Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

Manuel Schneider; Gisela Luscher; Philippe Jeanneret; Michaela Arndorfer; Youssef Ammari; Debra Bailey; Katalin Balázs; András Báldi; Jean-Philippe Choisis; Peter Dennis; Sebastian Eiter; Wendy Fjellstad; Mariecia Dawn Fraser; Thomas Frank; Jürgen K. Friedel; Salah Garchi; Gergely Jerkovich; Tiziano Gomiero; A. Hector; R. G. H. Jongman; Esezah Kakudidi; Max Kainz; A. Kovács-Hostyánszki; Gerardo Moreno; Charles Nkwiine; Julius Opio; M.-L. Oschatz; Maurizio Paoletti; Philippe Pointereau; Jean-Pierre Sarthou; Norman Siebrecht; D. Sommaggio; L.A. Turnbull; Sebastian Wolfrum; Felix Herzog; Ilse R. Geijzendorffer; Guillermo González-Bornay; Fernando Pulido

doi:10.1038/ncomms5151

Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

Manuel Schneider, Gisela Luscher, Philippe Jeanneret, Michaela Arndorfer, Youssef Ammari, Debra Bailey, Katalin Balázs, András Báldi, Jean-Philippe Choisis, Peter Dennis, Sebastian Eiter, Wendy Fjellstad, Mariecia Dawn Fraser, Thomas Frank, Jürgen K. Friedel, Salah Garchi, Gergely Jerkovich, Tiziano Gomiero, A. Hector, R. G. H. JongmanEsezah Kakudidi, Max Kainz, A. Kovács-Hostyánszki, Gerardo Moreno, Charles Nkwiine, Julius Opio, M.-L. Oschatz, Maurizio Paoletti, Philippe Pointereau, Jean-Pierre Sarthou, Norman Siebrecht, D. Sommaggio, L.A. Turnbull, Sebastian Wolfrum, Felix Herzog, Ilse R. Geijzendorffer, Guillermo González-Bornay, Fernando Pulido

Department of Life Sciences

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Abstract

Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity.

Original language	English
Article number	4151
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	5
Issue number	N/A
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5151
Publication status	Published - 24 Jun 2014

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Schneider, M., Luscher, G., Jeanneret, P., Arndorfer, M., Ammari, Y., Bailey, D., Balázs, K., Báldi, A., Choisis, J.-P., Dennis, P., Eiter, S., Fjellstad, W., Fraser, M. D., Frank, T., Friedel, J. K., Garchi, S., Jerkovich, G., Gomiero, T., Hector, A., ... Pulido, F. (2014). Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level. Nature Communications, 5(N/A), Article 4151. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5151

@article{39b83a8307474231b8fb5c3d0c36f1e7,

title = "Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level",

abstract = "Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity.",

author = "Manuel Schneider and Gisela Luscher and Philippe Jeanneret and Michaela Arndorfer and Youssef Ammari and Debra Bailey and Katalin Bal{\'a}zs and Andr{\'a}s B{\'a}ldi and Jean-Philippe Choisis and Peter Dennis and Sebastian Eiter and Wendy Fjellstad and Fraser, {Mariecia Dawn} and Thomas Frank and Friedel, {J{\"u}rgen K.} and Salah Garchi and Gergely Jerkovich and Tiziano Gomiero and A. Hector and Jongman, {R. G. H.} and Esezah Kakudidi and Max Kainz and A. Kov{\'a}cs-Hosty{\'a}nszki and Gerardo Moreno and Charles Nkwiine and Julius Opio and M.-L. Oschatz and Maurizio Paoletti and Philippe Pointereau and Jean-Pierre Sarthou and Norman Siebrecht and D. Sommaggio and L.A. Turnbull and Sebastian Wolfrum and Felix Herzog and Geijzendorffer, {Ilse R.} and Guillermo Gonz{\'a}lez-Bornay and Fernando Pulido",

note = "Submitted 11 December 2013. NCOMMS-13-13396. Manuscript accepted for publication: 19 May 2014. Published early online: 24 June 2014.",

year = "2014",

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Schneider, M, Luscher, G, Jeanneret, P, Arndorfer, M, Ammari, Y, Bailey, D, Balázs, K, Báldi, A, Choisis, J-P, Dennis, P, Eiter, S, Fjellstad, W, Fraser, MD, Frank, T, Friedel, JK, Garchi, S, Jerkovich, G, Gomiero, T, Hector, A, Jongman, RGH, Kakudidi, E, Kainz, M, Kovács-Hostyánszki, A, Moreno, G, Nkwiine, C, Opio, J, Oschatz, M-L, Paoletti, M, Pointereau, P, Sarthou, J-P, Siebrecht, N, Sommaggio, D, Turnbull, LA, Wolfrum, S, Herzog, F, Geijzendorffer, IR, González-Bornay, G & Pulido, F 2014, 'Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level', Nature Communications, vol. 5, no. N/A, 4151. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5151

TY - JOUR

T1 - Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

AU - Schneider, Manuel

AU - Luscher, Gisela

AU - Jeanneret, Philippe

AU - Arndorfer, Michaela

AU - Ammari, Youssef

AU - Bailey, Debra

AU - Balázs, Katalin

AU - Báldi, András

AU - Choisis, Jean-Philippe

AU - Dennis, Peter

AU - Eiter, Sebastian

AU - Fjellstad, Wendy

AU - Fraser, Mariecia Dawn

AU - Frank, Thomas

AU - Friedel, Jürgen K.

AU - Garchi, Salah

AU - Jerkovich, Gergely

AU - Gomiero, Tiziano

AU - Hector, A.

AU - Jongman, R. G. H.

AU - Kakudidi, Esezah

AU - Kainz, Max

AU - Kovács-Hostyánszki, A.

AU - Moreno, Gerardo

AU - Nkwiine, Charles

AU - Opio, Julius

AU - Oschatz, M.-L.

AU - Paoletti, Maurizio

AU - Pointereau, Philippe

AU - Sarthou, Jean-Pierre

AU - Siebrecht, Norman

AU - Sommaggio, D.

AU - Turnbull, L.A.

AU - Wolfrum, Sebastian

AU - Herzog, Felix

AU - Geijzendorffer, Ilse R.

AU - González-Bornay, Guillermo

AU - Pulido, Fernando

N1 - Submitted 11 December 2013. NCOMMS-13-13396. Manuscript accepted for publication: 19 May 2014. Published early online: 24 June 2014.

PY - 2014/6/24

Y1 - 2014/6/24

N2 - Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity.

AB - Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/29633

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DO - 10.1038/ncomms5151

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 5

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - N/A

M1 - 4151

ER -

Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

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