a leading cause of biodiversity decline globally, and can impact negatively on ecosystem services such as pollination. Global meta-analyses find that crop visitation by wild pollinators increases with the amount of natural or semi-natural vegetation in the surrounding landscape. However, these studies typically test the effect of one land cover

Declines in native warm season grasslands have been linked to grassland bird population decline due to habitat loss including conversion to non-native grasses. Rotational grazing (ROT) and patch-burn grazing (PBG) are two possible tools to restore native warm-season grasses (NWSG) on working-lands in the Mid-South USA and thus aid in the recovery of grassland bird populations. This project compares

Occupancy models estimate presence and detection probability of species of interest of which they provide useful information and also contribute to decision making. In this proof-of-concept, we propose an approach to demonstrate the applicability of occupancy models in insect monitoring having as targets the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius, the main European vector of Xylella fastidiosa, and other spittlebugs

To determine the role of maize plants and their interaction with nitrogen (N) fertilizer in regulating subsoil methane (CH4) fluxes, we conducted a two-year field experiment on a semiarid farm in northwestern China. Four treatments were evaluated: unplanted soil without (C0) or with (CN) N fertilization and planted maize without (P0) or with (PN) N fertilization. Soil surface fluxes and profile dynamics

The most suitable growth stage for harvesting L. chinensis while balancing yield and nutritional value has been poorly studied. Moreover, few studies have examined the response of L. chinensis to different organic fertilization strategies and the potential dynamic soil microbial ecological mechanisms. We conducted a two-year field experiment to investigate the impacts of different fertilizers on L

The impact of soil water repellency (SWR) on soil phosphorus (P) mobility in surface water runoff remains contentious. Although SWR may cause a significant increase in surface runoff, especially in post-summer rainfall events, whether it contributes to background phosphorus losses remains unclear. Surface runoff and P concentrations in runoff were measured on hilly Allophanic pastoral soils with different

Interest in economically and ecologically sustainable cocoa has grown in recent years. Cocoa-based agroforestry systems are promoted as a potential win-win option for long-term yields, multiple benefits, and the preservation of biodiversity. Yet, even though recent studies have shown such agroforests can support biodiversity, their value relative to natural areas and open-land systems is not fully

Assessing the effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity is critical for developing effective management plans for farmland conservation. Among other factors, the direct and indirect impacts of irrigation on wildlife have yet to be thoroughly studied despite significant increases in the surface area of irrigated farmlands since the mid-twentieth century (currently greater than 300 million