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27 results for “agricultural grasslands”
Agricultural grasslands buffer density effects in red deer populations
<p>Data for</p> <p>Agricultural grasslands buffer density effects in red deer populations</p> <p>Initially accepted in Journal of Wildlife Management</p>
Higher plant colonisation and lower resident diversity in grasslands more recently abandoned from agriculture
<p>1. Rates of species colonisation and extirpation are increasing in plant communities worldwide. Colonisation could potentially help compensate for, or compound, resident diversity loss that results from global environmental change. 2. We use a multifactorial seed addition grassland experiment to examine relationships between plant colonisation, resident species diversity and key community assembly factors over three years. By manipulating colonist seed rate, imposing disturbance and examining abundance and diversity impacts of 14 formerly absent sown colonists in communities that varied in successional stage and time since agricultural abandonment, we were able to disentangle effects of global change factors (species introduction, novel disturbance and land use change) that are usually confounded. 3. Evidence suggested that cover abundance of sown colonists was most strongly influenced by successional stage of recipient communities, though number of growing seasons was also important for the group of seven colonists with resource conservative "slow" life history traits. Colonist type, seed rate and disturbance had weaker relationships with colonist cover. 4. Factors affecting sown colonist cover were highly conditional. A negative relationship between plot-level disturbance and colonist cover in early successional communities meant that, despite a positive relationship in late succession, colonisation was negatively related to disturbance overall, defying theoretical expectations. 5. Non-sown resident diversity was negatively related to colonist cover and positively related to successional stage. Resource acquisitive colonists with "fast" life history traits appeared to limit cover of "slow colonists" when the two groups were sown together, likely reflecting niche pre-emption. 6. Communities at earlier stages of succession had lower resident diversity and experienced higher levels of colonisation than communities at later stages of succession. Elevated colonisation and lower resident diversity both appeared to be symptoms of human-induced land use change. However, results suggested that resource competition from plant colonists may also limit resident diversity in grasslands abandoned from agriculture more recently. Synthesis: Our findings point to the importance of resource availability and competition on plant colonisation and colonist impacts on residents. Although colonisation is potentially a source of biodiversity in the short-term, our results suggest that plant colonists that reach high abundance may be a further threat to resident plant diversity in secondary grasslands recovering from a recent history of agriculture.</p>
Higher plant colonisation and lower resident diversity in grasslands more recently abandoned from agriculture
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Earthworm abundance and availability does not influence the reproductive decisions of black-tailed godwits in an agricultural grassland
<ol> <li>Maintaining the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems has become a global imperative. Across Europe, species that occupy agricultural grasslands, such as Black-tailed Godwits (<i>Limosa limosa limosa</i>), have undergone steep population declines. In this context, there is a significant need to both determine the root causes of these declines and identify actions that will promote biodiversity while supporting the livelihoods of farmers.</li> <li>Food availability, and specifically earthworm abundance (Lumbricidae), during the pre-breeding period has often been suggested as a potential driver of godwit population declines. Previous studies have recommended increasing the application of nitrogen to agricultural grasslands to enhance earthworm populations and aid agricultural production. Here we test whether food availability during the pre-breeding period affects when and where godwits breed.</li> <li>Using large-scale surveys of food availability, a long-term mark-recapture study, focal observations of foraging female godwits, and tracking devices that monitored godwit movements, we found little evidence of a relationship between earthworm abundance and the timing of godwit reproductive efforts or the density of breeding godwits. Furthermore, we found that the soils of intensively managed agricultural grasslands may frequently be too dry for godwits to forage for those earthworms that are present.</li> <li>The increased application of nitrogen to agricultural grasslands will therefore likely have no positive effects on godwit populations. Instead, management efforts should focus on increasing the botanical diversity of agricultural grasslands, facilitating conditions that prevent hardening soils, and reducing the populations of generalist predators.</li> </ol>
Data from : Both long-term grasslands and crop diversity are needed to limit pest and weed infestations in agricultural landscapes
<p>Data used for analysis in Both long-term grasslands and crop diversity are needed to limit pest and weed infestations in agricultural landscapes </p>
Earthworm abundance and availability does not influence the reproductive decisions of black-tailed godwits in an agricultural grassland
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Data from: <em>Typha</em>-based paludiculture offers potential for greater bird species abundance and diversity than drained agricultural grassland
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Data from: Finding clarity in ecological outcomes using empirical integrated social-ecological systems: a case study of agriculture-dependent grassland birds
<p>1. Efforts to monitor and conserve populations and ecosystems in human-dominated landscapes can benefit from an empirical social-ecological systems approach.<br> 2. Here we illustrate how latent variable structural equation modelling of regional time series data can effectively describe interconnected drivers of population fluctuations in dynamic landscapes and can help to reveal previously unknown system drivers.<br> 3. Using a declining farmland-dependent bird species (Ammodramus savannarum) in the eastern United States (1994-2015) as a case study, our analysis reveals how farm management decisions drive population fluctuations (R<sup>2</sup> = 20%), while management is in turn highly influenced by climate (R<sup>2</sup> = 23-51%), but not by regional conservation spending.<br> 4. Synthesis and applications. Structural equation modelling revealed potential social-ecological pathways for halting regional population declines in a grassland bird, the Grasshopper Sparrow. Lower population growth rates followed years of higher hay yields (~4 percentage points per metric ton increase in hay yield) and later harvests (~2 percentage points per 10-day delay in harvest). Thus, one pathway for stabilising regional populations could involve compensating farmers for reducing hay harvests, potentially requiring a six-fold increase in current annual agri-environmental conservation spending.</p>
Data from: Flower resource and land management drives hoverfly communities and bee abundance in semi-natural and agricultural grasslands
1. Pollination is a key ecosystem service, and appropriate management, particularly in agricultural systems, is essential to maintain a diversity of pollinator guilds. However, management recommendations frequently focus on maintaining plant communities, with the assumption that associated invertebrate populations will be sustained. 2. We tested whether plant community, flower resources and soil moisture would influence hoverfly (Syrphidae) abundance and species richness in floristically-rich semi-natural and floristically-impoverished agricultural grassland communities in Wales (U.K.), and compared these to two Hymenoptera genera, Bombus and Lasioglossum. Interactions between environmental variables were tested using generalised linear modelling, and hoverfly community composition examined using canonical correspondence analysis. 3. There was no difference in hoverfly abundance, species richness, or bee abundance, between grassland types. There was a positive association between hoverfly abundance, species richness and flower abundance in unimproved grasslands. However, this was not evident in agriculturally improved grassland, possibly reflecting intrinsically low flower resource in these habitats, or the presence of plant species with low or relatively inaccessible nectar resources. There was no association between soil moisture content and hoverfly abundance or species richness. 4. Hoverfly community composition was influenced by agricultural improvement and the amount of flower resource. Hoverfly species with semi-aquatic larvae were associated with both semi-natural and agricultural wet grasslands, possibly because of localised larval habitat. Despite the absence of differences in hoverfly abundance and species-richness, distinct hoverfly communities are associated with marshy grasslands, agriculturally improved marshy grasslands and unimproved dry grasslands, but not with improved dry grasslands. 5. Grassland plant community cannot be used as a proxy for pollinator community. Management of grasslands should aim to maximise the pollinator feeding resource, as well as maintain plant communities. Retaining waterlogged ground may enhance the number of hoverflies with semi-aquatic larvae.
Data from: Response of non-grassland avian guilds to adjacent herbaceous field buffers: testing hypotheses about configuration of targeted conservation practices in agricultural landscapes
1. A substantial part of the world's land base is dominated by agriculture, and forest habitat often consists of discrete patches of forest and linear woody corridors. These natural components provide habitat for some forest birds, but make conservation of these species difficult. In-field practices applied outside forest patches, such as specific juxtapositions of herbaceous field buffers adjacent to forest habitat, could increase avian diversity contributions of existing forest without creation of additional forest habitat. Our prediction was that herbaceous field buffers would increase bird richness in adjacent forest, and we evaluated four potential mechanisms. 2. We used bird count data from a conservation buffer monitoring program and hierarchical community models to estimate species richness of forest generalist, forest interior, and shrubland (edge) species near forest edges with and without adjacent herbaceous field buffers. We accounted for heterogeneity in detection probabilities and forest cover in surrounding landscapes when estimating species- and guild-level responses. 3. Consistent with the drift fence hypothesis, adjacent herbaceous buffers were associated with a modest increase in richness of forest interior birds in woody corridors, but not in forest blocks. Consistent with resource complementation, adjacent herbaceous buffers were associated with modest increases in richness of shrubland (edge) birds in both woody corridors and forest blocks. 4. Across all species and guilds, adjacent buffers generally associated with greater abundance (e.g. 28 of 39 species), but these increases were also relatively small and highly variable (i.e. overlapping 95% credible intervals). Corroborating existing research, effects of adjacent herbaceous buffers are likely real, but neither pervasive nor strong. 5. Synthesis and applications. Conservation practices targeted to grassland species often produce measurable conservation benefits for target species. However, biodiversity return for investment would be further increased if targeted practices could be deployed in ways that also produce benefits for non-target species in adjacent habitats. Our results suggest that additional benefits for non-target species using adjacent forest habitat are likely to be modest, so conservation planning should focus on species targeted by the conservation practices and avoidance of potential negative impacts on those species when positive benefits to adjacent habitat are weak or lacking.
Data from: Not seeing the grass for the trees: timber plantations and agriculture shrink tropical montane grassland by two-thirds over four decades in the Palani Hills, a Western Ghats Sky Island
Tropical montane habitats, grasslands, in particular, merit urgent conservation attention owing to the disproportionate levels of endemic biodiversity they harbour, the ecosystem services they provide, and the fact that they are among the most threatened habitats globally. The Shola Sky Islands in the Western Ghats host a matrix of native forest-grassland matrix that has been planted over the last century, with exotic timber plantations. The popular discourse on the landscape change is that mainly forests have been lost to the timber plantations and recent court directives are to restore Shola forest trees. In this study, we examine spatiotemporal patterns of landscape change over the last 40 years in the Palani Hills, a significant part of the montane habitat in the Western Ghats. Using satellite imagery and field surveys, we find that 66% of native grasslands and 31% of native forests have been lost over the last 40 years. Grasslands have gone from being the dominant, most contiguous land cover to one of the rarest and most fragmented. They have been replaced by timber plantations and, to a lesser extent, expanding agriculture. We find that the spatial pattern of grassland loss to plantations differs from the loss to agriculture, likely driven by the invasion of plantation species into grasslands. We identify remnant grasslands that should be prioritised for conservation and make specific recommendations for conservation and restoration of grasslands in light of current management policy in the Palani Hills, which favours large-scale removal of plantations and emphasises the restoration of native forests.
Data from: Dispersal constraints for the conservation of the grassland herb Thymus pulegioides L. in a highly fragmented agricultural landscape
Species-rich grassland communities are one of the most important habitats for biodiversity and of high conservation priority in Europe. Restoration actions are mainly focused on the improvement of abiotic conditions, such as nutrient depletion techniques, and are generally based on the assumption that the target community will re-establish at the restored site when the target species exist in the neighborhood. Information on the contemporary seed-dispersal range is therefore crucial to develop effective conservation measures. Here, we investigated the contemporary long-distance seed dispersal and genetic structure of the grassland herb Thymus pulegioides in an intensively managed agricultural landscape in Flanders (Northern Belgium). Assignment tests based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms revealed very low levels of effective seed dispersal between populations although seed availability and seed viability was not a limiting factor. The process of fragmentation has resulted in a high population differentiation and without further incoming gene flow the remnant populations are prone to further genetic erosion and perhaps extinction. Our findings illustrate that restoring suitable abiotic habitat conditions in the neighborhood of existing populations does likely not guarantee colonization for this grassland specialist. For the survival of the species, existing populations should be functionally connected and seed addition may be necessary for successful conservation to overcome dispersal-limitation.
Data from: Ant community composition and functional traits in newly established grasslands within agricultural landscapes
<p>Ongoing intensification and fragmentation of European agricultural landscapes dramatically reduce biodiversity and associated functions. Enhancing perennial non-crop areas holds great potential to support ecosystem services such as ant mediated pest control.</p> <p>To study the potential of newly established grassland strips to enhance ant diversity and associated functions, we used hand collection data and predation experiments to investigate differences in (a) ant community composition (b) biocontrol related functional traits, and (c) natural pest control across habitats in cereal fields, old grasslands, and new grassland transects of three years age. </p> <p>Whilst all data regarding biocontrol related functional traits of ant species (b) are available within the publication and its supporting information files, we provide here our raw data of ant species activity and diversity surveys (a) and further the results of sticky card experiments as a proxy for biocontrol potential (c).</p>
Agriculture is adapting to phenological shifts caused by climate change, but grassland songbirds are not
<p>Migratory birds time their migration based on cues that signal resource availability for reproduction. However, with climate change, the timing of seasonal events may shift, potentially inhibiting the ability of some species to use them as accurate cues for migration. We studied the relationship between phenological shifts and reproduction by long- and short-distance migratory songbirds—Bobolinks (<i><span>Dolichonyx oryzivorus</span>) </i>and Savannah Sparrows (<i>Passerculus sandwichensis)</i>. Our study population breeds in hayfields and pastures in Vermont, USA, where farmers are also changing management activities in response to climate change. From 2002-2019 we monitored nest initiation dates to quantify correlations with environmental factors and the timing of nest initiation. We collected historical and projected precipitation and temperature data for the breeding grounds, and their respective wintering and stopover sites, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We predicted that winter conditions experienced by the short-distance migrant, the Savannah Sparrow, but not the long-distance migrant, the Bobolink, would explain the timing and success of nesting, however that this timing would be misaligned with changes in agricultural practices by hay farmers. Nest initiation dates did not show significant directional change for either species, but did vary among years. Interannual variation in Savannah Sparrow nest initiation dates was best explained by the interaction between precipitation on the breeding grounds and average wintering site (Wilmington, North Carolina). For Bobolinks, interannual variation in nest initiation dates was best explained by the interaction between breeding ground precipitation and average temperature in their fall stopover site (Barquisimieto, Venezuela). However, first haying dates in Vermont advanced by ~10 days over 18 years. These results suggest that the conflict between the timing of hay harvests and grassland songbird reproduction will increase, further threatening population processes for these species, as early harvests notably decrease annual productivity.</p>
Grasslands enhance ecosystem service multifunctionality above and below ground in agricultural landscapes
<p><span>1. Managing agricultural landscapes that can integrate production, biodiversity conservation and the flow of ecosystem services (ES) is of paramount importance to simultaneously meet production goals and environmental challenges. However, the response of farmland biodiversity and multiple ES to land-use change at multiple spatial scales remains poorly understood.</span></p> <p><span>2. We explored the effects of land use at local (grassland vs. oilseed rape fields) and landscape scale (cover of permanent grasslands) on the provision of biodiversity (plants, arthropods, birds), five ES (pollination, pest control, soil fertility, carbon storage and water regulation) and overall ES-multifunctionality.</span></p> <p><span>3. ES-multifunctionality was higher in grasslands than in crop fields, by 25.2% above ground and by 106.1% below ground. Multiple threshold analyses highlighted a particularly poor level of performance for belowground functions in crop fields. This habitat type was however capable of providing numerous aboveground functions simultaneously, although at low levels of performance when compared to the maximum values recorded in the study. Grasslands supported higher biodiversity and provision of pollination, soil fertility, carbon storage and water regulation.</span></p> <p><span>4. Landscape composition influenced the provision of multiple ES: a 10% increase in grassland cover in the landscape enhanced aboveground ES-multifunctionality by 11.0% in both habitats. In particular, grasslands cover in the landscape supported the provision of arthropod diversity, pollination and pest control provided by carabids.</span></p> <p><span>5. Synthesis and applications: The results of this field study show the key importance of preserving seminatural grasslands in agricultural landscapes for the conservation of farmland biodiversity, for the protection of soils and the delivery of multiple ecosystem services critical for crop production. Maximization of multifunctionality necessitates the integration at the landscape scale (0.5-2 km) of seminatural patches within the intensively farmed agricultural matrix. This would require not only the protection of existing grasslands, but also their restoration in simplified landscapes. The promotion of mixed farming (i.e., both crop and livestock production) might increase semi-natural grassland cover at the landscape scale.</span></p>
Supplementary material 1 from: Cardarelli E, Musacchio A, Montagnani C, Bogliani G, Citterio S, Gentili R (2018) Ambrosia artemisiifolia control in agricultural areas: effect of grassland seeding and herbivory by the exotic leaf beetle Ophraella communa. NeoBiota 38: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.38.23562
Tables S1–S2, Figures S1–S2 : Explanation note: Table S1. Soil characteristics in the three investigated sites; Table S2. O. communa density on non-target species throughout summer 2015; Figure S1. A. artemisiifolia soil seed bank in the three sites; Figure S2. A. artemisiifolia traits in experimental plots.
Soil and environmental data for "Interacting management effects on soil microbial alpha and beta diversity in Swiss agricultural grassland"
<p>This data shows the soil, environmental, and management data of 86 grassland sites that were sampled within the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. This data was used in the manuscript by F.J. Richter, R. Feola Conz, A. Lüscher, N. Buchmann, K.H. Valentin and M. Hartmann (2024): Interacting management effects on soil microbial alpha and beta diversity in Swiss agricultural grassland, which is published in the Journal of Applied Soil Ecology. </p>
Data from: Flower resource and land management drives hoverfly communities and bee abundance in semi-natural and agricultural grasslands
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Agriculture is adapting to phenological shifts caused by climate change, but grassland songbirds are not
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Data from: Response of non-grassland avian guilds to adjacent herbaceous field buffers: testing hypotheses about configuration of targeted conservation practices in agricultural landscapes
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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