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Biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in small vs. large scale agriculture

Biodiversity conservation cannot rely on protected areas alone, as sustainable conservation requires strategies for managing whole landscapes including agricultural areas. Organic farming in Germany may contribute strongly to the protection of biodiversity and to sustainability of agriculture through enhancing ecosystem services. However, the effectiveness of this agri-environmental management is highly dependent on landscape structure. The main objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of organic cereal management in small vs. large scale agriculture through measure of the diversity of plants and arthropods and associated ecosystem services, such as seed predation, insect predation, aphid parasitism and pollination. Pairs of organic and conventional winter wheat fields will be selected in small vs. large scale agricultural landscapes along the former inner German border, i.e. in West vs. East Germany. This study design enables a unique experiment, where it would be possible to disentangle the effects of landscape composition and configuration heterogeneities in the same study region and to study how these affect the effectiveness of organic management. The detailed analyses of the expected valuable data could provide significant results (published in high ranked, international scientific journals), and contribute to the development of the existing

Ecological valuation of crop pollination in traditional Indonesian homegardens

Traditional Indonesian homegardens harbour often high crop diversity, which appears to be an important basis for a sustainable food-first strategy. Crop pollination by insects is a key ecosystem service but threatened by agricultural intensification and land conversion. Gaps in knowledge of actual benefits from pollination services limit effective management planning. Using an integrative and agronomic framework for the assessment of functional pollination services, we will conduct ecological experiments and surveys in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. We propose to study pollination services and net revenues of the locally important crop species cucumber, carrot, and eggplant in traditional homegardens in a forest distance gradient, which is hypothesized to affect bee community structure and diversity. We will assess pollination services and interactions with environmental variables limiting fruit maturation, based on pollination experiments in a split-plot design of the following factors: drought, nutrient deficiency, weed pressure, and herbivory. The overall goal of this project is the development of 'biodiversity-friendly' land-use management, balancing human and ecological needs for local smallholders.

Bienen, Wespen und ihre Gegenspieler im Kaffeeanbau auf Sulawesi: Bestaeubungserfolg, Interaktionen, Habitatbewertung

Der Einfluss der Landnutzungsintensität auf die Artenvielfalt von Bienen und Wespen und ihren natürlichen Gegenspielern und die damit verbundenen ökologischen Funktionen sollen in Kaffee-Anbausystemen Sulawesis untersucht werden. Dazu erfolgt ein Vergleich von 30 Kaffee-Anbauflächen mit großen Unterschieden in der Nutzung, floristischen Vielfalt (Baumdiversität und prozentuale Baumdeckung) und in abiotischen Parametern (relative Lichtintensität, Temperatur und relative Luftfeuchte). Die Erfassung der Blütenbesucher sowie der solitären Bienen und Wespen in Nisthilfen erlaubt eine Charakterisierung des Artenreichtums. Die relative Bedeutung der solitären und sozialen Bienen für die Blütenbestäubung und den Fruchtansatz beim Kaffee wird durch Experimente geklärt. Weiterhin soll auch die Ausprägung der Interaktionen zwischen den Nisthilfe-Besiedlern und ihren Gegenspielern mit der Landnutzung in Verbindung gebracht werden. Ergänzende Versuche zielen auf die Ressourcennutzung der Bienen (Pollenanalyse), die Ansiedlung sozialer Bienen in Nisthilfen und die Messung der Sammelzeiten von Bienen (Polleneintrag) und Faltenwespen (Eintrag schädlicher Schmetterlinge). Die GIS-gestützte Erfassung der Landschaftsstruktur soll zeigen, ob lokale ökologische Prozesse nicht nur von der Landnutzung, sondern auch von der Struktur der Umgebung, insbesondere von der Entfernung zu angrenzenden Lebensräumen beeinflusst werden.

Evaluating current European agri-environment schemes to quantify and improve nature conservation efforts in agricultural landscapes (EASY)

Research question: Agri-environment schemes play an increasingly important role in European CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) to support biodiversity and environment in agricultural landscapes. They have been implemented since 1992 and now cost a yearly 1.7 billion Euro. Still, there is no conclusive evidence that these schemes actually do contribute to the conservation of particularly biodiversity. The primary objective of this project is to evaluate the (cost-) effectiveness of European agri-environment schemes in protecting biodiversity and to determine the primary processes that determine their effectiveness. This project furthermore aims to determine how CAP may be introduced in candidate EU-members without unacceptable loss of biodiversity. It will provide simple guidelines how researchers, governmental authorities may efficiently evaluate agri-environmental measures. Aim: Agri-environment schemes have been used to protect biodiversity and environment in agricultural areas since 1992. Their effectiveness has never been reliably evaluated. This project aims to evaluate the (cost-)effectiveness of agri-environment schemes with respect to biodiversity conservation in five European countries. It will determine the proper scales that have to be addressed for conservation efforts for a range of species groups. It will determine the most important environmental factors that influence the effectiveness of the schemes. Based on this, recommendations will be made how the effectiveness of schemes may be improved and simple guidelines will be produced how ecological effects of agri-environment schemes can be evaluated efficiently by governmental authorities or other institutions. The ecological effects of the introduction of CAP in a candidate EU-member will be investigated to reduce negative side effects of anticipated land-use changes Scientific methods: We will examine the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes by surveying pairs of fields: a field with an agri-environment scheme and a nearby field that is conventionally managed. In five countries, in each country in three areas, and in each area on seven pairs of fields the species richness of birds, plants and three insect groups (pollinators, herbivores, predators) will be determined. Effects of schemes on pollination efficiency and pest control will be examined using indicator communities. Correlative studies will examine the effects of landscape structure, land-use intensity and species pool on the effectiveness of agri-environmental measures. The spatial scale that is relevant to nature conservation efforts will be investigated via the spatial distribution of species groups. The results will be used to formulate recommendations how to improve the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes and to construct a set of simple guidelines how schemes can be evaluated efficiently yet reliably.

Förderung von Winter-Linden als wichtige Träger der Biodiversität in Mittel- und Hochwäldern

Plant-pollinator networks in agro-ecosystems

Pollination is crucial for maintaining angiosperm biodiversity and represents one of the most important ecosystem services. With the increasing threats of massive insect decline, studying pollination and associated networks has become more important than ever. However, studying plant-pollinator interactions at a species level with morphological methodologies is time-consuming, expensive, and depends on exceptional taxonomic expertise. In this study, we target the plant-pollinator networks of two important crops (caraway and apple) using a combination of traditional methods with DNA barcoding and metabarcoding. With this approach, we can identify potential dipteran and hymenopteran pollinators and - from their pollen load's their associated plant species. This project is a collaboration between the ZFMK and the Agroecology and Organic Farming Group (INRES) at the University of Bonn and part of GBOL II.

Community-mediated mechanisms to stabilize pollination of agricultural production highly dependent on shrinking honey bee populations under global change

Almond in California represents an agroecosystem pollinated solely by a single species, the European honey bee, a species that is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to manage due to substantial, unpredictable mortality. Therefore, sustainable and high output production require a more integrated approach that diversifies sources of pollination. For this purpose, detailed data of our understanding how diversity can stabilize pollination are required. The project will identify alternative wild pollinator species and collect high quality data contributing to our understanding of how diversity (pollen and insects) can bolster honey bee pollination during stable and unstable climatic conditions. The research will be carried out on almond orchards in Northern California known to be either pollinator species rich (up to 30 species) or depauperate (honey bees only). The replicated extremes in pollinator diversity represent a unique opportunity to study the effects of diversity on pollination in real agroecosystems combined with laboratory and glasshouse experiments. The overall goal is to provide basic research that is essential for our general understanding of how insect diversity can affect high-quality pollination under land use and climate change.

TEST_Kind-Datensatz zu Global Pollination Benefits / sunflowerseeds_TEST

Das ist nur ein Test, wie diese Funktion eigentlich gedacht ist.

Schwerpunktprogramm (SPP) 1374: Biodiversitäts-Exploratorien; Exploratories for Long-Term and Large-Scale Biodiversity Research (Biodiversity Exploratories), Sub project: Core Projekt 9 - Monitoring of aboveground arthropod diversity with main emphasis on xylobionts

Arthropods are highly diverse and essentially involved in numerous biological processes. Tree crowns provide habitats for a large part of this diversity, but are still a vastly uncharted territory. The major aim of this project is to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the influence of forest management on the diversity and functional roles of canopy arthropods. For this we 1) perform a thorough recording of the diversity of canopy arthropods. Based on data of several years we analyse the structure, dynamics and guild composition of tree specific arthropod communities in forests under different management regimes. 2) We experimentally accumulate dead wood - a rare key resource in managed forests - in individual trees and on the ground and analyse the effects on the populations of xylobionts and their interaction with other guilds (e.g. predator-prey relationships), 3) we investigate (also experimentally and in cooperation with other projects) the importance of xylobiontic arthropods for coarse woody debris decomposition. The repeated monitoring of canopy arthropod diversity by means of insecticidal knock down allows an estimation of stability and resilience of species-rich communities. Our project provides important data for other projects, allowing relating canopy diversity with that of other habitats and communities with the aim to achieve a more comprehensive modelling of forest ecosystem processes. Our previous work has shown that increasing land-use intensity in grasslands leads to changes in pollinator composition (more dipterans, fewer bees) and also affects plants where land use winners (e.g. fly-pollinated Heracleum sphondylium and Ranunculus acris) and losers can be distinguished. We currently investigate whether this translates into lower pollination of selected losers (e.g. bee-pollinated Lotus or Campanula), and higher pollination of winners. Such processes will accelerate the success and decline of plant populations in intensively used grasslands. Long-term monitoring of these processes is applied for here.

Wildlebende Bienen und Hummeln vor Pflanzenschutzmitteln schützen

<p>Seit 2013 soll in der EU eine neue Bienen-Leitlinie für die Bewertung möglicher Umweltgefahren von Pflanzenschutzmitteln verabschiedet werden, die erstmalig die Risiken für Hummeln und Wildbienen berücksichtigt. Ein UBA-Projekt trägt die Lebensraumansprüche dieser Insekten und ihrer Empfindlichkeit gegenüber Pestiziden zusammen und gibt Empfehlungen für die Überarbeitung der EU-Leitlinie.</p><p>Für das Forschungsvorhaben „Protection of wild pollinators in the pesticide risk assessment and management“ im Auftrag des Umweltbundesamtes wurde die wissenschaftliche Literatur über blütenbesuchenden Insekten bezogen auf ihre Ökologie, toxikologische Empfindlichkeit und ⁠<a href="https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/service/glossar/e?tag=Exposition#alphabar">Exposition</a>⁠ gegenüber Pflanzenschutzmitteln untersucht.&nbsp;</p><p>Unter allen Blütenbesuchern wurden relevante Insektengruppen identifiziert und ihre Ansprüche an den Lebensraum beschrieben. Darauf aufbauend wurden Expositionsszenarien für ihren Lebensraum entwickelt, expositionsrelevante Merkmale herausgearbeitet und der wissenschaftliche Kenntnisstand zu Pestizidrückständen in blütenbesuchenden Insekten und in ihren Habitaten zusammengefasst.&nbsp;</p><p>Außerdem wurde die Empfindlichkeit von blütenbesuchenden Insektenarten gegenüber Pestiziden miteinander verglichen und es wurde eine Auswahl von möglichen Stellvertreterarten diskutiert, die an Stelle der Honigbiene, die bisher der einzige im Prüfverfahren betrachtete Blütenbesucher ist, für die Risikobewertung geeignet wären.</p><p>Die Empfehlungen</p><p>Anhand dieser Informationen wurden Empfehlungen für ein Risikobewertungsschema für blütenbesuchende Insekten abgeleitet. Zudem wurden mögliche Risikominderungsmaßnahmen zur Reduzierung der Exposition gegenüber Pestiziden und zur Förderung von der Insekten-Populationen in der Agrarlandschaft beschrieben und es wurden ihre Effektivität, ihre Durchführbarkeit und die Akzeptanz der Maßnahmen durch Landwirte beurteilt. Basierend auf dieser Analyse wurden Empfehlungen für die Weiterentwicklung von Risikomanagementmaßnahmen entwickelt. Zusätzlich wurde ein Überblick über Fördermöglichkeiten von Risikominderungsmaßnahmen zum einem auf EU-Ebene (z.B. im Rahmen des Greening-Programms) und zum anderen auf nationaler Ebene am Beispiel ausgewählter Agrar-Umwelt-Programme erstellt.</p><p>Weiterer Forschungsbedarf</p><p>In allen Kapiteln wurden bestehende Wissenslücken identifiziert und es wurden Vorschläge für weitere Forschung skizziert, die einen Beitrag zur Vertiefung unseres Verständnis der Effekte von Pestiziden auf blütenbesuchende Insekten und zur Verbesserung existierender regulatorischer Risikobewertungsverfahren leisten soll.</p>

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