Land-use intensity and the effects of organic farming on biodiversity: a hierarchical meta-analysis

A global meta-analysis reveals a consistent reduction of soil fauna abundance and richness as a consequence of land use conversion

Land use conversion of natural to production systems is one of the most important threats to belowground communities and to the key ecosystem processes in which they are involved. Available literature shows positive, negative, and neutral effects of land use changes on soil fauna communities; and these varying effects may be due to different characteristics of natural and production systems and soil organisms. We hypothesize that land conversion from high to low plant biomass, diversity, and structural complexity systems may have the most negative impacts on soil fauna. Here, we performed the first meta-analysis evaluating the overall effects of land use conversion on soil invertebrate communities and the influence of factors related to characteristics of natural and production systems, of soil fauna communities and methods. We compiled a dataset of 260 publications that yielded 1732 observations for soil fauna abundance and 459 for richness. Both abundance and richness showed a global decline as a consequence of natural land conversion to production systems. These negative effects were stronger, in general, when the conversion occurred in tropical and subtropical sites, and when natural systems were replaced by croplands, pastures and grazing systems. The effects of land use conversion also depended on soil property changes. In addition, the abundance of most taxa and richness of Acari and Collembola were strongly reduced by land use changes while Annelida were not affected. The highest reduction in abundance was recorded in omnivores and predators, whereas detritivores showed a reduction in richness. Our meta-analysis shows consistent evidence of soil biodiversity decline due to different land use changes and the partial dependence of those effects on the magnitude of changes in vegetation. These findings stress the need to continue developing production modes that effectively preserve soil biodiversity and ecosystem processes, without hampering food production.

Land use modified impacts of global change factors on soil microbial structure and function: A global hierarchical meta-analysis

Nitrogen cycling in terrestrial ecosystems is critical for biodiversity, vegetation productivity and biogeochemical cycling. However, little is known about the response of functional nitrogen cycle genes to global change factors in soils under different land uses. Here, we conducted a multiple hierarchical mixed effects meta-analyses of global change factors (GCFs) including warming (W+), mean altered precipitation (MAP+/-), elevated carbon dioxide concentrations (eCO2), and nitrogen addition (N+), using 2706 observations extracted from 200 peer-reviewed publications. The results showed that GCFs had significant and different effects on soil microbial communities under different types of land use. Under different land use types, such as Wetland, Tundra, Grassland, Forest, Desert and Agriculture, the richness and diversity of soil microbial communities will change accordingly due to differences in vegetation cover, soil management practices and environmental conditions. Notably, soil bacterial diversity is positively correlated with richness, but soil fungal diversity is negatively correlated with richness, when differences are driven by GCFs. For functional genes involved in nitrification, eCO2 in agricultural soils and the interaction of N+ with other GCFs in grassland soils stimulate an increase in the abundance of the AOA-amoA gene. In agricultural soil, MAP+ increases the abundance of nifH. W+ in agricultural soils and N+ in grassland soils decreased the abundance of nifH. The abundance of the genes nirS and nirK, involved in denitrification, was mainly negatively affected by W+ and positively affected by eCO2 in agricultural soil, but negatively affected by N+ in grassland soil. This meta-analysis was important for subsequent research related to global climate change. Considering data limitations, it is recommended to conduct multiple long-term integrated observational experiments to establish a scientific basis for addressing global changes in this context.

Organic farming practices increase weed density and diversity over conventional practices: A meta-analysis

Population growth and climate change challenge our food and farming systems and provide arguments for an increased intensification of agriculture. Organic farming has been seen as a promising option due to its eco-friendly approaches during production. However, weeds are regarded as the major hindrance to effective crop production which varies depending on the type of crop and spacing. Their presence leads to reduced yield, increase in harvest cost and lower the qualities of some produce. Thus, weed management is a key priority for successful crop production. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis from published studies to quantify possible differences on weed density, diversity and evenness in organic and conventional farming systems and best intervention for weed management in organic farming system. Data included were obtained from 32 studies where 31 studies with 410 observations were obtained for weed density, 15 studies with 168 observations for diversity, and 5 studies with 104 observations for evenness. Standard deviation of mean was obtained from the studies, log transformed using natural logarithms and the effect size pooled using standardized mean difference (SMD). Publication bias was determined through funnel plot. Results showed that organic farming has significant higher weed density (P < 0.01), diversity (P = 0.01), and evenness (P < 0.05) compared to conventional farming. Despite so, diversified crop rotation has been proved to reduce weed density in organic farming by up to 49 % while maize-bean intercropping decrease densities of Amaranthus ssp, Cyperus ssp and Cammelina ssp compared with monocropping. Use of mulch after one hand weeding was found to control up to 98 % of weeds and use of cover crop between 24 % and 85 % depending on the type of the cover crop. The study results show that organic farming encourages high weed density, diversity and evenness but use of the integrated approaches can help to maintain weed density at a manageable level.

Agrochemical-free genetically modified and genome-edited crops: Towards achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals and a 'greener' green revolution

Sustainable farming on ever-shrinking agricultural land and declining water resources for the growing human population is one of the greatest environmental and food security challenges of the 21st century. Conventional, age-old organic farming practices alone, and foods based on costly cellular agriculture, do not have the potential to be upscaled to meet the food supply challenges for feeding large populations. Additionally, agricultural practices relying on chemical inputs have a well-documented detrimental impact on human health and the environment. As the available farming methods have reached their productivity limits, new approaches to agriculture, combining friendly, age-old farming practices with modern technologies that exclude chemical interventions, are necessary to address the food production challenges. Growing genetically modified (GM) crops without chemical inputs can allow agricultural intensification with reduced adverse health and environmental impacts. Additionally, integrating high-value pleiotropic genes in their genetic improvement coupled with the use of modern agricultural technologies, like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), will further improve productivity. Such 'organic-GM' crops will offer consumers healthy, agrochemical-free GM produce. We believe these agricultural practices will lead to the beginning of a potentially new chemical-free GM agricultural revolution in the era of Agriculture 4.0 and help meet the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, given the advancement in the genome editing (GE) toolbox, we ought to develop a new category of 'trait-reversible GM crops' to avert the fears of those who believe in ecological damage by GM crops. Thus, in this article, we advocate farming with no or minimal chemical use by combining chemical-free organic farming with the existing biofortified and multiple stress tolerant GM crops, while focusing on the development of novel 'biofertilizer-responsive GE crops' and 'trait-reversible GE crops' for the future.

Farm management and landscape context shape plant diversity at wetland edges in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada

Evaluating the impacts of farming systems on biodiversity is increasingly important given the need to stem biodiversity loss, decrease fossil fuel dependency, and maintain ecosystem services benefiting farmers. We recorded woody and herbaceous plant species diversity, composition, and abundance in 43 wetland-adjacent prairie remnants beside crop fields managed using conventional, minimum tillage, organic, or perennial cover (wildlife-friendly) land management in the Prairie Pothole Region. We used a hierarchical framework to estimate diversity at regional and local scales (gamma, alpha), and how these are related through species turnover (beta diversity). We tested the expectation that gamma richness/evenness and beta diversity of all plants would be higher in remnants adjacent to perennial cover and organic fields than in conventional and minimum tillage fields. We expected the same findings for plants providing ecosystem services (bee-pollinated species) and disservices (introduced species). We predicted similar relative effects of land management on alpha diversity, but with the expectation that the benefits of organic farming would decrease with increasing grassland in surrounding landscapes. Gamma richness and evenness of all plants were highest for perennial cover, followed by minimum tillage, organic, and conventional sites. Bee-pollinated species followed a similar pattern for richness, but for evenness organic farming came second, after perennial cover sites, followed by minimum tillage and conventional. For introduced species, organic sites had the highest gamma richness and evenness. Grassland amount moderated the effect of land management type on all plants and bee-pollinated plant richness, but not as expected. The richness of organic sites increased with the amount of grassland in the surrounding landscape. Conversely, for conventional sites, richness increased as the amount of grassland in the landscape declined. Our results are consistent with the expectation that adopting wildlife-friendly land management practices can benefit biodiversity at regional and local scales, in particular the use of perennial cover to benefit plant diversity at regional scales. At more local extents, organic farming increased plant richness, but only when sufficient grassland was available in the surrounding landscape; organic farms also had the highest beta diversity for all plants and bee-pollinated plants. Maintaining native cover in agroecosystems, in addition to low-intensity farming practices, could sustain plant biodiversity and facilitate important ecosystem services.

A comparison of butterfly communities in irrigated and non-irrigated Mediterranean farmlands

Irrigation is considered a form of agricultural intensification and is of significant importance in arid and semi-arid regions, such as those in the Mediterranean basin. This region differs substantially from temperate ones, in terms of climate, land-use policies and types of agricultural systems. Therefore, how biodiversity is affected by agricultural intensification may also differ substantially from countries in north-western Europe. We investigated the effect of irrigation on butterfly diversity and abundance at two different spatial scales in an agricultural region in northern Cyprus, an area representative of typical lowland agricultural practices of the Eastern Mediterranean. We investigated how local field-scale management (irrigated vs rain-fed) and the proportion of irrigated land at a larger scale of 0.25 km2 affected the abundance and diversity of butterflies and herbaceous plant species. Butterflies and herbaceous plants were surveyed in field boundaries adjacent to agricultural fields located in paired plots that had contrasting levels of irrigation. Butterflies in the field boundaries along agricultural fields were strongly positively affected by irrigation in the adjacent fields both in terms of abundance and species diversity, whereas the effect of irrigation at the larger scale of the 0.25-km2 plot was less prominent. Species composition of butterflies and plants did not correlate. However, plant abundance and alpha diversity of the vegetation in the field boundaries correlated with both abundance and alpha diversity of the butterflies when the abundance of plants was relatively low, in particular, when grasses were omitted from the data set. Crop species associated with irrigated fields contributed to the observed patterns. Comparing the results of this study with those reported for temperate regions in northwestern Europe reveals that the effectiveness of management schemes on biodiversity depend on biogeographical region, highlighting the risk of making broad assumption on the effectiveness of management strategies on biodiversity.

Wildlife ecotoxicology of plant protection products: knowns and unknowns about the impacts of currently used pesticides on terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity

Agricultural practices are a major cause of the current loss of biodiversity. Among postwar agricultural intensification practices, the use of plant protection products (PPPs) might be one of the prominent drivers of the loss of wildlife diversity in agroecosystems. A collective scientific assessment was performed upon the request of the French Ministries responsible for the Environment, for Agriculture and for Research to review the impacts of PPPs on biodiversity and ecosystem services based on the scientific literature. While the effects of legacy banned PPPs on ecosystems and the underlying mechanisms are well documented, the impacts of current use pesticides (CUPs) on biodiversity have rarely been reviewed. Here, we provide an overview of the available knowledge related to the impacts of PPPs, including biopesticides, on terrestrial vertebrates (i.e. herptiles, birds including raptors, bats and small and large mammals). We focused essentially on CUPs and on endpoints at the subindividual, individual, population and community levels, which ultimately linked with effects on biodiversity. We address both direct toxic effects and indirect effects related to ecological processes and review the existing knowledge about wildlife exposure to PPPs. The effects of PPPs on ecological functions and ecosystem services are discussed, as are the aggravating or mitigating factors. Finally, a synthesis of knowns and unknowns is provided, and we identify priorities to fill gaps in knowledge and perspectives for research and wildlife conservation.

Effect of plant edges strips on the conservation soil properties in modern farming field

The European Green Deal encourages the use of non-productive activities in agriculture. One of the measures is the cultivation of melliferous floral plants at the field margins. Their influence on soil compaction and other deterioration is due to heavy machinery, its inappropriate use and frequent driving on field margins, is little studied. Plants of a high environmental value though rarely grown by farmers were selected for melliferous plant strips: perennial grass swards (PGS), perennial legume swards (PLS), annual floral plats mixture (AEP) and natural grassland swards (NGS). The experiment was installed on a clay loam and loam Cambisol with the aim to determine the effect of different plant composition strips grown at the field edges on the physical and chemical soils parameters of with different granulometric structure. It was found that the highest amounts of roots and plant residues in the soil were left after cultivating sward strips of PGS and NGS compared to the field where cereals had been intensively grown. The amounts of root and plant residues produced by plants, soil rest increase the amount of organic carbon in the soil. During the five-year period, the plants edges strips improved the properties of the field margin top and subsoil.

Assessing the potential of nature-based solutions for restoring soil ecosystem services in croplands

Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are emerging as an innovative approach to maintain or restore the declining soil ecosystem services. The extent to which the implementation of NBSs in croplands improves soil ecosystem services deserves, however, further discussion. This review discusses the potential of prairie strips, grass buffers, agroforestry, cover crops, and organic systems as NBSs in croplands for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sequestering soil C, improving water and air quality, improving biodiversity, and adapting to climatic fluctuations. It also highlights challenges (if any) with the adoption of the NBSs. Literature indicates incorporation of prairie strips, grass buffers, agroforestry, cover crop, and organic systems into croplands can accumulate soil C, reduce soil erosion and nutrient losses, improve soil biodiversity, and contribute to climate change adaptation in this order: Grass buffers = Prairie strips = Agroforestry > Cover crops > Organic systems. This suggests NBSs based on perennial vegetation offer more promise than those based on annual crops. Buffers and agroforestry (1.0 Mg C ha-1 yr-1) accumulate more soil C than cover crops and organic systems (<0.5 Mg C ha-1 yr-1), but soil C data under prairie strips are still scant. The practices discussed can be effective at balancing environmental quality and crop production. Some challenges and trade-offs of the practices discussed include variable or no soil impacts in the short term (<10 yr), variable and shallow soil C accumulation, no increase in crop yields, and limited management guidelines and policy support. Overall, NBSs can improve soil ecosystem services in croplands and contribute to climate change adaptation.

Chinese organic rice transition spatial econometrics empirical analysis

Based on the integrated model of Super-SBM model, spatial Durbin model (SDM) and Grey neural network model, this paper analyzes the panel data of various provinces in China from multiple angles and dimensions. It was found that there were significant differences in eco-efficiency between organic rice production and conventional rice production. The response of organic rice to climate change, the spatial distribution of ecological and economic benefits and the impact on carbon emission were analyzed. The results showed that organic rice planting not only had higher economic benefits, but also showed a rising trend of ecological benefits and a positive feedback effect. This finding highlights the importance of organic rice farming in reducing carbon emissions. Organic rice farming effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide and methane, by improving soil management and reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides. This has important implications for mitigating climate change and promoting soil health and biodiversity. With the acceleration of urbanization, the increase of organic rice planting area shows the trend of organic rice gradually replacing traditional rice cultivation, further highlighting the potential of organic agriculture in emission reduction, environmental protection and sustainable agricultural production. To this end, it is recommended that the Government implement a diversified support strategy to encourage technological innovation, provide guidance and training, and raise public awareness and demand for organic products. At the same time, private sector participation is stimulated to support the development of organic rice cultivation through a public-private partnership model. Through these measures, further promote organic rice cultivation, achieve the dual goals of economic benefits and environmental benefits, and effectively promote the realization of double carbon emission reduction targets.

Phenolic compounds weaken the impact of drought on soil enzyme activity in global wetlands

Soil enzymes play a central role in carbon and nutrient cycling, and their activities can be affected by drought-induced oxygen exposure. However, a systematic global estimate of enzyme sensitivity to drought in wetlands is still lacking. Through a meta-analysis of 55 studies comprising 761 paired observations, this study found that phosphorus-related enzyme activity increased by 38% as result of drought in wetlands, while the majority of other soil enzyme activities remained stable. The expansion of vascular plants under long-term drought significantly promoted the accumulation of phenolic compounds. Using a 2-week incubation experiment with phenol supplementation, we found that phosphorus-related enzyme could tolerate higher biotoxicity of phenolic compounds than other enzymes. Moreover, a long-term (35 years) drainage experiment in a northern peatland in China confirmed that the increased phenolic concentration in surface layer resulting from a shift in vegetation composition inhibited the increase in enzyme activities caused by rising oxygen availability, except for phosphorus-related enzyme. Overall, these results demonstrate the complex and resilient nature of wetland ecosystems, with soil enzymes showing a high degree of adaptation to drought conditions. These new insights could help evaluate the impact of drought on future wetland ecosystem services and provide a theoretical foundation for the remediation of degraded wetlands.

Crop and landscape heterogeneity increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: A global review and meta-analysis

Agricultural intensification not only increases food production but also drives widespread biodiversity decline. Increasing landscape heterogeneity has been suggested to increase biodiversity across habitats, while increasing crop heterogeneity may support biodiversity within agroecosystems. These spatial heterogeneity effects can be partitioned into compositional (land-cover type diversity) and configurational heterogeneity (land-cover type arrangement), measured either for the crop mosaic or across the landscape for both crops and semi-natural habitats. However, studies have reported mixed responses of biodiversity to increases in these heterogeneity components across taxa and contexts. Our meta-analysis covering 6397 fields across 122 studies conducted in Asia, Europe, North and South America reveals consistently positive effects of crop and landscape heterogeneity, as well as compositional and configurational heterogeneity for plant, invertebrate, vertebrate, pollinator and predator biodiversity. Vertebrates and plants benefit more from landscape heterogeneity, while invertebrates derive similar benefits from both crop and landscape heterogeneity. Pollinators benefit more from configurational heterogeneity, but predators favour compositional heterogeneity. These positive effects are consistent for invertebrates and vertebrates in both tropical/subtropical and temperate agroecosystems, and in annual and perennial cropping systems, and at small to large spatial scales. Our results suggest that promoting increased landscape heterogeneity by diversifying crops and semi-natural habitats, as suggested in the current UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, is key for restoring biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Quantifying potential trade-offs and win-wins between arthropod diversity and yield on cropland under agri-environment schemes-A meta-analysis

In Europe, agri-environment schemes (AES) are a key instrument to combat the ongoing decline of farmland biodiversity. AES aim is to support biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services, such as pollination or pest control. To what extent AES affect crop yield is still poorly understood. We performed a systematic review, including hierarchical meta-analyses, to investigate potential trade-offs and win-wins between the effectiveness of AES for arthropod diversity and agricultural yield on European croplands. Altogether, we found 26 studies with a total of 125 data points that fulfilled our study inclusion criteria. From each study, we extracted data on biodiversity (arthropod species richness and abundance) and yield for fields with AES management and control fields without AES. The majority of the studies reported significantly higher species richness and abundance of arthropods (especially wild pollinators) in fields with AES (31 % increase), but yields were at the same time significantly lower on fields with AES compared to control fields (21 % decrease). Aside from the opportunity costs, AES that promote out-of-production elements (e.g. wildflower strips), supported biodiversity (29-32 % increase) without significantly compromising yield (2-5 % increase). Farmers can get an even higher yield in these situations than in current conventional agricultural production systems without AES. Thus, our study is useful to identify AES demonstrating benefits for arthropod biodiversity with negligible or relatively low costs regarding yield losses. Further optimization of the design and management of AES is needed to improve their effectiveness in promoting both biodiversity and minimizing crop yield losses.

Diversity and biological traits of bees visiting flowers of Cucurbita maxima var. zapallito differ between biodiversity-based and conventional management practices

Low diversity of pollinators and the modified composition of functional groups of bees have been proposed as the causes of pollination deficiency in cultivated Cucurbitaceae species. Functional groups of bees are determined by traits, such as body size, nesting site, and social behavior. The presence of bees with specific traits can be differentially affected by agricultural management practices. This work aimed to assess how management types (agroecological and conventional) in Cucurbita maxima var. zapallito crops affect the abundance of bees with different biological traits. The study was conducted on four farms located in horticultural areas of central-eastern Santa Fe province, Argentina. A total of 108 10-min censuses were conducted to record bee species abundance in flowers. The species were assigned to categories for each of the three biological traits. A total of 552 individuals, belonging to 16 bee species, were recorded. Honey bees were more abundant under conventional management, whereas the native bees Eucera fervens and other species were more abundant under agroecological management. Species of the categories analyzed (body size: small, medium, and large; nesting site: above-ground cavities or ground-nesting; and social behavior: solitary or social) were present on farms under both management types. We found that management type affected bees, and their effects differed among bees with specific biological traits. Medium-sized and small bees, ground-nesting bees, and solitary bees were found in greater abundance on agroecological farms than on conventional farms. Our data allowed us to explain the diversity and abundance of bees relative to the management type and biological traits of the species. Implications for insect conservation: This study suggests that incorporating biodiversity-based management strategies might increase abundance and richness of native bees with different biological traits, ensuring the free pollination service they provide and a taxonomically and functionally diverse assemblage.

Simplification of soil biota communities impairs nutrient recycling and enhances above- and belowground nitrogen losses

Agriculture is a major source of nutrient pollution, posing a threat to the earth system functioning. Factors determining the nutrient use efficiency of plant-soil systems need to be identified to develop strategies to reduce nutrient losses while ensuring crop productivity. The potential of soil biota to tighten nutrient cycles by improving plant nutrition and reducing soil nutrient losses is still poorly understood. We manipulated soil biota communities in outdoor lysimeters, planted maize, continuously collected leachates, and measured N2 O- and N2 -gas emissions after a fertilization pulse to test whether differences in soil biota communities affected nutrient recycling and N losses. Lysimeters with strongly simplified soil biota communities showed reduced crop N (-20%) and P (-58%) uptake, strongly increased N leaching losses (+65%), and gaseous emissions (+97%) of N2 O and N2 . Soil metagenomic analyses revealed differences in the abundance of genes responsible for nutrient uptake, nitrate reduction, and denitrification that helped explain the observed nutrient losses. Soil biota are major drivers of nutrient cycling and reductions in the diversity or abundance of certain groups (e.g. through land-use intensification) can disrupt nutrient cycling, reduce agricultural productivity and nutrient use efficiency, and exacerbate environmental pollution and global warming.

The effects of urbanization on pollinators and pollination: A meta-analysis

Urbanization is increasing worldwide, with major impacts on biodiversity, species interactions and ecosystem functioning. Pollination is an ecosystem function vital for terrestrial ecosystems and food security; however, the processes underlying the patterns of pollinator diversity and the ecosystem services they provide in cities have seldom been quantified. Here, we perform a comprehensive meta-analysis of 133 studies examining the effects of urbanization on pollinators and pollination. Our results confirm the widespread negative impacts of urbanization on pollinator richness and abundance, with Lepidoptera being the most affected group. Furthermore, pollinator responses were found to be trait-specific, with below-ground nesting and solitary Hymenoptera, and spring flyers more severely affected by urbanization. Meanwhile, cities promote non-native pollinators, which may exacerbate conservation risks to native species. Surprisingly, despite the negative effects of urbanization on pollinator diversity, pollination service measured as seed set is enhanced in non-tropical cities likely due to abundant generalists and managed pollinators therein. We emphasize that the richness of local flowering plants could mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on pollinator diversity. Overall, the results demonstrate the varying magnitudes of multiple moderators on urban pollinators and pollination services and could help guide conservation actions for biodiversity and ecosystem function for a sustainable future.

Agricultural management strategies for balancing yield increase, carbon sequestration, and emission reduction after straw return for three major grain crops in China: A meta-analysis

Straw return can improve crop yield as well as soil organic carbon (SOC) but may raise the possibility of N₂O and CH₄ emissions. However, few studies have compared the effects of straw return on the yield, SOC, and N₂O emissions of various crops. Which management strategies are the best for balancing yield, SOC, and emission reduction for various crops needs to be clarified. A meta-analysis containing 2269 datasets collected from 369 studies was conducted to investigate the influence of agricultural management strategies on yield increase, soil carbon sequestration, and emission reduction in various crops after the straw return. Analytical results indicated that, on average, straw return increased the yield of rice, wheat, and maize by 5.04%, 8.09%, and 8.71%, respectively. Straw return increased maize N₂O emissions by 14.69% but did not significantly affect wheat N₂O emissions. Interestingly, straw return reduced the rice N₂O emissions by 11.43% but increased the CH₄ emissions by 72.01%. The recommended nitrogen application amounts for balancing yield, SOC, and emission reduction varied among the three crops, while the recommended straw return amounts were more than 9000 kg/ha. The optimal tillage and straw return strategies for rice, wheat, and maize were plow tillage combined with incorporation, rotary tillage combined with incorporation, and no-tillage combined with mulching, respectively. A straw return duration of 5-10 years for rice and maize and ≤5 years for wheat was recommended. These findings provide optimal agricultural management strategies after straw return to balance the crop yield, SOC, and emission reduction for China's three major grain crops.

Organic farming of maize crop enhances species evenness and diversity of hexapod predators

Arthropod species diversity enhances ecosystem productivity and sustainability by increasing pollination and biological control services. Although, it is declining rapidly due to conventional agricultural intensification, organic agriculture with reduced reliance on agronomic inputs can regenerate ecosystems' resilience and restore them. Here, we report whether hexapod communities differ on both types of farming systems in small-scale field plot experiments, wherein Maize variety AG-589 was grown organically and conventionally in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Livestock manure was applied in organic fields, whereas nitrogen and phosphorous were used as synthetic fertilizers in conventional fields. Hexapods were sampled three weeks after sowing once a week from the middle rows of subplots from both organically and conventionally grown maize. Twelve species of herbivores and four species of predators were recorded. Hexapod abundance overall and that of herbivores only was higher in conventionally cultivated maize, while predator abundance was higher in organic maize. Herbivores species diversity and evenness were significantly higher in conventional maize. Predator species diversity and evenness were significantly higher in organic maize fields. We noted predator abundance, diversity, and evenness as strong predictors to lower herbivore populations. These findings suggest that organic farming conserves natural enemies' biodiversity and regulates herbivores with increased provision of suitable habitats and prey resources for natural enemies, leading to enhanced relative abundance in their specialized niches. Thus, organic agriculture can potentially mediate better ecosystem services.

A large share of climate impacts of beef and dairy can be attributed to ecosystem services other than food production

Domesticated ruminants supply nutrient-dense foods but at a large environmental cost. However, many ruminant production systems are multi-functional, providing ecosystem services (ES) other than direct provision of food. When quantifying the climate impact of ruminant products using life cycle assessment (LCA), provisioning ES (i.e. beef and milk) are generally considered the only valuable outputs and other ES provided are ignored, which risks overlooking positive contributions associated with ruminant production. Non-provisioning ES can be included in LCA by economic allocation, using compensatory payments (through agri-environmental schemes) as a proxy for the economic value of ES. For example, farmers can receive payments for maintenance of pastures, which supports e.g. pollination. However, the association between different payment schemes, the ES provided, and livestock production is not always straightforward and it can be difficult to determine which payment schemes to include in the allocation. This study examined how accounting for ES in quantification of climate impact for beef and milk production on Swedish farms was affected by different ways of coupling ES to livestock production through payment schemes. Quantification was done using LCA, attributing the climate impact to beef, milk, and other ES by economic allocation. This resulted in <1-48% and 11-31% of climate impacts being allocated to other ES, instead of beef and milk, respectively, affecting suckler farms most. The results were influenced by which payment schemes, representing different ES, that were included; when only payments directly related to livestock rearing were included, the difference in the climate impact was still large between farm types, while the difference decreased considerably when all environmental schemes were included. While emissions do not disappear, ES-corrected climate impact can potentially be useful as part of consumer communication or in decision-making, reducing the risk of overlooking ES provided by ruminant production in a simpler way than using separate indicators.

Landscape-level heterogeneity of agri-environment measures improves habitat suitability for farmland birds

Agri-environment schemes (AESs), ecological focus areas (EFAs), and organic farming are the main tools of the common agricultural policy (CAP) to counteract the dramatic decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe. However, their effectiveness is repeatedly doubted because it seems to vary when measured at the field-versus-landscape level and to depend on the regional environmental and land-use context. Understanding the heterogeneity of their effectiveness is thus crucial to developing management recommendations that maximize their efficacy. Using ensemble species distribution models and spatially explicit field-level information on crops grown, farming practice (organic/conventional), and applied AES/EFA from the Integrated Administration and Control System, we investigated the contributions of five groups of measures (buffer areas, cover crops, extensive grassland management, fallow land, and organic farming) to habitat suitability for 15 farmland bird species in the Mulde River Basin, Germany. We used a multiscale approach to identify the scale of effect of the selected measures. Using simulated land-use scenarios, we further examined how breeding habitat suitability would change if the measures were completely removed and if their adoption by farmers increased to meet conservation-informed targets. Buffer areas, fallow land, and extensive grassland were beneficial measures for most species, but cover crops and organic farming had contrasting effects across species. While different measures acted at different spatial scales, our results highlight the importance of land-use management at the landscape level-at which most measures had the strongest effect. We found that the current level of adoption of the measures delivers only modest gains in breeding habitat suitability. However, habitat suitability improved for the majority of species when the implementation of the measures was increased, suggesting that they could be effective conservation tools if higher adoption levels were reached. The heterogeneity of responses across species and spatial scales indicated that a mix of different measures, applied widely across the agricultural landscape, would likely maximize the benefits for biodiversity. This can only be achieved if the measures in the future CAP will be cooperatively designed in a regionally targeted way to improve their attractiveness for farmers and widen their uptake.

New agri-environmental measures have a direct effect on wildlife and economy on conventional agricultural land

The objective of this article is to evaluate economic profits along with return on investment and also the impact of newly designed agri-environmental measures (AEM) on the presence of bioindicator species-European hare and roe deer-in comparison to conventionally cultivated agricultural land. The abundance of European hare was, on average, 4.5-6.7 times higher on AEM compared to the standard agricultural regime and 3.5-6.4 times higher in the case of roe deer in 2020 and 2021. From an economic point of view, the highest incomes were found for extensive orchard alleys and standard conventional crops-wheat and rapeseed rotation. The cash flow from extensive orchard was 4.3 times larger and wheat and rapeseed were 3.5 times larger than from the clover grass mixture. Moreover, the lowest value of operational expenses was found in the case of extensive orchard alleys. The payback period ranged from 16.02 years (wheat and rapeseed rotation) to 53.6 years (clover grass mixture). It is crucial not to assess the economic parameters separately but optimize them with sustainable wildlife management and other benefits that provide ecological and efficient directions of AEM for future generations. However, the performed economic analysis highlights the significantly lower incomes of most components of AEM. We see a principal issue of AEMs usage in the lack of strong incentives for farmers to maximize conservation outcomes. Therefore, the AEMs are often placed in locations with presumed low agriculture profit, which is often related to insignificant conservation effects. Thus, the incomparable AEMs profitability compared to conventional agriculture has to be reflected by the agricultural policy at the European Union level and subsidy policy of particular member states.

The ground beetle Pseudoophonus rufipes gut microbiome is influenced by the farm management system

Intensive conventional farm management, characterized by high agrochemicals input, could alter the composition of microbial communities with potential negative effects on both functional traits and the ecosystem services provided. In this study, we investigated the gut microbial composition of a high ecological relevance carabid Pseudoophonus rufipes, sampled in two fields subjected to conventional and organic management practices. Carabids' gut microbiota was analyzed via qPCR and NGS. Profound differences between the microbial composition of organic and conventional samples were detected: the abundance of Tenericutes and Proteobacteria was significant higher in organic and conventional samples, respectively. Spiroplasmataceae and Bifidobacteriaceae families were significantly more abundant in samples from organic management, while Enterococcaceae, Morganellaceae and Yersiniaceae were more abundant in samples from conventional management. The diverse gut microbial composition of insects between the two management systems is related to the pressure of environmental stressors and it may representing an important bioindication of ecological functions and services provided by a carabid species.

Selection of inter-row herbaceous covers in a sloping, organic, non-irrigated vineyard

Inter-row vegetation in vineyards is classified as a service crop as it provides many ecosystem services. The vegetation is often removed but maintaining them can mitigate the negative effects on the environment. However, the type of species or mixture choice can affect their success. A field trial was conducted in an organically-managed vineyard of Cabernet sauvignon Vitis vinifera L. cultivars in north-eastern Italy, in which three blends of grass species (Shedonorus arundinaceus, Lolium perenne and Festuca rubra) and two grass-legume mixtures were grown in the inter-rows and compared with resident vegetation and regularly tilled bare soil. Each vegetation type, including resident vegetation, was subjected to mulching and non-mulching treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of seeded species or mixtures in the inter-row spaces of the vineyard in north-Italy as an alternative management to resident vegetation and tilled soil. The experiment was conducted over two years to monitor the persistence of the sown vegetation and the influence of vegetation types on vine performance and grape composition, and on soil compaction and erosion. The relative abundances of each species, vegetation height, percentage green cover and normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), vine shoot length, number of leaves per vine shoot, leaf area, bunch weight, vine NDVI, soil compaction and erosion, and depth and width of tractor tyre prints were measured. Over time, weed invasion altered the botanical composition of all vegetation types except for the S. arundinaceus blend, which remained stable throughout the study period. Our results showed that vine parameters were not affected by the type of vegetation in the inter-rows, nor were there differences between the grassed and bare soil inter-rows. Soil compaction and erosion, and tractor tyre prints were not directly affected by the type of vegetation cover, but they were affected by tillage in the plots with bare soil in the inter-rows or where it was used to prepare the soil for sowing. Soil compaction and erosion were related to the percentage vegetation cover. Mulching did not affect any of the parameters measured. Therefore, species selection plays a crucial role in inter-row vegetation management and in minimising environmental impacts. S. arundinaceus gave high protection against soil erosion due to its high persistence throughout the year and had the lowest growth rate thus requiring fewer cuttings.

The spatial influences of organic farming and environmental heterogeneity on biodiversity in South Australian landscapes

The potential link between certified organic farming and biodiversity and conservation remains unexplored in Australia, despite the country having the world's largest amount of certified organic farmland and unprecedented biodiversity loss. This study modelled the spatial effects of organic farming (intensity of local farming systems), environmental heterogeneity, and urbanisation on two widely studied environmental taxa - vascular plant and bird species richness (surrogate measures of biodiversity) - in South Australia, using a unique certified organic farming postcode level dataset from 2001 to 2016 (N = 5440). The spatial Durbin error model results confirmed the positive spatial congruence of organic farming with greater vascular plant species richness, whereas only weak to no significant evidence was found for bird species richness. Landscape features (habitat heterogeneity) and green vegetation (a proxy indicator of resource availability) - rather than organic farming - appeared to be most associated with bird species richness. Both plant and bird species richness were positively associated with habitat heterogeneity (land cover diversity and elevation range), plant productivity and proportion of conservation land and water bodies. Whereas, increased anthropogenic land use for cropping and horticultural farming, soil type diversity and proximity to the coast significantly reduced species richness of both taxa. The results suggest that a multi-scale spatially refined biodiversity conservation strategy, with spatial targeting that promotes low intensive farming systems and increases landscape heterogeneity to provide quality habitat (a whole of landscape approach by incorporating private agricultural landholders), could be beneficial for biodiversity conservation.

Analytical hierarchy process for sustainable agriculture: An overview

United nation sustainable development goal two (UNSDG-2) aims to achieve the eradication of hunger along with the assurance of food security for all by 2030. This cannot be achieved without combining all forms of sciences including mathematics and statistics with agriculture practice to make agriculture sustainable. Agriculture has been considered the backbone of the economic systems of developing and developed countries. However, while practicing the activities, various conflicting issues incorporate and make the situation challenging for the agriculture industry in the decision-making process. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques can provide the optimal solution and they have proved to be viable in various complex decision-making problems of the real world like agriculture-related decision-making problems. They can help to find a suitable alternative for a particular complex situation.  The analytical hierarchy process (AHP); a globally accepted method; has been a winning arc of the MCDM techniques. This article specifically reviews the application of AHP in various agriculture-related problems, the models used, the data sources used, and the overall precision attained using the different performance criteria of the past few years.

Agroecological practices in combination with healthy diets can help meet EU food system policy targets

Agroecology has been proposed as a strategy to improve food system sustainability, but has also been criticised for using land inefficiently. We compared five explorative storylines, developed in a stakeholder process, for future food systems in the EU to 2050. We modelled a range of biophysical (e.g., land use and food production), environmental (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions) and social indicators, and potential for regional food self-sufficiency, and investigated the economic policy needed to reach these futures by 2050. Two contrasting storylines for upscaling agroecological practices emerged. In one, agroecology was implemented to produce high-value products serving high-income consumers through trade but, despite 40% of agricultural area being under organic management, only two out of eight EU environmental policy targets were met. As diets followed current trends in this storyline, there were few improvements in environmental indicators compared with the current situation, despite large-scale implementation of agroecological farming practices. This suggests that large-scale implementation of agroecological practices without concurrent changes on the demand side could aggravate existing environmental pressures. However, our second agroecological storyline showed that if large-scale diffusion of agroecological farming practices were implemented alongside drastic dietary change and waste reductions, major improvements on environmental indicators could be achieved and all relevant EU policy targets met. An alternative storyline comprising sustainable intensification in combination with dietary change and waste reductions was efficient in meeting targets related to climate, biodiversity, ammonia emissions, and use of antibiotics, but did not meet targets for reductions in pesticide and fertiliser use. These results confirm the importance of dietary change for food system climate change mitigation. Economic modelling showed a need for drastic changes in consumer preferences towards more plant-based, agroecological and local foods, and for improvements in technology, for these storylines to be realised, as very high taxes and tariffs would otherwise be needed.

Complex agricultural landscapes host more biodiversity than simple ones: A global meta-analysis

Agricultural land, the world’s largest human-managed ecosystem, forms the matrix that connects remnant and fragmented patches of natural vegetation where nondomesticated biodiversity struggles to survive. Increasing the resources that this matrix can offer to biodiversity is critical to halting biodiversity loss. Our comprehensive meta-analysis demonstrates the positive and significant effect on biodiversity of increasing landscape complexity in agricultural lands. We found more biodiversity in complex landscapes, potentially contributing to agriculture production, ecosystem resilience, and human well-being. Current biodiversity conservation strategies tend to focus on natural ecosystems, often ignoring opportunities to boost biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Our findings provide a strong scientific evidence base for synergistically managing agriculture at the landscape level for biodiversity conservation and sustainable production.

Managing agricultural landscapes to support biodiversity conservation requires profound structural changes worldwide. Often, discussions are centered on management at the field level. However, a wide and growing body of evidence calls for zooming out and targeting agricultural policies, research, and interventions at the landscape level to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity, increase biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, and improve the resilience and adaptability of these ecosystems. We conducted the most comprehensive assessment to date on landscape complexity effects on nondomesticated terrestrial biodiversity through a meta-analysis of 1,134 effect sizes from 157 peer-reviewed articles. Increasing landscape complexity through changes in composition, configuration, or heterogeneity significatively and positively affects biodiversity. More complex landscapes host more biodiversity (richness, abundance, and evenness) with potential benefits to sustainable agricultural production and conservation, and effects are likely underestimated. The few articles that assessed the combined contribution of linear (e.g., hedgerows) and areal (e.g., woodlots) elements resulted in a near-doubling of the effect sizes (i.e., biodiversity level) compared to the dominant number of studies measuring these elements separately. Similarly, positive effects on biodiversity are stronger in articles monitoring biodiversity for at least 2 y compared to the dominant 1-y monitoring efforts. Besides, positive and stronger effects exist when monitoring occurs in nonoverlapping landscapes, highlighting the need for long-term and robustly designed monitoring efforts. Living in harmony with nature will require shifting paradigms toward valuing and promoting multifunctional agriculture at the farm and landscape levels with a research agenda that untangles complex agricultural landscapes’ contributions to people and nature under current and future conditions.

Pesticide impacts on avian species with special reference to farmland birds: a review

For decades, we have observed a major biodiversity crisis impacting all taxa. Avian species have been particularly well monitored over the long term, documenting their declines. In particular, farmland birds are decreasing worldwide, but the contribution of pesticides to their decline remains controversial. Most studies addressing the effects of agrochemicals are limited to their assessment under controlled laboratory conditions, the determination of lethal dose 50 (LD₅₀) values and testing in a few species, most belonging to Galliformes. They often ignore the high interspecies variability in sensitivity, delayed sublethal effects on the physiology, behaviour and life-history traits of individuals and their consequences at the population and community levels. Most importantly, they have entirely neglected to test for the multiple exposure pathways to which individuals are subjected in the field (cocktail effects). The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview for ecologists, evolutionary ecologists and conservationists. We aimed to compile the literature on the effects of pesticides on bird physiology, behaviour and life-history traits, collecting evidence from model and wild species and from field and lab experiments to highlight the gaps that remain to be filled. We show how subtle nonlethal exposure might be pernicious, with major consequences for bird populations and communities. We finally propose several prospective guidelines for future studies that may be considered to meet urgent needs.

Spring-seeded winter rye living mulches enhance crop biodiversity and promote reduced tillage organic soybeans

As recognition increases of the benefits of reducing soil disturbance to preserve soil health, there is mounting interest in developing innovative methods of using cover crops as living mulches to control weeds in organic grain systems. Spring-planted winter cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) interseeded with soybeans (Glycine max. [L.] Merr.) is a promising, yet untested, living mulch system because rye exhibits vigorous growth in the early spring during the critical weed free period, but then dies back as the soybean canopy matures. The objectives of this study were to compare a rye living mulch system with a tilled “organic business-as-usual” control, and to understand the risks and benefits associated with delaying soybean planting date to manage the weed seed bank prior to establishment of rye and soybeans. Three treatments including (1) a June-planted rye and soybean living mulch system, (2) a June planted tilled control, and (3) a May planted tilled control, were compared in terms of weed prevalence and soybean grain yield in a randomized complete block experimental design with four replications implemented across 3 site years from 2019 to 2020. Interseeding rye as a living mulch resulted in consistently higher weed pressure as compared to tilled controls. Increased weed pressure in May- over June-planted controls in 2 of 3 site years indicate planting date influences weed dynamics. Rye biomass was positively correlated with soybean yield (R2 = 0.76, r = 0.87, p &lt; 0.05) and negatively correlated with weed biomass (R2 = 0.63, r = −0.79, p &lt; 0.05). Under optimal conditions where rye biomass was maximized, interseeding rye adequately suppressed weeds without reducing soybean yields as compared to tilled controls. However, under drier conditions with lower rye production, increased weed pressure and reduced yields emphasize the risks associated with living mulch systems.

An integrated assessment of environmental sustainability and nutrient availability of food consumption patterns in Latin America and the Caribbean

BACKGROUND

In Latin America and the Caribbean, historical shifts away from traditional, plant-sourced food production and consumption patterns may undermine both nutritional status and environmental sustainability. Although agricultural intensification and increasingly animal-centric dietary preferences in the region are well-documented, their influence on environmental degradation remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to 1) characterize the environmental impacts of current food consumption patterns in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean and 2) identify food groups that minimize impact while maintaining adequate nutrient availability.

DESIGN

Apparent regional food consumption was derived using data from the Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Balance Sheets on per capita food availability and levels of imported vs. local food production. Region-specific life cycle assessment data on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and freshwater consumption were leveraged to estimate total, food group-level, and nutrient-specific environmental impacts.

RESULTS

Annual overall emissions were highest in Caribbean food consumption patterns (2521.2 kg/capita), largely derived from meat (26.7%) and fruit (23.8%) production. Land use (1941.0 m2/capita) and water consumption (2060.8 m3/capita), in contrast, were highest for the South American pattern, due to high consumption of meat and dairy. Across the regions, meat constituted 7.5-12.7% of food consumption yet accounted for as much as 73.1% of greenhouse gas emissions, 56.6% of land use, and 54.2% of water consumption. In contrast, legumes and seeds, cereals, roots, and vegetables demonstrated overall low environmental impacts, particularly relative to their contributions to dietary protein, iron, and zinc availability.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings point to the capacity of plant-sourced food consumption to minimize environmental harm without necessarily jeopardizing nutrient availability in Latin America and the Caribbean. Local agriculture can contribute to food system sustainability by producing diversified plant-sourced foods, cornerstones of many traditional food customs, and mitigating the impacts of industrialized livestock operations and imported, animal-centric dietary habits.

Vineyard Management and Its Impacts on Soil Biodiversity, Functions, and Ecosystem Services

Healthy soils form the basis of sustainable viticulture, where soil characteristics have a direct impact on wine quantity and quality. Soil not only provides water and nutrients to vines, but is also a living medium containing micro- and macroorganisms that perform many ecological functions and provide ecosystem services. These organisms are involved in many processes, from decomposing organic matter to providing minerals to vine roots. They also control diseases, pests, and weeds, in addition to improving the soil structure in terms of its capacity to retain water and nutrients. Related to decomposition processes, the carbon content of vineyard soils influences fertility, erosion and biogeochemical cycles, with significant implications for the global climate. However, common agricultural practices represent strong threats to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services provided by vineyard soils. As consumers increasingly consider environmental aspects in their purchase decisions, winegrowers have to adapt their vineyard management strategies, raising the demand for sustainable pest- and weed-control methods. This article presents a comprehensive review of the impacts of vineyard practices on the soil ecosystem, biodiversity, and biodiversity-based ecosystem services, and provides future prospects for sustainable viticulture.

Effects of conventional and organic management on plant and insect communities in a traditional elephant garlic crop

Agricultural management has a great influence on biodiversity and its services in agroecosystems. In Europe, a relevant proportion of biodiversity is dependent on low-input agriculture. To assess the effects of agricultural management on biodiversity, in this study we surveyed the communities of arable plants, diurnal flying insects, and pollinators in three conventional and in two organic fields of a traditional Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum L.) crop of the Valdichiana area, in Tuscany (central Italy). The sampling was carried out twice during the season: in spring, during crop growing, and in summer, after crop harvesting. We assessed the effects of the different agricultural management on the richness and composition (species occurrence and abundance) of the three communities using univariate and multivariate analyses. Concerning our specific case study, only plant species richness was significantly higher in organic fields (15.7 ± 2.7 species per plot), compared to conventional ones (5.4 ± 2.3 species per plot). Regarding community composition, only pollinators showed a marginally significant difference between conventional and organic fields. Conversely, the effect of specific fields significantly explained differences in composition of all the investigated groups (plants, total insects, and pollinators). The results suggest that, in our case study, the emerged differences in diversity of the investigated communities were mainly attributable to environmental and management factors related to single fields, more than to organic or conventional farming. Such evidence could be partly due to the very local scale of the study, to the heterogeneity of the surveyed fields, and to the reduced number of surveyed fields. Further investigation is therefore needed.

The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species and taxonomic groups on stressed and unstressed plants: a global meta-analysis

The great majority of plants gain access to soil nutrients and enhance their performance under stressful conditions through symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The benefits that AMF confer vary among species and taxonomic groups. However, a comparative analysis of the different benefits among AMF has not yet been performed. We conducted a global meta-analysis of recent studies testing the benefits of individual AMF species and main taxonomic groups in terms of plant performance (growth and nutrition). Separately, we examined AMF benefits to plants facing biotic (pathogens, parasites, and herbivores) and abiotic (drought, salinity, and heavy metals) stress. AMF had stronger positive effects on phosphorus nutrition than on plant growth and nitrogen nutrition and the effects on the growth of plants facing biotic and abiotic stresses were similarly positive. While the AMF taxonomic groups showed positive effects on plant performance either with or without stress, Diversisporales were the most beneficial to plants without stress and Gigasporales to plants facing biotic stress. Our results provide a comprehensive analysis of the benefits of different AMF species and taxonomic groups on plant performance and useful insights for their management and use as bio-inoculants for agriculture and restoration.

A research agenda for scaling up agroecology in European countries

A profound transformation of agricultural production methods has become unavoidable due to the increase in the world's population, and environmental and climatic challenges. Agroecology is now recognized as a challenging model for agricultural systems, promoting their diversification and adaptation to environmental and socio-economic contexts, with consequences for the entire agri-food system and the development of rural and urban areas. Through a prospective exercise performed at a large interdisciplinary institute, INRAE, a research agenda for agroecology was built that filled a gap through its ambition and interdisciplinarity. It concerned six topics. For genetics, there is a need to study genetic aspects of complex systems (e.g., mixtures of genotypes) and to develop breeding methods for them. For landscapes, challenges lie in effects of heterogeneity at multiple scales, in multifunctionality and in the design of agroecological landscapes. Agricultural equipment and digital technologies show high potential for monitoring dynamics of agroecosystems. For modeling, challenges include approaches to complexity, consideration of spatial and temporal dimensions and representation of the cascade from cropping practices to ecosystem services. The agroecological transition of farms calls for modeling and observational approaches as well as for creating new design methods. Integration of agroecology into food systems raises the issues of product specificity, consumer behavior and organization of markets, standards and public policies. In addition, transversal priorities were identified: (i) generating sets of biological data, through research and participatory mechanisms, that are appropriate for designing agroecological systems and (ii) collecting and using coherent sets of data to enable assessment of vulnerability, resilience and risk in order to evaluate the performance of agroecological systems and to contribute to scaling up. The main lessons learned from this collective exercise can be useful for the entire scientific community engaged in research into agroecology.

A systematic review of the definitions and interpretations in scientific literature of 'less but better' meat in high-income settings

'Less but better' is a pragmatic approach to tackling the sustainability challenges of meat consumption and production. Definitions of 'less' and 'better' lack clarity. Here we explore interpretations of these concepts, finding increasing use of 'less but better' in the literature from Western, high-income settings. Despite discrepancies among interpretations of 'less' meat, existing quantifications indicate that significant reduction is needed to achieve desirable food system outcomes. Interpretations of 'better' meat incorporate the delivery of environmental sustainability, improved animal welfare and better health or nutrition, but lack clear principles and omit many sustainability themes. Practices and outcomes are seldom linked, and diverging narratives on interactions between 'less' and 'better' exist. A shared vision of livestock systems with improved sustainability across multiple indicators is needed to establish principles for 'less but better' in order for decision-making to deliver desired outcomes.

Difference in small mammal assemblages in the diet of the Common Barn-Owl Tyto alba between two landscapes

As an opportunistic predator, the Common Barn-owl (Tyto alba) proved to be an appropriate model organism to survey the composition of small mammal assemblages. This study analysed barn owls’ pellet samples from 14 localities containing 34 animal taxa and 4,088 prey items in two years (2015–2016). Two groups of samples (7–7 localities) were separated based on the dominance of semi-natural habitats and agricultural lands. Rarefaction analysis proved that the species richness and diversity of barn owls’ diet were significantly higher in semi-natural landscapes. The multiple regression analysis between PCA scores showed that in the agrarian landscape the abundance of generalist species was influenced by the proportion of forests, while the value of the trophic level index was determined by the size of arable fields. In the case of semi-natural landscapes, the abundance of the synantrop guild and generalist species, especially S. araneus and A. agrarius, was influenced by the proportion of urban areas, the number of habitats and the size of arable fields. The results of this study suggested that the small mammal consumption of the Common Barn-owl is significantly different in the two landscapes, which reflects the impact of habitat heterogeneity and agricultural activity on prey availability.

Biodiversity and yield trade-offs for organic farming

Organic farming supports higher biodiversity than conventional farming, but at the cost of lower yields. We conducted a meta-analysis quantifying the trade-off between biodiversity and yield, comparing conventional and organic farming. We developed a compatibility index to assess whether biodiversity gains from organic farming exceed yield losses, and a substitution index to assess whether organic farming would increase biodiversity in an area if maintaining total production under organic farming would require cultivating more land at the expense of nature. Overall, organic farming had 23% gain in biodiversity with a similar cost of yield decline. Biodiversity gain is negatively correlated to yield loss for microbes and plants, but no correlation was found for other taxa. The biodiversity and yield trade-off varies under different contexts of organic farming. The overall compatibility index value was close to zero, with negative values for cereal crops, positive for non-cereal crops, and varies across taxa. Our results indicate that, on average, the proportion of biodiversity gain is similar to the proportion of yield loss for paired field studies. For some taxa in non-cereal crops, switching to organic farming can lead to a biodiversity gain without yield loss. We calculated the overall value of substitution index and further discussed the application of this index to evaluate when the biodiversity of less intensified farming system is advantageous.

Prairie Strips and Lower Land Use Intensity Increase Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Agricultural landscapes can be managed to protect biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services. One approach to achieve this is to restore native perennial vegetation within croplands. Where rowcrops have displaced prairie, as in the US Midwest, restoration of native perennial vegetation can align with crops in so called “prairie strips.” We tested the effect of prairie strips in addition to other management practices on a variety of taxa and on a suite of ecosystem services. To do so, we worked within a 33-year-old experiment that included treatments that varied methods of agricultural management across a gradient of land use intensity. In the two lowest intensity crop management treatments, we introduced prairie strips that occupied 5% of crop area. We addressed three questions: (1) What are the effects of newly established prairie strips on the spillover of biodiversity and ecosystem services into cropland? (2) How does time since prairie strip establishment affect biodiversity and ecosystem services? (3) What are the tradeoffs and synergies among biodiversity conservation, non-provisioning ecosystem services, and provisioning ecosystem services (crop yield) across a land use intensity gradient (which includes prairie strips)? Within prairie strip treatments, where sampling effort occurred within and at increasing distance from strips, dung beetle abundance, spider abundance and richness, active carbon, decomposition, and pollination decreased with distance from prairie strips, and this effect increased between the first and second year. Across the entire land use intensity gradient, treatments with prairie strips and reduced chemical inputs had higher butterfly abundance, spider abundance, and pollination services. In addition, soil organic carbon, butterfly richness, and spider richness increased with a decrease in land use intensity. Crop yield in one treatment with prairie strips was equal to that of the highest intensity management, even while including the area taken out of production. We found no effects of strips on ant biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions (N2O and CH4). Our results show that, even in early establishment, prairie strips and lower land use intensity can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services without a disproportionate loss of crop yield.

Averting wildlife-borne infectious disease epidemics requires a focus on socio-ecological drivers and a redesign of the global food system

A debate has emerged over the potential socio-ecological drivers of wildlife-origin zoonotic disease outbreaks and emerging infectious disease (EID) events. This Review explores the extent to which the incidence of wildlife-origin infectious disease outbreaks, which are likely to include devastating pandemics like HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, may be linked to excessive and increasing rates of tropical deforestation for agricultural food production and wild meat hunting and trade, which are further related to contemporary ecological crises such as global warming and mass species extinction. Here we explore a set of precautionary responses to wildlife-origin zoonosis threat, including: (a) limiting human encroachment into tropical wildlands by promoting a global transition to diets low in livestock source foods; (b) containing tropical wild meat hunting and trade by curbing urban wild meat demand, while securing access for indigenous people and local communities in remote subsistence areas; and (c) improving biosecurity and other strategies to break zoonosis transmission pathways at the wildlife-human interface and along animal source food supply chains.

The biodiversity effect of reduced tillage on soil microbiota

The conversion of natural habitats into farmland has been a leading cause of species loss worldwide. Here, we investigated to what extent less intensive soil disturbance can mitigate this loss. Specifically, we examined whether reduced soil disturbance by tillage in agricultural fields could contribute to soil microbial biodiversity by providing a habitat for species that are limited by conventional tillage. To do so, we studied the diversity of soil biotas from three agricultural practices representing conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no tillage. Study fields were sampled by taking a bulk soil sample at the centre and edge of each field. The soil communities were recorded with environmental DNA metabarcoding using three molecular markers targeting bacteria, fungi and eukaryotes. While these three markers represent the vast majority of biotic variation in the soil, they will inevitably be dominated by the megadiverse microbiota of bacteria, microfungi and protists. We found a significant differentiation in community composition related to the intensity of tillage. Richness was weakly correlated to tillage, and more influenced by whether the sample was taken in the center or the edge of the field. Despite the significant effect of tillage on composition, comparisons with natural ecosystems revealed that all 30 study fields were much more similar in composition to other rotational fields than to more natural habitats, oldfields and leys. Despite a slightly higher similarity to oldfields and semi-natural grasslands, the contribution of no-till soil communities to biodiversity conservation is negligible, and our results indicate that restoration on set aside land may contribute more to conservation.

Soil Microbiomes in Apple Orchards Are Influenced by the Type of Agricultural Management but Never Match the Complexity and Connectivity of a Semi-natural Benchmark

Conversion of natural ecosystems into agricultural land may strongly affect the soil microbiome and the functioning of the soil ecosystem. Alternative farming systems, such as organic farming, have therefore been advocated to reduce this impact, yet the outcomes of different agricultural management regimes often remain ambiguous and their evaluations mostly lack a proper more natural benchmark. We used high-throughput amplicon sequencing, linear models, redundancy analyses, and co-occurrence network analyses to investigate the effect of organic and integrated pest management (IPM) on soil fungal and bacterial communities in both the crop and drive rows of apple orchards in Belgium, and we included semi-natural grasslands as a benchmark. Fungi were strongly influenced by agricultural management, with lower diversity indices and distinct communities in IPM compared to organic orchards, whereas IPM orchards had a higher AMF abundance and the most complex and connected fungal communities. Bacterial diversity indices, community composition, and functional groups were less affected by management, with only a higher network connectivity and abundance of keystone taxa in organic drive rows. On the other hand, none of the agricultural soil microbiomes matched the complexity and connectedness of our semi-natural benchmark, demonstrating that even more nature-friendly agricultural management practices strongly affect the soil microbiome and highlighting the essential role of (semi-)natural systems as a harbor of robust and functionally diverse fungal and bacterial communities.

Both organic and integrated pest management of apple orchards maintain soil health as compared to a semi-natural reference system

Growing concerns about the negative environmental impacts of agriculture have resulted in the increasing adoption of farming systems that try to reconcile crop production with environmental sustainability, such as organic farming. As organic farming refrains from using synthetic inputs, it heavenly relies on maintaining soil health. However, it is still poorly understood how organic management performs in terms of maintaining soil health in real commercial and heterogeneous farm settings as compared to conventional management, and especially as compared to a natural reference system. Here, we compared a set of soil health indicators among 24 commercial apple orchards that were either managed organically or conventionally using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. In addition, we quantified the same indicators in 12 semi-natural grasslands as a benchmark to assess to what extent soil processes and functions have been degraded due to agricultural practices. As soil heath indicators, we quantified soil bulk density, organic matter content, organic carbon content, organic carbon stock, total nitrogen (N), potential heterotrophic respiration, potential net N mineralization, litter decomposition and litter stabilization, and we added the diversity of the herbaceous vegetation and the soil microbiome as covariates in our models. We found no differences between organic and IPM orchards, and neither of the farming systems showed evidence of impaired soil health compared to the semi-natural benchmark, with the exception of higher decomposition rates measured in both orchard types. We observed, however, high spatial variation in soil health between drive and crop rows within the orchards. Especially in the IPM orchards, crop rows showed impaired soil health compared to the adjacent drive rows, indicating that there is still opportunity to improve soil management in the IPM system. In addition, our results show that a considerable part of the variation in soil characteristics can be attributed to the study site, suggesting that both natural heterogeneity and personal management preferences by individual farmers are more important than the management system. Overall, and at least in terms of the soil variables measured in this study, our results suggest that perennial crop systems can be managed in a sustainable way, without jeopardizing soil health.