Species enhanced grasslands: effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems

A major driver of this biodiversity loss is agricultural land-use which reduces habitats and resources for many living organisms. In order to counteract this development, measures can be established. Measures such as wildflower strips and organic farming often focus on insects that provide ecosystem services. The current project tested an innovative dairy production system for effects on biodiversity of wild bees and carabid beetles and their ecosystem services, pollination and biological control. This farming system enriched plant diversity on pastures as compared to conventionally managed grasslands.

Grass-clover pastures promoted bumblebee abundance when white clover coverage increased. Grass-clover pastures also facilitated a distinct community composition of carabid beetles and endangered species, as compared to conventional maize fields. This did, however, not translate into higher pollination biological control on grass-clover pastures.

Our results indicate that plant-species enriched grass-clover pastures can reunite dairy production and benefits for generalist bumblebees and generate a distinct carabid community composition. Especially compared with conventional farming systems, more plant resources can be provided that benefit bumblebees. Yet, grass-clover pastures did not facilitate species richness of neither wild bees, nor carabid beetles per se. The importance to restore agricultural landscapes is out of question and species enriched grass-clover pastures may help to increase land-use and management heterogeneity. When grass-clover pastures are established in combination with more advanced measures and conservation areas, a mosaic of different land-use types on a landscape-scale may be created, which can avert loss of insect abundance and species richness in agroecosystems.

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