The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany
Intensive agriculture is among the main drivers of diversity decline worldwide. In Central Europe, pressures related with agriculture include habitat loss due to the consolidation of farming units, pesticide and fertilizer use, and shortened crop rotations. In recent decades, this development has re...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Land |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/2/219 |
| _version_ | 1827588608952893440 |
|---|---|
| author | Eugen Görzen Tim Diekötter Maike Meyerink Helen Kretzschmar Tobias W. Donath |
| author_facet | Eugen Görzen Tim Diekötter Maike Meyerink Helen Kretzschmar Tobias W. Donath |
| author_sort | Eugen Görzen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Intensive agriculture is among the main drivers of diversity decline worldwide. In Central Europe, pressures related with agriculture include habitat loss due to the consolidation of farming units, pesticide and fertilizer use, and shortened crop rotations. In recent decades, this development has resulted in a severe decline of agrestal plant communities. Organic farming has been suggested as a biodiversity friendly way of farming, as it strongly restricts the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and relies on longer crop rotations. It may thus help in saving agrestal plant communities in the future. In this study, we assessed the long-term effects of three types of arable field management (conventional farming, organic farming, and bio-dynamic farming) on three farms in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. We collected data on above-ground plant communities and seed banks and analyzed them with regards to the impact of the farming system and their position in the field using nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) and linear mixed effects models (LME) combined with ANOVA and Tukey contrast tests. Plants in organically or bio-dynamically managed fields differed in their composition and traits from those occurring in conventionally managed fields, i.e., they showed a preference for higher temperatures and were dominated by insect-pollinated species. While conventional farming had negative effects on vegetation and the seed bank, organic and bio-dynamic farms had neutral or slightly positive effects on both. This highlights the potential of the latter two to conserve species even in an intensively managed landscape. In addition, this may halt or even reverse the decrease in arthropod, bird, and mammal species, since agrestal plants constitute an important component of food-webs in agricultural landscapes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:39:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6c35dfa8cd24e19aaa4df547591cdba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:39:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6c35dfa8cd24e19aaa4df547591cdba2023-12-11T17:55:40ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2021-02-0110221910.3390/land10020219The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern GermanyEugen Görzen0Tim Diekötter1Maike Meyerink2Helen Kretzschmar3Tobias W. Donath4Department of Landscape Ecology, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Landscape Ecology, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Landscape Ecology, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Landscape Ecology, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, GermanyDepartment of Landscape Ecology, Institute for Natural Resource Conservation, Kiel University, Olshausenstr. 75, 24118 Kiel, GermanyIntensive agriculture is among the main drivers of diversity decline worldwide. In Central Europe, pressures related with agriculture include habitat loss due to the consolidation of farming units, pesticide and fertilizer use, and shortened crop rotations. In recent decades, this development has resulted in a severe decline of agrestal plant communities. Organic farming has been suggested as a biodiversity friendly way of farming, as it strongly restricts the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and relies on longer crop rotations. It may thus help in saving agrestal plant communities in the future. In this study, we assessed the long-term effects of three types of arable field management (conventional farming, organic farming, and bio-dynamic farming) on three farms in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. We collected data on above-ground plant communities and seed banks and analyzed them with regards to the impact of the farming system and their position in the field using nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) and linear mixed effects models (LME) combined with ANOVA and Tukey contrast tests. Plants in organically or bio-dynamically managed fields differed in their composition and traits from those occurring in conventionally managed fields, i.e., they showed a preference for higher temperatures and were dominated by insect-pollinated species. While conventional farming had negative effects on vegetation and the seed bank, organic and bio-dynamic farms had neutral or slightly positive effects on both. This highlights the potential of the latter two to conserve species even in an intensively managed landscape. In addition, this may halt or even reverse the decrease in arthropod, bird, and mammal species, since agrestal plants constitute an important component of food-webs in agricultural landscapes.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/2/219land managementorganic farmingconventional farmingagroecosystemsplant species diversitysegetal vegetation |
| spellingShingle | Eugen Görzen Tim Diekötter Maike Meyerink Helen Kretzschmar Tobias W. Donath The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany Land land management organic farming conventional farming agroecosystems plant species diversity segetal vegetation |
| title | The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany |
| title_full | The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany |
| title_fullStr | The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany |
| title_short | The Potential to Save Agrestal Plant Species in an Intensively Managed Agricultural Landscape through Organic Farming—A Case Study from Northern Germany |
| title_sort | potential to save agrestal plant species in an intensively managed agricultural landscape through organic farming a case study from northern germany |
| topic | land management organic farming conventional farming agroecosystems plant species diversity segetal vegetation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/2/219 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eugengorzen thepotentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT timdiekotter thepotentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT maikemeyerink thepotentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT helenkretzschmar thepotentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT tobiaswdonath thepotentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT eugengorzen potentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT timdiekotter potentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT maikemeyerink potentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT helenkretzschmar potentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany AT tobiaswdonath potentialtosaveagrestalplantspeciesinanintensivelymanagedagriculturallandscapethroughorganicfarmingacasestudyfromnortherngermany |