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Portrait of Henrik Smith. Photo.

Henrik Smith

Professor

Portrait of Henrik Smith. Photo.

Landscape-scale crop diversity interacts with local management to determine ground beetle diversity

Author

  • Erkki Palmu
  • Johan Ekroos
  • Helena Hanson
  • Henrik Smith
  • Katarina Hedlund

Summary, in English

Crop diversification and maintenance of semi-natural habitats (grasslands and field boundaries) are suggested to enhance farmland biodiversity, but the relative importance of these factors remains poorly known. We evaluated how crop diversity and availability of semi-natural grasslands at a landscape-scale interacted with local farming management (three management types from low to high intensity: ley < winter wheat < sugar beet) in their effect on ground beetle assemblages in southern Sweden. Ground beetle diversity increased with crop diversity either independently of local management (Simpson species diversity), or only in the less intensively managed habitats (rarefied species richness). While ground beetle diversity in leys tended to increase with field boundary length, no such relationship was observed in winter wheat or sugar beet fields. In contrast, the landscape proportions of leys and semi-natural grasslands did not affect ground beetle species richness and diversity. We conclude that (a) semi-natural grasslands and leys may not function as source habitats at a landscape-scale if they comprise a low proportion of the total land-use, while (b) increasing crop diversity is correlated to ground beetle richness and diversity in agricultural landscapes dominated by arable land. The beneficial effect of landscape-scale crop diversification on farmland biodiversity may depend on the general level of agricultural intensity of a region.

Department/s

  • Biodiversity
  • Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC)
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Biodiversity and Conservation Science

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Pages

241-249

Publication/Series

Basic and Applied Ecology

Volume

15

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Ecology
  • Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Keywords

  • Agricultural landscapes
  • Agricultural management
  • Carabidae
  • Crop
  • diversification
  • Landscape heterogeneity
  • Species diversity
  • Species
  • richness
  • Trophic groups

Status

Published

Research group

  • Biodiversity and Conservation Science

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1618-0089