Search

Heterostyly is a genetically determined floral polymorphism of style length promoting outcrossing between individuals of different morphs, which usually coexist within populations at equal frequencies. Loss in the area and connectivity of suitable habitats may cause deviations from the expected equal morph frequencies. However, there is a need to evaluate the generality of this pattern at larger spatial extents and to identify possible underlying mechanisms. A citizen‐science approach was used to study morph frequencies in populations of the heterostylous grassland plant Primula veris across Estonia. We developed an online platform to facilitate an easy upload of the data. We examined the effect of the following variables in the surroundings of the study populations reflecting the landscape context on the deviation of morph ratios: (a) semi‐natural grasslands, (b) forests and shrubs, (c) human population density and (d) a proxy for plant population size. The citizen‐science approach provided unprecedented density of data from 1,700 localities. Nearly half of these observations, which were maintained for further analysis after data filtering, included over 62,000 short‐styled morphs and about 54,000 long‐styled morphs. Small populations were characterized by higher overall deviation of morph ratios from isoplethy (equal morph ratio). Deviation increased in semi‐natural grasslands located in regions with high human population density. The significant effect of human population density and plant population size on deviations of morph frequencies suggests the role of stochastic demographic effects of habitat fragmentation on morph ratios. Overall lower proportion of long‐styled morphs indicates that partial intra‐morph compatibility shown in long‐styled morphs may lead to higher inbreeding and related decline in fitness and abundance. Synthesis. Citizen‐science data about the morph type of Primula veris across Estonia obtained with the help of thousands of people demonstrates that in addition to plant population size, landscape context may affect plant reproductive traits, such as heterostyly. Larger population size of P. veris can help to buffer against random fluctuations in this trait. Increasing impact of human activities may have a negative impact on both small and large populations. The exact underlying mechanisms of the prevalence of one morph over the other, however, pose novel questions for further research.

ispartof: Functional Ecology vol:35 issue:12 pages:1-14 status: Published online

Background Ecosystem restoration is as a critical tool to counteract the decline of biodiversity and recover vital ecosystem services. Restoration efforts, however, often fall short of meeting their goals. Although functionally important levels of biodiversity can significantly contribute to the outcome of ecosystem restoration, they are often overlooked. One such important facet of biodiversity is within-species genetic diversity, which is fundamental to population fitness and adaptation to environmental change. Also the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), obligate root symbionts that regulate nutrient and carbon cycles, potentially plays a vital role in mediating ecosystem restoration outcome. In this study, we investigated the relative contribution of intraspecific population genetic diversity, AMF diversity, and their interaction, to population recovery of Succisa pratensis, a key species of nutrient poor semi natural grasslands. We genotyped 180 individuals from 12 populations of S. pratensis and characterized AMF composition in their roots, using microsatellite markers and next generation amplicon sequencing, respectively. We also investigated whether the genetic makeup of the host plant species can structure the composition of root-inhabiting AMF communities. Results Our analysis revealed that population allelic richness was strongly positively correlated to relative population growth, whereas AMF richness and its interaction with population genetic diversity did not significantly contribute. The variation partitioning analysis showed that, after accounting for soil and spatial variables, the plant genetic makeup explained a small but significant part of the unique variation in AMF communities. Conclusions Our results confirm that population genetic diversity can contribute to population recovery, highlighting the importance of within-species genetic diversity for the success of restoration. We could not find evidence, however, that population recovery benefits from the presence of more diverse AMF communities. Our analysis also showed that the genetic makeup of the host plant structured root-inhabiting AMF communities, suggesting that the plant genetic makeup may be linked to genes that control symbiosis development.

Datos disponibles en https://github.com/fmsabatini/sPlotOpen_Code, EU H2020 project BACI, Grant No. 640176 (...), Sabatini, F.M., Lenoir, J., Hattab, T., Arnst, E.A., Chytrý, M., Dengler, J., De Ruffray, P., Hennekens, S.M., Jandt, U., Jansen, F., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Kattge, J., Levesley, A., Pillar, V.D., Purschke, O., Sandel, B., Sultana, F., Aavik, T., Aćić, S., Acosta, A.T.R., Agrillo, E., Alvarez, M., Apostolova, I., Arfin Khan, M.A.S., Arroyo, L., Attorre, F., Aubin, I., Banerjee, A., Bauters, M., Bergeron, Y., Bergmeier, E., Biurrun, I., Bjorkman, A.D., Bonari, G., Bondareva, V., Brunet, J., Čarni, A., Casella, L., Cayuela, L., Černý, T., Chepinoga, V., Csiky, J., Ćušterevska, R., De Bie, E., de Gasper, A.L., De Sanctis, M., Dimopoulos, P., Dolezal, J., Dziuba, T., El-Sheikh, M.A.E.-R.M., Enquist, B., Ewald, J., Fazayeli, F., Field, R., Finckh, M., Gachet, S., Galán-de-Mera, A., Garbolino, E., Gholizadeh, H., Giorgis, M., Golub, V., Alsos, I.G., Grytnes, J.-A., Guerin, G.R., Gutiérrez, A.G., Haider, S., Hatim, M.Z., Hérault, B., Hinojos Mendoza, G., Hölzel, N., Homeier, J., Hubau, W., Indreica, A., Janssen, J.A.M., Jedrzejek, B., Jentsch, A., Jürgens, N., Kącki, Z., Kapfer, J., Karger, D.N., Kavgacı, A., Kearsley, E., Kessler, M., Khanina, L., Killeen, T., Korolyuk, A., Kreft, H., Kühl, H.S., Kuzemko, A., Landucci, F., Lengyel, A., Lens, F., Lingner, D.V., Liu, H., Lysenko, T., Mahecha, M.D., Marcenò, C., Martynenko, V., Moeslund, J.E., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Mucina, L., Müller, J.V., Munzinger, J., Naqinezhad, A., Noroozi, J., Nowak, A., Onyshchenko, V., Overbeck, G.E., Pärtel, M., Pauchard, A., Peet, R.K., Peñuelas, J., Pérez-Haase, A., Peterka, T., Petřík, P., Peyre, G., Phillips, O.L., Prokhorov, V., Rašomavičius, V., Revermann, R., Rivas-Torres, G., Rodwell, J.S., Ruprecht, E., Rūsiņa, S., Samimi, C., Schmidt, M., Schrodt, F., Shan, H., Shirokikh, P., Šibík, J., Šilc, U., Sklenář, P., Škvorc, Ž., Sparrow, B., Sperandii, M.G., Stančić, Z., Svenning, J.-C., Tang, Z., Tang, C.Q., Tsiripidis, I., Vanselow, K.A., Vásquez Martínez, R., Vassilev, K., Vélez-Martin, E., Venanzoni, R., Vibrans, A.C., Violle, C., Virtanen, R., von Wehrden, H., Wagner, V., Walker, D.A., Waller, D.M., Wang, H.-F., Wesche, K., Whitfeld, T.J.S., Willner, W., Wiser, S.K., Wohlgemuth, T., Yamalov, S., Zobel, M., Bruelheide, H.

Loss of the area and connectivity of natural and semi-natural habitats impose serious negative effects on all aspects of biodiversity. However, quantifying the effect of these pressures is difficult due to the time-lagged responses of biodiversity to landscape change. The aim of this study is to determine if genetic diversity of plant populations exhibits a delayed response to recent landscape change. Using microsatellite markers, we evaluated genetic diversity in 28 populations of a grassland plant Trifolium montanum in Estonian calcareous grasslands. We examined the response of genetic diversity to various current and historic landscape parameters assessed at two time points: (1) 2017, and (2) 1930, when the extent of grasslands in Estonia was at its maximum. Observed heterozygosity (HO) and inbreeding coefficients (FIS) were affected by historic grassland availability in the surroundings of the study populations (buffer radius of 2000 m). However, expected heterozygosity (HE) responded positively to current grassland area and to the availability of grasslands in the surrounding landscape. Allelic richness (AR) was positively related to current population size. We found evidence for recent genetic bottlenecks in half of the study populations, indicating that landscape change had a negative impact on population demography and consequent genetic diversity. Our findings suggest that regardless of major habitat loss, some measures of genetic diversity of perennial plant species may not be at equilibrium with landscape change. This calls for caution when interpreting observed patterns of plant genetic diversity and requires consideration of historic landscape context when recommending nature conservation strategies.

Aim Habitat loss threatens plant diversity globally. Lack of plant functional connectivity between isolated populations is often pinpointed as one of the major underlying mechanisms driving subsequ ...

In the era of ongoing global change, it is highly important that restoration efforts lead to functioning, self-sustainable ecosystems that are resilient to disturbance and resistant to environmental changes. Therefore, it is necessary that restoration aims at achieving high genetic diversity of plant populations in addition to the recovery of characteristic species composition and diversity. Nevertheless, species- and gene-level biodiversity are rarely examined together in the context of restoration, although high genetic diversity of plant populations is a fundamental factor ensuring long-term success of restoration. Landscape-scale dispersal is the key process linked to the recovery of vegetation and maintaining both species and genetic diversity following restoration. In fragmented landscapes, dispersal of seeds and genetic material is often disrupted, leading to failure in spontaneous recovery of species richness as well as in establishment and maintenance of genetically diverse populations. Here, we review the linkages between landscape-scale dispersal of plants and the recovery of species richness and genetic diversity of plants during habitat restoration. We propose recommendations for restoration planners and practitioners to consider while aiming to restore self-sustainable ecosystems with high species- and gene-level biodiversity.

Myosotis laxa s. lato (Boraginaceae) is a morphologically highly variable taxon. We examined whether, in the Baltic Sea region, the coastal form of M. laxa has a single centre of origin or if it has emerged due to landscape dissimilarity (sea/land ratio) and environmental factors independently in different regions. We used partial Mantel's test to investigate correlations between the genetic and phenotypic variability of M. laxa and the mentioned habitat factors. Although the correlation between genetic distance and the sea/land ratio existed (p < 0.01), it was not strong (r = 0.34). Phenotypic distance among populations was not correlated with habitat factors. Similarly, there was no correlation between geographic distance and morphological characteristics of the studied populations. As neither phenotypic nor genetic dissimilarity between sampled locations was correlated with geographic distance, we suggest that the coastal form can arise independently in suitable habitats and its development may be caus...

During the last hundred years European landscapes have experienced an extensive change in structure including a substantial loss of wetland habitats. In the current study we examined the influence of landscape change and current landscape composition on the genetic diversity of Rhinanthus osiliensis, a very rare endemic plant with narrow distribution range restricted to calcareous spring and species-rich fens in western part of the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. We observed very high inbreeding in some study populations of R. osiliensis. Furthermore, bottleneck analysis revealed that in fact all examined populations had experienced a severe decline in population size in the recent past. This result indicates that the high levels of inbreeding in R. osiliensis are not only the consequence of the mixed mating system common in this species, but may at least partly be attributed to habitat loss. Indeed, the analysis of landscape change revealed a substantial decrease in the area of mires during the last century in all study landscapes. Unexpectedly, current habitat availability did not influence the measures of genetic diversity. Nevertheless, the allelic richness of R. osiliensis was negatively affected by the amount of forests, which may have acted as a barrier for pollen flow in this insect-pollinated plant. We conclude that the populations of habitat-specialist rare plants such as R. osiliensis are endangered not only by the loss of habitats but also by other changes in landscape composition, e.g. afforestation, leading to strong declines in population size accompanied by genetic bottlenecks, decreased genetic diversity and high inbreeding.

Wildflower seed mixtures are widely used for restoration of grasslands. However, the genetic and fitness consequences of using seed mixes have not been fully evaluated. Here, we studied the role of genetic diversity, origin (commercial regional seed mixtures, natural populations), and environmental conditions for the fitness of a grassland species Lychnis flos-cuculi. First, we examined the relationship between genetic diversity, environmental parameters, and fitness in sown and natural populations of this species in a Swiss agricultural landscape. Second, we established an experiment in the study area and in an experimental garden to study the implications of local adaptation for plant fitness. Third, to examine the response of plants to different soil properties, we conducted an experiment in climate chambers, where we grew plants from sown and natural populations of L. flos-cuculi as well as from seed suppliers on soils with different nutrient and moisture content. We detected no significant effect of genetic diversity on the fitness of sown and natural populations. There was no clear indication that plants from natural populations were better adapted to local environment than plants from sown populations or seed suppliers. However, plants of natural origin invested more into generative reproduction than plants from sown populations or seed suppliers. Furthermore, in the climate chamber, plants originating from natural populations tended to flower earlier. Our results indicate that using nonlocal seeds for habitat recreation may influence restoration success even if the seeds originate from the same seed zone as the restored site.

Summary The success of ecological restoration is often judged by the number and abundance of species, especially rare ones that have established since restoration. However, the effects of habitat improvement upon connectivity are rarely assessed, although this can readily be performed using modern molecular genetic methods. We evaluated the functional connectivity of populations of a wet grassland plant Lychnis flos-cuculi in an intensively managed agricultural landscape in Switzerland. One third of the study populations had been recently restored by sowing wildflower seed mixtures, while all other populations were of natural origin. We used assignment tests to identify first-generation migrants and to estimate recent patterns of gene flow among the populations of L. flos-cuculi. Assignment tests revealed higher levels of recent gene flow among natural populations of L. flos-cuculi than between sown and natural populations. Most probably, this result simply reflected the formerly good connectivity of natural populations in the study landscape. We detected a few first-generation migrants between sown and natural populations and among natural populations, suggesting that functional connectivity was now rather restricted. Migration among sown and natural populations was more likely to occur when natural and sown populations were nearby and when source populations were large. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrated that genetic methods offer a valuable tool for examining the effects of restoration measures on functional connectivity of plant populations. The connectivity of wet grasslands is likely to be best enhanced by establishing a relatively dense network of large habitat patches.

As the world's population continues to grow, the demand for food, fodder, fibre and bioenergy will increase. In Europe, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has driven the intensification of agriculture, promoting the simplification and specialization of agroecosystems through the decline in landscape heterogeneity, the increased use of chemicals per unit area, and the abandonment of less fertile areas. In combination, these processes have eroded the quantity and quality of habitat for many plants and animals, and hence decreased biodiversity and the abundance of species across a hierarchy of trophic levels and spatial scales within Europe. This biodiversity loss has led to profound changes in the functioning of European agroecosystems over the last 50 years. Here, we synthesize the findings from a large-scale pan-European investigation of the combined effects of agricultural intensification on a range of agroecosystem services. These include (1) the persistence of high conservation value species; (2) the level of biological control of agricultural pests and (3) the functional diversity of a number of taxonomic groups, including birds, beetles and arable weeds. The study encompasses a gradient of geography-bioclimate and agricultural intensification that enables the large-scale measurement of ecological impacts of agricultural intensification across European agroecosystems. We provide an overview of the role of the CAP as a driver of agricultural intensification in the European Union, and we demonstrate compelling negative relationships between the application of pesticides and the various components of biodiversity studied on a pan-European scale.

1. Organic farming in Europe has been shown to enhance biodiversity locally, but potential interactions with the surrounding landscape and the potential effects on ecosystem services are less well known. 2. In cereal fields on 153 farms in five European regions, we examined how the species richness and abundance of wild plants, ground beetles and breeding birds, and the biological control potential of the area, were affected by organic and conventional farming, and how these effects were modified by landscape complexity (percentage of arable crops within 1000 m of the study plots). Information on biodiversity was gathered from vegetation plots, pitfall traps and by bird territory mapping. The biological control potential was measured as the percentage of glued, live aphids removed from plastic labels exposed in cereal fields for 24 h. 3. Predation on aphids was highest in organic fields in complex landscapes, and declined with increasing landscape homogeneity. The biological control potential in conventional fields was not affected by landscape complexity, and in homogenous landscapes it was higher in conventional fields than in organic fields, as indicated by an interaction between farming practice and landscape complexity. 4. A simplification of the landscape, from 20% to 100% arable land, reduced plant species richness by about 16% and cover by 14% in organic fields, and 33% and 5·5% in conventional fields. For birds, landscape simplification reduced species richness and abundance by 34% and 32% in organic fields and by 45·5% and 39% in conventional fields. Ground beetles were more abundant in simple landscapes, but were unaffected by farming practice. 5. Synthesis and applications. This Europe-wide study shows that organic farming enhanced the biodiversity of plants and birds in all landscapes, but only improved the potential for biological control in heterogeneous landscapes. These mixed results stress the importance of taking both local management and regional landscape complexity into consideration when developing future agri-environment schemes, and suggest that local-regional interactions may affect other ecosystem services and functions. This study also shows that it is not enough to design and monitor agri-environment schemes on the basis of biodiversity, but that ecosystem services should be considered too.

Ecological Applications 21. 5 (2011): 1772-1781 copyright by the Ecological Society of America, Effects of agricultural intensification (AI) on biodiversity are often assessed on the plot scale, although processes determining diversity also operate on larger spatial scales. Here, we analyzed the diversity of vascular plants, carabid beetles, and birds in agricultural landscapes in cereal crop fields at the field (n=1350), farm (n=270), and European-region (n= 9) scale. We partitioned diversity into its additive components α, β, and γ, and assessed the relative contribution of β diversity to total species richness at each spatial scale. AI was determined using pesticide and fertilizer inputs, as well as tillage operations and categorized into low, medium, and high levels. As AI was not significantly related to landscape complexity, we could disentangle potential AI effects on local vs. landscape community homogenization. AI negatively affected the species richness of plants and birds, but not carabid beetles, at all spatial scales. Hence, local AI was closely correlated to β diversity on larger scales up to the farm and region level, and thereby was an indicator of farm-and region-wide biodiversity losses. At the scale of farms (12.83-20.52%) and regions (68.34-80.18%), β diversity accounted for the major part of the total species richness for all three taxa, indicating great dissimilarity in environmental conditions on larger spatial scales. For plants, relative importance of a diversity decreased with AI, while relative importance of β diversity on the farm scale increased with AI for carabids and birds. Hence, and in contrast to our expectations, AI does not necessarily homogenize local communities, presumably due to the heterogeneity of farming practices. In conclusion, a more detailed understanding of AI effects on diversity patterns of various taxa and at multiple spatial scales would contribute to more efficient agrienvironmental schemes in agroecosystems, We also thank the European Science Foundation and the connected eight national science foundations for funding the presented study through the Eurodiversity AGRIPOPES (agricultural policy-induced landscape changes: effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services) program and the biology program BIOPLEX of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF)

The general aim of the study was to determine the main factors of plant species richness and composition in field boundaries. We surveyed the vegetation of field boundaries in organic and non-organic farms, recorded the field boundary type and width. We characterized landscape structure around the vegetation plots (r = 250 m). We classified plant species into two ecological response groups: (1) common weeds and other species occurring frequently on agricultural land, i.e. ‘agrotolerant species’ (47 species), and (2) all other species intolerant to contemporary agricultural practices—so-called ‘nature-value species’ (190 species). We analysed the effect of organic farming, boundary type and landscape structure on the diversity of these two species groups. We found that field boundary type and landscape structure described most of the variation in species composition of these boundaries, while organic farming had little effect. However, the analysis of plant species diversity revealed that organic farming significantly supported the species richness of high nature-value species by increasing species richness on average by two species on 4 m2 plot, while the richness of agrotolerant species did not depend on farming type. Boundary type had a specific impact on species diversity—ditches enhanced the richness of nature-value species and suppressed agrotolerants; woody boundaries hosted only a few agrotolerant species and road verges increased the species richness of both species groups. The richness of nature-value species benefited from wider open boundaries, while narrow boundaries hosted more agrotolerant species.

We analysed the effect of agricultural land use intensity and landscape structure on the plant diversity and improved the monitoring methodology by classifying plant species into two emergent agrotolerance groups: (i) species that occur frequently on agricultural land – common agrotolerant species, and (ii) all other species – so-called nature-value species, including habitat specialists and rare weed species. We tested the hypothesis that the species richness (alpha-diversity at habitat scale) of those species groups has differential response to changes in agricultural land use intensity, landscape structure and habitat characteristics. The proportion of (semi-)natural elements in the landscape enhanced species richness at habitat and landscape scale. Higher fertilisation rate predicted the reduction in small-scale species richness in both species groups. High species richness of agrotolerant species was associated with the vicinity of agricultural land, i.e. open field boundaries, small-area habitat patches and road verges, while it was suppressed by tree or shrub layer. The alpha-diversity of nature-value species was higher in large-area habitat patches and ditch verges. The classification of plant species based on their tolerance to agricultural disturbances is very useful in the evaluation of the effects of agricultural practices on biodiversity. The distinction between agrotolerant and nature-value plant species, and the estimation of habitat structure would increase the effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring in agricultural landscapes in comparison with classical methodology based on the assessment of total plant species richness.

Question: How distinct is the flora of field boundaries? How does the structure of field boundaries determine the composition of vegetation? Location: Estonia, six 4 km × 4 km agricultural areas. Methods: We studied the vegetation of fields and field boundaries using 2 m × 2 m sample plots. We estimated the frequency of species in both habitat types, applied an MRPP test to analyse the vegetation composition of field boundaries with various combinations of landscape features (ditches, roads, tree and bush layers) illustrating this by DCA ordination, and used indicator species analysis to determine the characteristic species of each boundary type. Results: Ca. 45% of the flora of field boundaries comprised species found on agricultural land. Most typical species in fields – agrotolerants – were also the most common in field boundaries. The vegetation of road verges and grassy boundaries consisted mainly of disturbance-tolerant species. Woody boundaries were characterised by shade-tolerant and nitr...

Agricultural intensification may result in important shifts in insect community composition and function, but this remains poorly explored. Studying how groups of species with shared traits respond to local and landscape scale land-use management can reveal mechanisms behind such observed impacts. We tested if ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) divided into trait groups based on body sizes, wing morphologies and dietary preferences respond differently to farming practise (organic and conventional), farming intensity (measured as yield) and landscape complexity (measured as the proportion of arable land within a 1,000 m radius) across Europe. We used data from 143 farms in five regions in northern and central Europe. Organic farms did not differ in abundance or richness of any trait group compared to conventional farms. As farm scale intensity (yield) increased, overall abundance of beetles decreased, but abundances of small and medium sized beetles, as well as that of wingless beetles, were unaffected. Overall species richness was not affected by yield, whereas consideration of traits revealed that phytophagous and omnivorous beetles were less species rich on farms with high yields. Increasing the proportion of arable land in the landscape increased overall beetle abundance. This was driven by an increase in omnivorous beetles. The total species richness was not affected by an increase in the proportion arable land, although the richness of wingless beetles was found to increase. Potential effects on ecosystem functioning need to be taken into account when designing schemes to maintain agricultural biodiversity, because species with different ecological traits respond differently to local management and landscape changes.

Understanding the relationship between structural and functional connectivity is essential for successful restoration and conservation management, particularly in intensely managed agricultural landscapes. We evaluated the relationship between structural and functional connectivity of the wetland plant Lychnis flos-cuculi in a fragmented agricultural landscape using landscape genetic and network approaches. First, we studied the effect of structural connectivity, such as geographic distance and various landscape elements (forest, agricultural land, settlements and ditch verges), on gene flow among populations as a measurement of functional connectivity. Second, we examined the effect of structural graph-theoretic connectivity measures on gene flow among populations and on genetic diversity within populations of L. flos-cuculi. Among landscape elements, forests hindered gene flow in L. flos-cuculi, whereas gene flow was independent of geographic distance. Among the structural graph-theoretic connectivity variables, only intrapopulation connectivity, which was based on population size, had a significant positive effect on gene flow, that is, more gene flow took place among larger populations. Unexpectedly, interpopulation connectivity of populations, which takes into account the spatial location and distance among populations, did not influence gene flow in L. flos-cuculi. However, higher observed heterozygosity and lower inbreeding was observed in populations characterised by higher structural interpopulation connectivity. This finding shows that a spatially coherent network of populations is significant for maintaining the genetic diversity of populations. Nevertheless, lack of significant relationships between gene flow and most of the structural connectivity measures suggests that structural connectivity does not necessarily correspond to functional connectivity.

European farmland bird populations have decreased dramatically in recent decades and agricultural intensification has been identified as the main cause contributing to these declines. Identifying which specific intensification pressures are driving those population trends seems vital for bird conservation in European farmland. We investigated the response of ground-nesting farmland birds to the multivariate process of agricultural intensification in six European countries covering a bio-geographical and intensification gradient. Supported by PCA analysis, two groups of factors, related to field management and landscape modification, were considered, seeking to discriminate the relative importance of the effects of these main intensification components. Variance partition analysis showed that landscape factors accounted for most of the variation of ground-nesting farmland bird individual and breeding pair densities, as well as Skylark (i.e. our single model species) individual densities. In the case of Skylark breeders, field factors were found to be more important to explain their density. Our results suggest that in general farmland bird densities as well as Skylark densities are higher in simple landscapes dominated by agriculture, but with smaller fields and more different crops on the farms. In addition, high yields were negatively related to bird densities. We conclude that while management actions aimed at farmland bird conservation taken at landscape level may exert a strong positive effect on overall bird densities, those taken at field level are also relevant, particularly for breeders and, therefore, may potentially influence the persistence of these species’ populations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights ¿ We cover an intensification gradient across seven European agricultural regions. ¿ We analyse the importance of landscape and field management for farmland birds. ¿ Actions at landscape level exert a strong effect on overall bird densities. ¿ Actions at field level are particularly relevant for breeders. ¿ Yield is the main contributor to the variance explained by field management. Keywords Alauda arvensis; Breeding territories; Conservation; Skylark; Yield; Winter cereals

In eight European study sites (in Spain, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Estonia and Sweden), abundance of breeding farmland bird territories was obtained from 500 9 500 m survey plots (30 per area, N = 240) using the mapping method. Two analyses were performed: (I) a Canonical Correspondence Analysis of species abundance in relation to geographical location and variables measuring agricultural intensification at field and farm level to identify significant intensification variables and to estimate the fractions of total variance in bird abundance explained by geography and agricultural intensification; (II) several taxonomic and functional community indices were built and analysed using GLM in relation to the intensification variables found significant in the CCA. The geographical location of study sites alone explains nearly one fifth (19.5%) of total variation in species abundance. The fraction of variance explained by agricultural intensification alone is much smaller (4.3%), although significant. The intersectionexplains nearly two fifths (37.8%) of variance in species abundance. Community indices are negatively affected by correlates of intensification like farm size and yield, whereas correlates of habitat availability and quality have positive effects on taxonomic and functional diversity of assemblages. Most of the purely geographical variation in farmland bird assemblage composition is associated to Mediterranean steppe species, reflecting the bio-geographical singularity of that assemblage and reinforcing the need to preserve this community. Taxonomic and functional diversity of farmland bird communities are negatively affected by agricultural intensification and positively affected by increasing farmland habitat availability and quality.

Persistent negative effects of pesticides on biodiversity and biological control potential on European farmland

During the last 50 years, agricultural intensification has caused many wild plant and animal species to go extinct regionally or nationally and has profoundly changed the functioning of agro-ecosystems. Agricultural intensification has many components, such as loss of landscape elements, enlarged farm and field sizes and larger inputs of fertilizer and pesticides. However, very little is known about the relative contribution of these variables to the large-scale negative effects on biodiversity. In this study, we disentangled the impacts of various components of agricultural intensification on species diversity of wild plants, carabids and ground-nesting farmland birds and on the biological control of aphids. In a Europe-wide study in eight West and East European countries, we found important negative effects of agricultural intensification on wild plant, carabid and bird species diversity and on the potential for biological pest control, as estimated from the number of aphids taken by predators. Of the 13 components of intensification we measured, use of insecticides and fungicides had consistent negative effects on biodiversity. Insecticides also reduced the biological control potential. Organic farming and other agri-environment schemes aiming to mitigate the negative effects of intensive farming on biodiversity did increase the diversity of wild plant and carabid species, but – contrary to our expectations – not the diversity of breeding birds. We conclude that despite decades of European policy to ban harmful pesticides, the negative effects of pesticides on wild plant and animal species persist, at the same time reducing the opportunities for biological pest control. If biodiversity is to be restored in Europe and opportunities are to be created for crop production utilizing biodiversity-based ecosystem services such as biological pest control, there must be a Europe-wide shift towards farming with minimal use of pesticides over large areas.

International audience; Question: Which are the plant functional groups responding most clearly to agricultural disturbances? Which are the relative roles of habitat availability, landscape configuration and agricultural land use intensity in affecting the functional composition and diversity of vascular plants in agricultural landscapes? Location: 25 agricultural landscape areas in seven European countries. Methods: We examined the plant species richness and abundance in 4 km × 4 km landscape study sites. The plant functional group classification was derived from the BIOLFLOR database. Factorial decomposition of functional groups was applied. Results: Natural habitat availability and low land use intensity supported the abundance and richness of perennials, sedges, pteridophytes and high nature quality indicator species. The abundance of clonal species, C and S strategists was also correlated with habitat area. An increasing density of field edges explained a decrease in richness of high nature quality species and an increase in richness of annual graminoids. Intensive agriculture enhanced the richness of annuals and low nature quality species. Conclusions: Habitat patch availability and habitat quality are the main drivers of functional group composition and plant species richness in European agricultural landscapes. Linear elements do not compensate for the loss of habitats, as they mostly support disturbance tolerant generalist species. In order to conserve vascular plant species diversity in agricultural landscapes, the protection and enlargement of existing patches of (semi-) natural habitats appears to be more effective than relying on the rescue effect of linear elements. This should be done in combination with appropriate agricultural management techniques to limit the effect of agrochemicals to the fields.

We compared the diversity and composition of understorey vegetation of four successional stages (recently clearcut, young, middle-aged and old stands) in an Estonian boreonemoral coniferous forest under homogeneous soil conditions. The ordination analysis (NMDS) showed that successional age was the main driver of understorey species composition with soil pH and P content responsible for some variation as well. Species composition in old-growth stands was more similar to the vegetation of young and clear-cut stands than to the composition of mid-aged stands. Species richness in 1-m2 plots was higher in recently disturbed and young stands due to the higher abundance of disturbance-related species. The differentiation diversity, characterising species turnover among plots within a stand, was higher in recently disturbed and young stands than in mid-aged and old stands. The results indicate that earlier successional stages are characterised by spatially heterogeneous and diverse vegetation, whereas older stan...