Rice cultivation consumes abundant irrigation water and fertilizer, which has negative environmental effects. Therefore, water and fertilizer use efficiencies need to be enhanced while ensuring yields, to guarantee sustainable production and reduce diffuse pollution. Paddy rice fields are usually connected with ditches and ponds in the dominant rice planting regions in southern China. However, the

Non-crop habitats in agricultural landscapes may differ in their potential to serve as source habitats for natural enemies. To determine this potential for different habitat types, it is crucial to understand habitat preferences and the habitat niche width of natural enemies. In addition, populations of natural enemies are affected by management practices depending on their preferences for habitat

The sustainable provision of pollination services in large regions of the Nearctic and Neotropics usually involves the coexistence of a rich assemblage of native bees and introduced bees in the same agroecosystem. This requires identifying biotic and abiotic conditions that improve the quality of semi-natural habitats surrounding agricultural crops aiming to enhance native bee survival. Here we unravel

Soil erosion has important influence on soil processes and particularly soil nutrient dynamics, which in turn affects the terrestrial C and N cycling and greenhouse gases emission. However, the responses of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in soils and soil fractions to erosion remain largely unclear, hindering the precise prediction of the fate of C and N in the terrestrial ecosystem. Herein, we

Agroforestry systems can be an effective means of stabilizing or even enhancing crop yields under climate change. Although trees compete with crops for soil resources in agroforestry,they can also improve crops' growing conditions, especially, by providing shade under drought. They can promote higher crop yields and higher harvest quality in the drylands. However, the beneficial effect of tree shade

Soil organisms play an essential role in ecosystem functioning, including nutrient cycling and climate regulation. Most of soil functions have a microbial origin and recent findings suggest that various microbial community attributes (e.g. diversity, composition, abundance) are linked to the rate of soil functions in natural ecosystems. However, no such evidence is available from the agronomically

Soil aggregate fractions serve as functional units of a soil ecosystem, providing ecologically diverse microhabitats for microbial communities. Manure application has been previously reported to alter the abundance, diversity and structure of soil microbial communities. However, how manure application changes functional microbial groups and microbiome complexity in various soil aggregate fractions

Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted as a pathway to sustainably intensify agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet despite decades of promotion, CA uptake in SSA remains sparse with only few analyses of its impacts on farming and rural livelihoods. This study, which focuses on areas in Central Malawi considered to have a relatively high uptake of CA, uses analyses of satellite

Agricultural intensification has caused a strong agro-biodiversity decline in Europe, with high losses in rare arable plants. A better understanding of the relationship between these species, agricultural productivity, and other ecosystem functions can improve conservation management. The study was performed on an experimental field near Munich. To examine the results under field conditions, study

The long-term continuous mono-cropping and application of large amount of chemical fertilizers have led to a dramatic degradation of soil quality in the intensive vegetable production system. It is important to develop more sustainable, environmentally friendly and high-efficiency agroecosystems for vegetable production in plastic shed systems. Field experiments were performed to explore the impacts

Previous studies regarding environmental impacts of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) in intensive vegetable production systems mainly focused on the fate of individual nitrogen (N) compounds. Due to the influence of various N-dynamic pathways on one another, systematic observations, taking into account all key component processes, must be carried out to achieve practically useful recommendations. As

Local mass occurrences of Tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris, Asteraceae), a native plant usually sparsely interspersed within extensive grassland, have been suggested to cause health hazards for livestock and humans. While current management options, particularly herbicide application and mechanical eradication, undermine conservation targets of extensive grasslands, sown wildflowers are a popular agri-environment

As agriculture expands to meet the needs of a growing global population, natural ecosystems are threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Tropical agroforestry systems offer a sustainable alternative to traditional agriculture by providing food for production while also supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services. Previous studies have shown that these systems may even improve crop

Cations and anions exerted important effects on dissolved organic carbon (DOC) release and retention in arable soils. However, knowledge is limited on DOC loss from rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddies by drainage and its association with common ions under a conventional irrigation and drainage regime. This study aimed to investigate DOC dynamics in the soil-overlying water system and the synergistic behaviors

Ethanol is recognized worldwide as a clean and renewable energy source. In tropical and subtropical countries, it is produced from sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum). In this study, we investigated the effects of sugarcane management systems: a) burning of sugarcane for harvest for 37 years (SCB37); b) burning of sugarcane for 3 years after 5 years of fallow (SCB3); c) sugarcane field without burning

Grazing exclusion of grasslands has traditionally been considered to reduce nitrogen inputs and decrease nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. However, recent studies have shown that grazing exclusion may increase N2O emissions because of freeze-thaw cycles. In this study, year-round N2O fluxes (including high-frequency measurements during the freeze-thaw cycles) were measured in three sites that included

Feeding on sugar-rich resources dramatically prolongs lifespan and increases foraging performance in most parasitoids. The physiological and fitness effects of sugar feeding were studied in many parasitoid species under lab conditions, but far fewer studies examined them in the field. Even less is known about the environmental conditions that affect the prevalence of sugar feeding in natural parasitoid

Agricultural intensification threatens biodiversity, requiring a shift to agroecological farming. Identifying locally-specific management practices that can effectively enhance biodiversity can help guide farmland conservation efforts. We assess the effect of management practices and environmental variables on arthropod diversity under varying vineyard management regimes in a South African biosphere

Fertilisation plays key roles in soil organic carbon (SOC) formation and stabilization by regulating a range of microbial traits. However, little is known about the relationships between SOC composition and microbial traits under long-term fertilisation at aggregate scales. Here, we selected four long-term fertilisation field experiments in China to evaluate the potential associations between SOC composition

Cocoa production is a globally important commodity that has been a major driver of deforestation in humid tropical areas. Cocoa agroforestry systems have been credited for storing significant stocks of carbon potentially mitigating some of the negative impacts of cocoa production on ecosystem services but the impact of organic management on this potential is unclear, especially in Africa. We quantified

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is important natural capital for agricultural production, as it affects soil physical, chemical and biological functions and the provision of ecosystem services. Measures of land-use effects on SOC stocks generally focus on the top 0.3 m of soil, as the topsoil has the highest SOC concentration. However, while subsoil horizons have low SOC concentrations, they contain a greater

Faced with current health and environmental challenges, viticulture is directly concerned with the need to reduce pesticide use. Natural pest control services provided by bats have been demonstrated in other crops and is regularly mentioned as a way to reduce pesticide use. However, the trophic link between bats and grape pests as well as the effect of pest presence on bat activities remain largely

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is gaining increasing recognition as a plausible solution to restore degraded agroecosystems. In Mediterranean drylands, RA is at incipient state of development and has been limitedly adopted by farmers, partly due to the lack of empirical evidence on its impacts. To support its large-scale adoption, we carried out a participatory monitoring project in southeast Spain

Land reclamation is a practice that dates back thousands of years, due to population growth and social development over time. In the past, reclaimed lands were mainly used as croplands with intensive land use. In recent decades, conversion to lower-intensity use has occurred, such as on the coast of China. Here, we selected a study area that was reclaimed approximately 100 years ago on the coast of

Agricultural intensification has led to the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural fields, increased field sizes and simplified crop rotations. The resulting homogenisation of the landscape has led to a decline in bees, which provide an essential ecosystem service to agriculture. It has been suggested that an increase in landscape crop diversity supports higher biodiversity by providing more

Agricultural production has intensified over the last century both across increasingly homogenized landscapes and at the field level. This study analyzes the effects of land-use intensity at both landscape and local scales on the main insect pests, predators and yield of grain sorghum as a summer crop in Uruguay. It represents one of very few landscape studies focused on a reduced intensity production

Large-scale changes introduced by industrial agriculture can affect other productive activities such as beekeeping, which heavily depends on floral resources and responsible management of agrochemicals. To assess the long-term effect of soybean expansion on honey production in Argentina, we evaluated the relationships between the area cultivated with soybean and honey yield and total production by

We examined if reintroduction of grazing with or without burning would enhance succession towards native prairie vegetation on previously over-seeded old-field tallgrass prairie subjected to mowing or burning. We hypothesized that returning grazing and fire to these seeded and old-field sites would change establishment and competitive relationships among plant species to benefit fire-tolerant prairie

Vegetation of arable fields has changed significantly over the past decades as indicated by a marked decline in the abundance and diversity of arable plants. Thus, beyond the preservation of remnant populations, introduction of autochthonous seeds is a necessary measure to promote threatened arable plants and to restore agro-ecosystems. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the most suitable agricultural

Pollinator biodiversity may benefit crop pollination. Yet benefits in agro-ecosystems may be context-dependent and offset by agronomic or other limiting orchard-specific or tree-specific factors that obscure biodiversity-ecosystem service relationships. To test if crop pollination benefitted from pollinator biodiversity, we sampled local wild bee communities in five organic and five Integrated Pest

Ammonia (NH3) volatilization contributes to major nitrogen (N) fertilizer loss in rice fields. Deep fertilization can effectively mitigate NH3 volatilization and increase N use efficiency (NUE) in agroecosystems. However, the effects of machine-transplanted rice with side-deep fertilization (MRSF) on NUE and NH3 volatilization from paddy fields in double-cropping systems are still unknown. In this

In the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones farmers are required to implement measures to reduce the nitrogen (N) surplus. Nevertheless, in some cases the status of the water bodies show that the effect of these measures remains insufficient despite the global decrease in N surpluses. The present work aims to contribute with a method that produces an appropriate indicator for the N mitigation measures effectiveness

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were measured in irrigated wheat (Triticum aestivum) in an annual wheat- mungbean (Vigna radiata)-rice (Oryza sativa L) rotation that had been running for seven consecutive years. Effect of two soil disturbance levels (strip vs. conventional tillage; ST vs. CT both with 30 % residue retention) and three nitrogen (N) fertilizer rates (60, 100 and 140 % of the recommended

The studies in this Special Issue addressed environmental and ecological issues at the karst areas in the Southwest China. The contributions from these studies indicated that some active agricultural practices that were carried out in recent years reduced environmental risk and increased economic benefits at the karst areas. The results of ecosystem service value estimates in recent years showed improvements

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a key food security crop in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). Maize yield gaps are large in the smallholder farming systems of ESA but can be closed by a combination of improved crop varieties and sustainable cropping systems. On-farm trials were conducted in five countries of ESA over a seven-year period to assess the effects of different cropping systems on maize productivity

Specific nutrition and management interventions at farm level that aim at reducing enteric methane (CH4) production from sheep may not reduce excretion of dry matter and N, the main source of excreta CH4 production and nitrous oxide. The objectives were a) to determine the relationship of dietary variables and animal characteristics to both enteric CH4 emissions and N excretion from sheep fed ryegrass

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in agroecosystems enables to address simultaneously multiple goals such as climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as food security. As croplands are depleted in SOC, they offer a great potential to sequester atmospheric carbon (C). Nonetheless, croplands are still losing SOC under most of the current agricultural systems. Although many factors driving

The development of agroecosystems that can provide multiple ecosystem services with a reduced need of external inputs, requires management practices that foster ecological processes to enhance soil quality and crop productivity. We assessed the direct and indirect impacts of farmers’ management practices on plant diversity, soil quality and crop productivity in coffee and pasture fields belonging to

Ants are important pest control agents in many agroecosystems worldwide. However, little is known about how management, landscape complexity, their interaction, and the ecological contrast generated by different agricultural practices affect their communities and the potential pest control they can provide. Here, we surveyed ant communities in 40 paired olive groves with different agricultural management

Pesticides can have detrimental effects on non-target biodiversity, especially in intensively managed agroecosystems such as vineyards. However, new fungus-resistant grape varieties can greatly reduce the need and use of fungicides. Fungicides can have direct and indirect effects on economically important predatory mites (mainly Phytoseiidae) and on phytophagous mites (Tetranychidae, Eriophyidae) on

Bees provide important pollination services for crops, but pollination limitation is a common problem in agricultural landscapes worldwide. To promote ecological intensification in fruit production, more knowledge is needed concerning the interacting effects of insect pollination services and soil fertility on crop quality and quantity. We investigated the effects of three pollination treatments (open

Use of mineral fertilizers is essential to enhance crop productivity in smallholder farming systems of Sub-Saharan Africa, but various studies have reported ‘non-responsiveness’ where application of inorganic fertilizers does not lead to satisfactory yield gains. This phenomenon is not well defined nor are its extent and causes well understood. In order to close these knowledge gaps, we assessed the

The adverse climate change effects motivate searches for renewable energy sources. Among them, ethanol from sugarcane stands out. Currently, the state of São Paulo is responsible for more than half of Brazilian ethanol production. Considering the increasing demand for ethanol in the future, the influence of climate change effects on cultivation should be assessed. To identify areas suitable for expansion

Critical knowledge gaps about environmental fate and unintentional effects of currently used pesticides (CUPs) hamper the understanding and mitigation of their global impacts on ecological processes. We investigated the exposure of earthworms to 31 multiclass CUPs in an arable landscape in France. We highlighted the presence of at least one pesticide in all soils (n = 180) and 92 % of earthworms (n

Mitigating climate change is a critical challenge, and establishing agroforestry systems is identified as an effective strategy to increase carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural areas. However, the C storage potential of agroforestry systems, especially hedge agroforestry, still needs to be quantified in temperate areas. This study was performed in three mixed crop-livestock areas of western France

Across the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa, resource-poor farmers typically apply little or no organic or inorganic fertilizers; they remove or graze crop residues, leaving the soils nutrient-depleted and vulnerable to degradation. High temperatures, soil erosion, and declining soil fertility call for farming systems that protect fragile soils as well as improve nutrient availability and water use efficiency

Straw retention has been widely recommended as a nutrient-conserving measure that effectively increases soil fertility and soil nitrogen (N) availability. However, despite its efficacy in reducing reactive N (Nr) runoff losses, there is currently little information available regarding the influence of distinct straw return modes with respect to potential Nr runoff loss. In this study, based on a 6-year

Alpine steppe is one of the most important grassland ecosystems on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which has been greatly degraded in past decades. However, few studies have paid attention to the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) of restored degraded alpine steppes. Four treatments of alpine steppes (degraded alpine steppes, cultivated alpine steppes, fenced alpine steppes and intact alpine steppes)

Increasing demand for cocoa and climate-related yield declines have sparked a multi-stakeholder debate on cocoa production strategies. Agrochemical inputs and pollination enhancement through hand pollination are two strategies to increase yields. Here, we test both strategies with field experiments in Indonesia. We show that even partial hand pollination (13% of easily accessible flowers/tree), and

The vast majority (82 %) of the earth’s cultivated area is not irrigated, and half is in semi-arid regions where water tends to limit crop growth. In dryland semi-arid agroecosystems, any precipitation not transpired indicates crop yield that is below potential. Precipitation that is partitioned to deep percolation can transport nitrate out of the root zone, reducing nitrogen use efficiency and potentially