Intensively managed grasslands, typically containing a few high-yielding species, play a key role in providing biomass feedstock for animal feed and bioenergy production. However, these grasslands often contain few resources for flower-visiting insects, which provide pollination services for crops. In this study, we investigate if both high yield and floral resources for pollinators can be achieved

A major challenge in rangeland ecology is understanding diverse responses of diversity to grazing, what factors determine these responses and what their relative importance is. Numerous site-level studies have explored grazing-diversity relations, but meta-analyses of these empirical results at a global scale are scarce. Our goals were to estimate the mean effect of grazing on plant richness and to

The increasing landscape heterogeneity in the agro-pastoral areas and the contradiction between the development and biodiversity conservation is becoming more and more prominent, especially in Northwest China. Rational ecological network construction has become an important issue for ecological restoration and ecological security pattern strategy. Taking a typical agro-pastoral ecotone in the upper

The top-down suppression of pest insects by their natural enemies, such as insectivorous bats, represents an important ecosystem service in agricultural systems. Recognizing the importance of bats to suppress pest populations and further conserve their populations near agricultural systems could reduce damage to crops thereby potentially increasing the monetary gain of farmers. Viticulture represents

Soil organic carbon (SOC) ensures soil quality and productivity of cultivated systems in the Sahelian region. This study uses Rock-Eval® pyrolysis to examine how cultural practices impact the quantity of SOC and quality of SOM in cultivated sandy soils in the Senegal groundnut basin. This cost-effective method provides information on SOC thermal stability, which has been shown to be related qualitatively

Few studies have quantified soil greenhouse gas (GHG) −CH4, CO2 N2O – annual fluxes directly from smallholder maize cropping systems under different soil fertility management technologies in Sub Saharan Africa. We quantified soil GHG annual fluxes from smallholder maize cropping systems under four different soil fertility management technologies in the Central Highlands of Kenya. We regularly sampled

Pollination services provided by managed honey bee and wild pollinators are essential for a range of crops. Pollination services can be measured as species-related services, which can be quantified by the combination of each species’ pollination efficiency and their abundance, as well as harvest-related services, which can be quantified by the pollinator exclusion method. Species-related pollination

Excessive inputs of sediment and acceleration of primary production have been observed worldwide in a large number of water bodies. Human-environment interactions were recognized as one of the main drivers of this evolution during the 20th century with the occurrence of major landscape changes and a greater use of agricultural inputs. In this study, we used paleo-production proxies such as chlorophyll-a

The impact of agriculture on biodiversity depends on the extent and types of agriculture and the degree to which agricultural land contrasts with the natural ecosystem. Most research on the latter comes from studies on the influence of different agricultural types within a single ecosystem with far less study on how the natural ecosystem context shapes the response of biodiversity to agricultural production

New Zealand dairy farming systems use considerable maize silage as a supplemental feed, often producing the crop within the farm boundary by cropping a paddock for one or more years then rotating through other areas of the farm. While globally the effects of permanent maize (Zea mays L.) cropping on soil carbon (C) stocks have been studied, little is known about the impact short-duration periodic cropping

Karst ecosystem services (ESs), the key components of global terrestrial ESs, play a crucial role in human welfare and livelihood. However, the spatiotemporal changes of ecosystem service values (ESVs) in the karst areas of China remain unclear. In this paper, land use/land cover (LULC) data were used to estimate the ESVs changes during 1992–2015 by the benefit transfer method, to reveal its spatial

Monitoring long-term grazing management practices influence on soil quality (SQ) is essential to ensuring pasture sustainability, which is the largest land use in world agroecosystems. The aim of this study was to quantify SQ based on long-term (15-years) conservation pasture management and landscape position using the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF). Treatments were setup in 15 watersheds

Diazotrophs have a vital role in nitrogen (N) supply to ecosystems. Yet, response of diazotroph community profiles and N2-fixation to N deposition and phosphorus (P) addition remains poorly understood. Two-year nutrient addition experiments (control, N, P, and a combination of N plus P) were conducted in a karst grassland. The relative abundances of diazotroph orders Rhizobiales and Rhodospirillales

The adoption of agro-ecological practices in agricultural systems worldwide can contribute to increased food production without compromising future food security, especially under the current biodiversity loss and climate change scenarios. Despite the increase in publications on agro-ecological research and practices during the last 35 years, a weak link between that knowledge and changed farmer practices

Changing climatic conditions can fundamentally alter the interactions between species with important implications for agriculture. The impacts of shifts in precipitation on trophic interactions have been understudied relative to other climate drivers. We carried out field experiments to examine how precipitation, attack by parasitoid wasps (Bracon cephi (Gahan))(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and their potential

The southern Brazilian grasslands (Pampas) are a new frontier of eucalypt plantation expansion, but the impacts of this land use change (LUC) on soil organic matter (SOM) are not well documented. In this study, we evaluated changes in the particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) fractions following the afforestation of a grassland in southern Brazil over an entire

Climate warming and human disturbance are supposed to have severely affected the alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), a region where the extremely harsh and fragile ecological environment has attracted great attention because of its sensitivity to global change. However, there is still no unified understanding of the degree and magnitude of grassland degradation and the effectiveness

Although many grassland species may exist within agricultural landscapes, some are still absent from individual grassland patches. Understanding which processes limit plant biodiversity within these landscapes is important, and may be better understood if we consider local diversity relative to its species pool size (community completeness). Here we test how habitat availability, dispersal limitation

Forest loss and fragmentation threaten the high diversity of tropical forests. Tropical epiphytes are a key component of plant diversity and significant for ecosystem functioning, and they are vulnerable to these forces. We explored the potential of shade trees in agroforestry systems to sustain and restore epiphyte communities where forest cover has been lost. We investigated epiphyte colonization

Elucidation of the soil erosion processes induced by extreme rainstorms provides better understanding and responding of agricultural system to global climate change. However, less attention has been given to the field investigation of soil erosion in the actual event of heavy rainfall. The purpose of this study was to assess the response capacity of agricultural land use and management to the heavy

Ecosystem can offer regulating services to change biodiversity patterns and ecological processes and then affect the prevalence of crop pests. Biological pest control could serve as an environmentally friendly ecological control service to suppress crop pests and decrease pesticide use by maintaining or increasing natural enemies. However, few study focus on the explicit process of natural enemies

Agricultural intensification has resulted in the homogenization of landscape structure and a massive loss of farmland biodiversity. Despite various conservation attempts, farmland bird populations are continuously declining leading to local extinctions and range contractions of many species. These declines are tightly connected with decreased abundance and availability of crucial food resources within

Euro-Mediterranean countries have undergone radical changes in their traditional landscapes due to the abandonment of rural areas. Natural vegetation rapidly colonizes abandoned lands and cause changes in ecosystem functioning. Our main objective was to study how time since abandonment of vineyards influences the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and the vegetation composition

Modern fruit production has successfully increased yields and fruit quality to meet market demands mainly through intensification and the use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs). Due to the associated environmental impacts and consumers increasingly demanding food produced more sustainably, the tree fruit sector is seeking to reduce its reliance on PPPs. Despite intensification, apple production is

Viticulture is a valuable sector worldwide with an extraordinary socio-economic impact in Spain. Numerous pests and diseases threaten vineyards, and their management primarily relies on the use of conventional agrochemicals. The current paradigm of sustainability pursues the implementation of ecologically sound strategies in vineyard ecosystems. The use of cover crops is arising as an alternative with

Resilient agroecosystems are foundational for stable and profitable food, feed, and fiber production in the face of increasing climatic perturbations and environmental stresses. Enhanced soil and environmental benefits of cover crops applied to conservation tillage systems has been well documented. However, little is known about the timespan for interactions of no tillage and cover crops to achieve

The soil stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotopes are widely used to indicate C3/C4 vegetation history, N sources and transformation processes, respectively. However, land use change, particularly converting forest into farm land, alters soil organic matter (SOM) sources and processes in soils, resulting in a hard understanding of soil C and N fate. In the present study, soil organic carbon (SOC)

Protecting and restoring riverine environmental quality requires a quantitative understanding between riverine nitrogen (N) and various determinants, however, it is still challenging in highly naturally-and-anthropogenically differentiated agricultural catchments. The study observed riverine ammonium-N (NH4+−N), nitrate-N (NO3−−N), and total-N (TN) in the eleven Chinese subtropical agricultural catchments

Grazed alpine pastures have shaped landscapes of the European Alps for millennia, but have partially been abandoned since the 1950s. Re-grazing of abandoned pastures could preserve this cultural landscape with its high species diversity, but also alter soil carbon and nitrogen cycles, as well as microbial communities, potentially affecting ecosystem services (e.g., water purification, carbon and nitrogen

The significant contribution to the global carbon budget made by soil organic carbon (SOC) inspired the “4 per 1000” initiative. It promotes agricultural practices aimed at raising SOC stocks 0.4 % annually over 20 years. However, the response of topsoil and deep soil profiles to agroecosystem changes is largely unknown at present. Our work aims to quantify deep SOC accumulations in stabilized croplands

Plant trait variation in bioenergy crops is hypothesized to affect crop biomass production. The extent of this trait variation and its relationship to production should be explored to inform cultivar selection in different environments and with environmental change. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is an important prospective bioenergy crop in North America because it has the potential for high productivity

Understanding the spatially varying relationships between landscape pattern and water quality in the agricultural karst river system is helpful for landscape planning and management to protect water quality. In this study, empirical models were established to examine the impact of landscape pattern on the seasonal water quality at multi-spatial scales in a typical karst river basin in Southwestern

Nitrogen (N) losses contribute to a series of ecological problems such as non-point source pollution and aquatic eutrophication. The effects of tillage practices on N losses in the sloping upland of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area was studied by comparing N losses of three conservation tillage practices (no-till, mulch-till and minimum till) in a short-term field experiment with the conventional

Climate change is dramatically affecting small-scale farming productivity in the global south. The phenotypic and pedoclimatic characterization of indigenous crop resources may provide an opportunity to address future challenges threatening food security. This study focuses on a vast Ethiopian ex situ teff collection, comprising 3850 accessions sampled from a range of agroecologies across the country

Many studies have focused on the responses of phenophases to warming in natural, non-degraded grasslands. However, degraded grasslands widely distribute in the world due to climate change and overgrazing. So far, a comprehensive understanding of how plant phenology responds to warming, degradation and their interactions remains elusive. Here, the relative effects of warming and degradation on the phenological

Vineyards are important perennial, often intensively managed agroecosystems. In most vineyards, ground vegetation is controlled by tillage and/or the application of broadband herbicides with scarcely known effects on the soil fauna. We studied a total of 16 commercial vineyards in the Târnave wine region, a typical viticultural region in Transylvania, Central Romania. As a model organism for surface-dwelling

It is controversial whether no tillage (NT) should be regarded an effective agro-ecosystem management to increase soil organic carbon (SOC). Some studies suggest NT leads to a notable accumulation of SOC stock across the whole sampling profile over the long-term, whereas other studies argue that the effect of duration on SOC stock increase is limited. Similar controversy is common with respect to the

Agricultural expansion changes wildlife communities. Some species adapt to working lands, increasing their relative abundance in these modified landscapes, and this may result in spillover effects for communities in adjacent wildlands. These effects remain largely undocumented, even though they can affect biodiversity conservation. We conducted bird surveys at 130 Mediterranean-climate oak woodland

Grazing management plays an important role in grassland conservation. Given that grasshoppers are key components in the grassland food web, various studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of grazing by large herbivores on grasshoppers at population and community levels. However, grazing effects on grasshopper fitness and abundance remain poorly understood. Here, using a field experiment

Storage of slurry is an important emission source for ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from livestock production. Therefore, this study collected published emission data from stored cattle and pig slurry to determine baseline emission values and emission changes due to slurry treatment and coverage of stores. Emission data were collected

European populations of geese, swans and cranes have increased considerably since the 1970s raising conflicts between conservation and farming interests. Crop damage caused by geese, swans and cranes across the national scale needs a trans-boundary approach that captures the site-specific characteristics of crop damage at a more refined spatial scale, to deal with the high spatio-temporal variation

The effects of straw incorporation on soil characters are well known, however, straw incorporation depth impact on corn straw decomposition rate, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) & microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentration during straw decomposition have not been documented. A two-year field experiment was carried out in a wheat-corn cropping system to investigate

Increased use of cover crops to promote soil health in high-intensity row-crop agroecosystems has resulted in more frequent reports of damage to soybean (Glycine max) commodity crops by voles (Microtus). Meadow (M. pennsylvanicus) and prairie voles (M. ochrogaster) may use overhead cover and forage provided by cover crops and browse soybean seedlings after emergence in spring. Because cover cropping

This study investigated a low-external-input sustainable-agriculture (LEISA) rice production system in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) that applied ecological principles to create waterbird habitat and enhance soil fertility. Two production sites were selected for this study (LEISA and conventional). Each production site applied a flooded treatment and a fallow treatment to select fields during

Pasture-based livestock farming contributes considerably to global emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas approximately 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Traditionally, the estimation of N2O emissions from grasslands is carried out by means of plot-scale experiments, where externally sourced animal excreta are applied to soils to simulate grazing conditions. This approach

Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics along land-use changes influences the terrestrial and global carbon cycle, the climate, soil fertility, agricultural productivity, and food security. Taking soils under native forests as an appropriate ecological reference, we studied changes in soil organic carbon stock along eight land-use types in the highlands of Ethiopia. The general objective of the study was

Land use intensity is increasing in Andean smallholder systems, and innovations are needed to sustain soil fertility and productivity of potato-cereal rotations with shortening fallow periods. In collaboration with farmers in central Peru, we assessed forage-based fallows in 58 fields across three production zones over three years. Fallow treatments selected with farmers tested grass-legume mixtures

Environmental pollution caused by nitrous oxide (N2O) emission is a global concern because N2O is a potent greenhouse gas and contributes to ozone destruction. Agriculture is an important economic sector contributing to N2O emission worldwide, largely from agricultural soil and fertilizer induced emissions. Synchronizing nitrogen (N) fertilization with N plant demand has the potential to mitigate N2O