Introduction to forest and nature conservation chapter 5

chapter 5

How do three technological innovations lead to agricultural expansion in natural habitats that could not be cultivated before?

Windmills and pumping stations drained the land much quicker,

The use of cheap articficial fertilizers allowed expansion onto soils poor in nutrients and

Mechanisation allowed expansion of farming onto clay soils that used to be too heavy to plough.

• Globalisation resulted in new way agriculture to be spread all around the globe :(.

Why are there only in Europe so many species typical for farmland areas?

On other continents, farmland is exclusively used for food and feed production. This probably because of long-term presence and gradual change of agriculture in Europe > Species could adapt, while in other continents modern farming techniques introducted in shorter timeframe and large scale.

3 agriculture interventions that have changed agriculture

1) Draining of saltmarshes, fens and peat bogs with windmills and pumping stations

2) The use of cheap fertilizer > expansion of arable farming on soils previously too poor in nutrients

3) Mechanisation > expansion of arable farming onto clay soils previously too heavy to plough

Globalisation lead to the use of this new type of agirculture all around the globe, drastic homogenization of ecosystems.

Technological advances leading to biodiversity loss

1) Removal of non-productive landscape elements such as hedges, ditches or woodlots removed shelter, nesting and overwintering sites for animal species.

2) The earlier start of the cropping season increased growth rates of crops and grasslands, leading to lower reproductive success of ground nesting birds.

3) Use of pesticides resulted in direct mortality of arthropods (geleedpotigen) or contributed indirectly to mortality due to loss of food resources for higher trophic levels

Animal and plant species richness declines exponentially with increasing intensity of land-use, which means that;

Agricultural improvement of marginal lands has a much more negative effect on biodiversity than a further intensification of already intensively managed farmland.

Agri-environment schemes

Agreements with farmers o implement conservation management on parts of their lands, with financial compensation for loss of income in return.

Voluntary contracts, temporary and not obligated to renew contract after it ends.

Effects of agri-environment schemes in NL vs out of NL

Too small effects, rarely any positive effects on target species groups can be found, due to the intensity of farming in the Netherlands. Costs a lot, too.

Outside NL, in less intensively managed areas, they do play an important role in conservation. They then ensure that economically unavailable farming systems are being abandoned, risking the decline of typical farmland species & overall biodiversity.

Services that farmland biodiversity provides (4)

1) Natural // biological pest control & pollination (But they can also be ecosystem disservices as there are species that feed on crops)

2) In very intensively farmed areas, a reduction in pollination and biological pest control may limit crop production.

3) Importance of the species living in the soil like worms, fungi and bacteria provide clean water, improve soil structure, recycle nutrients,,, (they’re great ;0)

4) Majority of the ecosystem services provided to the crops come from small number of common species