A multitaxa assessment of the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes for biodiversity management

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) aim to restore biodiversity and biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services in landscapes impoverished by modern agriculture. However, a systematic, empirical evaluation of different AES types across multiple taxa and functional groups is missing. Within one orthogonal...

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Published in:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 118; no. 10; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors:	Boetzl, Fabian A., Krauss, Jochen, Heinze, Jonathan, Hoffmann, Hannes, Juffa, Jan, König, Sebastian, Krimmer, Elena, Prante, Maren, Martin, Emily A., Holzschuh, Andrea, Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States National Academy of Sciences 09-03-2021
Subjects:	Agricultural ecosystems Agricultural land Beetles Biodiversity Biological Sciences Butterflies & moths Coleoptera Context Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA Ecosystem services Environmental management Flowering Functional groups Grasslands Landscape Natural enemies Plants Plants (botany) Pollinators Service restoration Species richness Taxa Taxonomy Trophic levels Wildlife conservation agriculture flower fields conservation ecosystem services DNA-metabarcoding
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Summary:	Agri-environmental schemes (AES) aim to restore biodiversity and biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services in landscapes impoverished by modern agriculture. However, a systematic, empirical evaluation of different AES types across multiple taxa and functional groups is missing. Within one orthogonal design, we studied sown flowering AES types with different temporal continuity, size, and landscape context and used calcareous grasslands as seminatural reference habitat. We measured species richness of 12 taxonomic groups (vascular plants, cicadas, orthopterans, bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, flower visiting beetles, parasitoid wasps, carabid beetles, staphylinid beetles, and birds) representing 5 trophic levels. A total of 54,955 specimens were identified using traditional taxonomic methods, and bulk arthropod samples were identified through DNA metabarcoding, resulting in a total of 1,077 and 2,110 taxa, respectively. Species richness of most taxonomic groups, as well as multidiversity and richness of pollinators, increased with temporal continuity of AES types. Some groups responded to size and landscape context, but multidiversity and richness of pollinators and natural enemies were not affected. AES flowering fields supported different species assemblages than calcareous grasslands, but assemblages became more similar to those in seminatural grasslands with increasing temporal continuity. Our results indicate that AES flowering fields and seminatural grasslands function synergistically. Flowering fields support biodiversity even when they are relatively small and in landscapes with few remaining seminatural habitats. We therefore recommend a network of smaller, temporally continuous AES flowering fields of different ages, combined with permanent seminatural grasslands, to maximize benefits for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service delivery in agricultural landscapes.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Edited by Robert John Scholes, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa, and approved January 18, 2021 (received for review July 30, 2020) Author contributions: F.A.B., J.K., E.K., E.A.M., A.H., and I.S.-D. designed research; F.A.B., J.H., H.H., J.J., S.K., E.K., and M.P. performed research; F.A.B. analyzed data; and F.A.B., J.K., E.A.M., A.H., and I.S.-D. wrote the paper.
ISSN:	0027-8424 1091-6490
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.2016038118