Ant community composition and functional traits in new grassland strips within agricultural landscapes

1. Ongoing intensification and fragmentation of European agricultural landscapes dramatically reduce biodiversity and associated functions. Enhancing perennial noncrop areas holds great potential to support ecosystem services such as ant‐mediated pest control.
2. 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 and (b) biocontrol‐related functional traits, and (c) natural pest control across habitats in cereal fields, old grasslands, and new grassland transects of three years of age.
3. Ant species diversity was similar between new and old grasslands, but significantly higher in new grasslands than in surrounding cereal fields. Contrary, ant community composition of new grasslands was more similar to cereal fields and distinct from the species pool of old grasslands. The functional trait space covered by the ant communities showed the same distribution between old and new grasslands. Pest control did not differ significantly between habitat types and therefore could not be linked to the prevalence of functional ant traits related to biocontrol services in new grasslands.
4. Our findings not only show trends of convergence between old and new grasslands, but also indicate that enhancing ant diversity through new grasslands takes longer than three years to provide comparable biodiversity and functionality.
5. Synthesis and applications: Newly established grasslands can increase ant species richness and abundance and provide a consistent amount of biocontrol services in agroecosystems. However, three years after their establishment, new grasslands were still dominated by common agrobiont ant species and lacked habitat specialists present in old grasslands, which require a constant supply of food resources and long colony establishment times. New grasslands represent a promising measure for enhancing agricultural landscapes but must be preserved in the longer term to promote biodiversity and resilience of associated ecosystem services.

     

Scale and uncertainty in modeled soil organic carbon stock changes for US croplands using a process‐based model

Process‐based model analyses are often used to estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), particularly at regional to continental scales. However, uncertainties are rarely evaluated, and so it is difficult to determine how much confidence can be placed in the results. Our objective was to quantify uncertainties across multiple scales in a process‐based model analysis, and provide 95% confidence intervals for the estimates. Specifically, we used the Century ecosystem model to estimate changes in SOC stocks for US croplands during the 1990s, addressing uncertainties in model inputs, structure and scaling of results from point locations to regions and the entire country. Overall, SOC stocks increased in US croplands by 14.6 Tg C yr^?1 from 1990 to 1995 and 17.5 Tg C yr^?1 during 1995 to 2000, and uncertainties were ±22% and ±16% for the two time periods, respectively. Uncertainties were inversely related to spatial scale, with median uncertainties at the regional scale estimated at ±118% and ±114% during the early and latter part of 1990s, and even higher at the site scale with estimates at ±739% and ±674% for the time periods, respectively. This relationship appeared to be driven by the amount of the SOC stock change; changes in stocks that exceeded 200 Gg C yr^?1 represented a threshold where uncertainties were always lower than ±100%. Consequently, the amount of uncertainty in estimates derived from process‐based models will partly depend on the level of SOC accumulation or loss. In general, the majority of uncertainty was associated with model structure in this application, and so attaining higher levels of precision in the estimates will largely depend on improving the model algorithms and parameterization, as well as increasing the number of measurement sites used to evaluate the structural uncertainty.     

Settler agriculture and the dynamics of resource allocation in frontier environments

This article attempts to conceptualize the dynamics of resource allocation by colonist farmers under the unique conditions of land abundance and labor scarcity which characterize frontier environments, such as the smallholder agricultural settlement areas in the Amazon basin. In contrast, most previous theoretical literature on household agricultural decision making and land-use change in rural areas considers conditions of high population density and land scarcity, and is not, therefore, adequate for understanding critical land-use changes which may be occurring in frontier regions. This article first discusses the appropriateness and inadequacies of the analytical frameworks commonly used to explain the expansion of settler agriculture into remote forest regions and the unsustainable land-use practices observed in these areas. This review serves as the basis for characterizing resource allocation under the particular conditions of frontier environments. A conceptual advance in the analysis is its consideration of the way institutional/policy factors and farm-level characteristics can interact to produce land-use outcomes. This knowledge is essential to understand not only the social and economic factors affecting present land use and choice of technology, but also those factors influencing farmers' demand for more optimal systems of land use which are consistent with varying agro-ecological potentials, demographic situations, and their own management capacity.     

A global synthesis of the effects of diversified farming systems on arthropod diversity within fields and across agricultural landscapes

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than species richness, and whether impacts differ across spatial scales and landscape contexts. Using a global metadataset, we quantified the effects of organic farming and plant diversification on abundance, local diversity (communities within fields), and regional diversity (communities across fields) of arthropod pollinators, predators, herbivores, and detritivores. Both organic farming and higher in‐field plant diversity enhanced arthropod abundance, particularly for rare taxa. This resulted in increased richness but decreased evenness. While these responses were stronger at local relative to regional scales, richness and abundance increased at both scales, and richness on farms embedded in complex relative to simple landscapes. Overall, both organic farming and in‐field plant diversification exerted the strongest effects on pollinators and predators, suggesting these management schemes can facilitate ecosystem service providers without augmenting herbivore (pest) populations. Our results suggest that organic farming and plant diversification promote diverse arthropod metacommunities that may provide temporal and spatial stability of ecosystem service provisioning. Conserving diverse plant and arthropod communities in farming systems therefore requires sustainable practices that operate both within fields and across landscapes.     

中国农田土壤N2O排放通量分布格局研究

中国作为世界上一个重要农业大国,对全球大气中N2O浓度的影响正在引起人们的普遍关注。该研究采用针对农业土壤痕量气体排放估算建立的,基于N2O的产生、传输和消耗机理的反硝化分解（DNDC）模型,在建立了有关中国气候、农业土壤和农业生产的分县数据库基础上,估计了我国各县农业土壤N2O的排放通量,发现我国农田土壤N2O排放通量有较明显的地区差异,西北地区较低,东南地区较高。还发现无论温度升高,还是施肥量变化,对我国农田土壤N2O排放通量的影响,都存在区域差异,表现为东南地区的变化幅度较西北地区大,这可能与我国气候的干湿变化有较密切的关系。     

Sustainable intensification of crop residue exploitation for bioenergy: Opportunities and challenges

Crop residue exploitation for bioenergy can play an important role in climate change mitigation without jeopardizing food security, but it may be constrained by impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, and market, logistic and conversion challenges. We explore opportunities to increase bioenergy potentials from residues while reducing environmental impacts, in line with sustainable intensification. Using the case study of North Rhine‐Westphalia in Germany, we employ a spatiotemporally explicit approach combined with stakeholder interviews. First, the interviews identify agronomic and environmental impacts due to the potential reduction in SOC as the most critical challenge associated with enhanced crop residue exploitation. Market and technological challenges and competition with other residue uses are also identified as significant barriers. Second, with the use of agroecosystem modelling and estimations of bioenergy potentials and greenhouse gas emissions till mid‐century, we evaluate the ability of agricultural management to tackle the identified agronomic and environmental challenges. Integrated site‐specific management based on (a) humus balancing, (b) optimized fertilization and (c) winter soil cover performs better than our reference scenario with respect to all investigated variables. At the regional level, we estimate (a) a 5% increase in technical residue potentials and displaced emissions from substituting fossil fuels by bioethanol, (b) an 8% decrease in SOC losses and associated emissions, (c) an 18% decrease in nitrous oxide emissions, (d) a 37% decrease in mineral fertilizer requirements and emissions from their production and (e) a 16% decrease in nitrate leaching. Results are spatially variable and, despite improvements induced by management, limited amounts of crop residues are exploitable for bioenergy in areas prone to SOC decline. In order to sustainably intensify crop residue exploitation for bioenergy and reconcile climate change mitigation with other sustainability objectives, such as those on soil and water quality, residue management needs to be designed in an integrated and site‐specific manner.     

Agricultural intensification in Brazil and its effects on land‐use patterns: an analysis of the 1975–2006 period

Does agricultural intensification reduce the area used for agricultural production in Brazil? Census and other data for time periods 1975–1996 and 1996–2006 were processed and analyzed using Geographic Information System and statistical tools to investigate whether and if so, how, changes in yield and stocking rate coincide with changes in cropland and pasture area. Complementary medium‐resolution data on total farmland area changes were used in a spatially explicit assessment of the land‐use transitions that occurred in Brazil during 1960–2006. The analyses show that in agriculturally consolidated areas (mainly southern and southeastern Brazil), land‐use intensification (both on cropland and pastures) coincided with either contraction of both cropland and pasture areas, or cropland expansion at the expense of pastures, both cases resulting in farmland stability or contraction. In contrast, in agricultural frontier areas (i.e., the deforestation zones in central and northern Brazil), land‐use intensification coincided with expansion of agricultural lands. These observations provide support for the thesis that (i) technological improvements create incentives for expansion in agricultural frontier areas; and (ii) farmers are likely to reduce their managed acreage only if land becomes a scarce resource. The spatially explicit examination of land‐use transitions since 1960 reveals an expansion and gradual movement of the agricultural frontier toward the interior (center‐western Cerrado) of Brazil. It also indicates a possible initiation of a reversed trend in line with the forest transition theory, i.e., agricultural contraction and recurring forests in marginally suitable areas in southeastern Brazil, mainly within the Atlantic Forest biome. The significant reduction in deforestation that has taken place in recent years, despite rising food commodity prices, indicates that policies put in place to curb conversion of native vegetation to agriculture land might be effective. This can improve the prospects for protecting native vegetation by investing in agricultural intensification.     

Biosensors for the Detection of Organophosphorous Pesticides

Cytokinins are master regulators of plant growth and development. They are involved in the regulation of many important physiological and metabolic processes. Recent progress in cytokinin research at the molecular level, including identification of related genes and cytokinin receptors, plus elucidation of signal transduction, has greatly increased our understanding of cytokinin actions. Although still in its infant stage, molecular breeding of crops with altered cytokinin metabolism, when combined with the transgenic approach, has shown very promising potential for application to agriculture. In this review we briefly introduce recent progress in cytokinin molecular biology, discuss applications of cytokinin genetic engineering to agriculture, and present implications and future research directions.     

京津冀城市群土地利用变化对地表径流的影响

城市化的显著特征之一是地表景观格局被人为改变,大量硬化地表覆盖、取代了原本自然或半自然的土地覆盖类型,极大地干扰了区域水文循环过程。其中,最直接的体现是对地表径流过程的影响。城市群作为当前我国城市化的重要模式,其聚集连片的扩张模式,对区域地表径流过程的干扰尤为严重。以京津冀特大城市群为研究区域,应用长期水文影响评价模型(L-THIA),以1980、1990、2000、2010、2015年5期土地利用数据、土壤数据以及1950—2015年逐日降雨数据为输入,模拟计算了不同土地利用/覆被格局对多年平均地表径流量的影响。结果表明,(1)经过率定的L-THIA模型能够较为准确地模拟京津冀城市群地区的地表径流分布特征,模型模拟误差在±10%内;(2)1980—2015年,京津冀城市群地区不透水地表面积急剧增加,其净增长值为12690.14 km~2。北京与天津等超大城市不透水地表面积增加最明显;(3)随着土地利用格局的变化,京津冀地区地表径流量呈逐年增长趋势。1980—2015年,京津冀城市群地区地表径流量的绝对增长值为17.84亿m~3,增幅11.83%。其中,1990—2000年及2010—2015年期间地表径流年均增长率较大,分别为0.36%与0.46%。对地表径流贡献较大的土地利用类型为耕地和不透水地表,其5期土地利用情景下的平均产流占比分别为35.38%、22.71%;(4)城市尺度上,不同城市的标准化年均径流深(NAARD)存在较大差异。天津、石家庄的产流能力较强,承德、衡水等城市的产流能力较弱,北京市的标准化年均径流深处于中等水平。另一方面,不同城市标准化年均径流深增长规律也存在较大差异。1980—2015年,天津市的NAARD增长最多,承德市增长最少,北京市的NAARD增长处于中等水平。本文对于京津冀城市群水文过程的时空演变研究以及国土空间优化指导具有参考意义。     

农地整理中路沟渠生态化设计研究进展

农地整理是人类对农田生态系统的强烈干扰.传统农地整理中路沟渠设计的主要技术经济指标是方便生产通行和调配水资源以及提高水的利用率,尚缺少系统化、生态化考量,已经影响了农田物种扩散,导致生物栖息地环境的退化,并对农田生态系统的生物竞争机制、缓冲和补偿能力、抵御虫害能力产生了显著的负效应.本文系统总结了路沟渠生态化的功能,着重介绍了近年来生态化路沟渠的形式与结构设计、路沟渠生态工法参数的试验以及路沟渠生态材料选择的技术和方法.未来的相关研究应根据各级道路、灌排沟渠的不同功能要求和规格,按照田间不同生物的习性和栖息要求,精确设计能够满足大多数生物需求的农田路沟渠形态、结构和控制性尺寸,切实解决农地整理带来的上述问题.