
Henrik Smith
Professor

Field scale organic farming does not counteract landscape effects on butterfly trait composition
Författare
Summary, in English
We tested how dispersal capacity, host plant specificity and reproductive rate influenced the effects of farming system and landscape composition on butterfly species richness and abundance. In no case did variation in these traits explain species responses to organic farming, indicating that all species benefit equally. In contrast, butterflies with high mobility and reproductive rate were disproportionally more abundant in landscapes dominated by arable land, and the species richness of butterflies with low mobility tended to decrease with increasing proportion of arable land whereas those of high mobility remained fairly constant. Hence, although organic farming increased biodiversity, it did not counteract landscape effects on butterfly trait composition. As a trait dependent loss of biodiversity may result in a larger decline of functional trait diversity compared to species diversity, these results imply that organic farming may not increase or restore functional agro-ecosystem diversity. Information provided by species traits, rather than biodiversity per se, may provide important information for successful revisions of future agri-environment schemes.
Avdelning/ar
- Biodiversitet
- Centrum för miljö- och klimatvetenskap (CEC)
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- Biodiversitet och bevarandevetenskap
Publiceringsår
2012
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
66-71
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
Volym
158
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Elsevier
Ämne
- Ecology
- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Nyckelord
- Agri-environment schemes
- Farmland biodiversity
- Farming system
- Species traits
- Time since transition
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1873-2305