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Articles by Ingo Grass
Greater trophic diversity of soil animal communities under agricultural land use and tropical climate
Abstract Soil fauna contributes to a wide range of ecosystem functions via their trophic activities. Here we investigate how trophic diversity of soil animals varies across functional groups and major biomes. We use stable isotope analysis (13C/12C and 15N/14N ratios) of 17,306 samples of 28 high-rank taxa from 456 sites across 19 countries to inspect the variability in trophic diversity across climate regions and land-use types.
Temporal niche partitioning by nocturnal arboreal mammals increases the modularity of plant-frugivore networks in a fragmented subtropical landscape
1 INTRODUCTION Seed dispersal by frugivores (fruit-eating animals) is essential for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, with over half of all vascular plant species relying on animal vectors for seed transport (Fricke & Svenning, 2020; Howe & Smallwood, 1982). However, our understanding of plant–frugivore interactions has often been shaped by taxonomic and methodological biases, typically focusing on specific frugivore guilds (Donatti et al., 2011; Quintero et al., 2022).
Eastern Cape R80m programme to tackle poverty, malnutrition Original
Advertise your job vacancies 2 days7 days30 daysBy Industry Show more In a move to combat poverty and malnutrition, the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) has launched a R80m cropping programme to help promote sustainable agricultural development and food security. Image source: Peter Titmuss – 123RF.com The programme was launched at the Ngxakaxha village under the Mbhashe Local Municipality, an area that once faced high poverty levels.
Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment and for people - evidence from Ghana and Malawi Original
Advertise your job vacancies Farming just one kind of crop in a field at a time, and using a lot of chemicals, poses a risk to both people and nature. This simplified intensive agriculture often goes hand in hand with increased greenhouse gas emissions, land and water degradation, and loss of biodiversity. Image source: Marcin Jucha – 123RF.com There’s another way to farm: increasing the number of crop and livestock species. This is biologically diversified agriculture.
Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment-evidence from Ghana and Malawi suggests
Farming just one kind of crop in a field at a time, and using a lot of chemicals, poses a risk to both people and nature. This simplified intensive agriculture often goes hand in hand with increased greenhouse gas emissions, land and water degradation, and loss of biodiversity. There's another way to farm: increasing the number of crop and livestock species. This is biologically diversified agriculture. Growing more than just a single crop year after year is one way to diversify.
Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment and for people - evidence from Ghana and Malawi
Laura Vang Rasmussen receives funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement 853222 FORESTDIET). Ingo Grass receives funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Marney Isaac receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs program.
Rainforest transformation reduces parasitoid wasp diversity-Can the enrichment of flowering vegetation alleviate this?
INTRODUCTION Parasitoids are beneficial insects that provide biological control services to suppress phytophagous insect populations. Parasitoids kill their hosts by living inside or on the body of their hosts and by eating part of hosts' bodies. Compared with predators and pathogens, parasitoids are able to kill a wider spectrum of host and cause high mortality at various life stages of the host (Hawkins et al., 1997; Pennacchio & Strand, 2006).
Mixing on- and off-field measures for biodiversity conservation
Outstanding questions Which conservation strategy is best for balancing social, economic, and ecological needs on regional, national, and global scales? How can we optimise socioecological trade-offs in the mix of farming practices, land use types, natural habitats, and protected areas for regional to global biodiversity conservation? Are there archetypes of multifunctional landscapes and how would their optimal design look like?
The neonicotinoid acetamiprid is highly toxic to wild non-target insects
Abstract Although pesticides are seen as one of the main drivers of insect decline, there are still only few studies that assess their effects on non-target species under field conditions. Here we investigated the effects of the neonicotinoid insecticide Mospilan(R)SG (active ingredient acetamiprid) on plant bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae), a dominant group of European grassland insect communities.
Rainforest transformation reallocates energy from green to brown food webs - Nature
Abstract Terrestrial animal biodiversity is increasingly being lost because of land-use change1,2. However, functional and energetic consequences aboveground and belowground and across trophic levels in megadiverse tropical ecosystems remain largely unknown.
Trophic level and specialization moderate effects of habitat loss and landscape diversity on cavity‐nesting bees, wasps and their parasitoids
INTRODUCTION Habitat loss is a primary driver of local and global biodiversity decline (Brondizio et al., 2019; Dobson et al., 2006). However, differences in species responses to habitat loss, such as the strength of their population decline, are difficult to predict.
Afrique: La technologie peut stimuler l'agriculture en Afrique, mais elle peut aussi menacer la biodiversité - Comment trouver un équilibre entre les deux?
La culture d'un hectare de maïs était autrefois une tâche ardue pour Precious Banda, agricultrice en Zambie. Il lui fallait des centaines d'heures pour préparer son champ avant les semis et et pour le débarasser de mauvaises herbes jusqu'à la récolte, avec pour seul équipement une petite houe. Elle dit que c'était un travail éreintant: "Je le sens encore. Depuis quelques années, elle loue un tracteur et un voisin pulvérise des herbicides pour elle. "La vie est devenue si facile", dit-elle.
La technologie peut stimuler l'agriculture en Afrique, mais elle peut aussi menacer la biodiversité: comment trouver un équilibre entre les deux?
La culture d'un hectare de maïs était autrefois une tâche ardue pour Precious Banda, agricultrice en Zambie. Il lui fallait des centaines d'heures pour préparer son champ avant les semis et et pour le débarasser de mauvaises herbes jusqu'à la récolte, avec pour seul équipement une petite houe. Elle dit que c'était un travail éreintant: “Je le sens encore. Depuis quelques années, elle loue un tracteur et un voisin pulvérise des herbicides pour elle. "La vie est devenue si facile”, dit-elle.
Technology can boost farming in Africa, but it can also threaten biodiversity. How to balance the two
Cultivating one hectare of maize used to be an arduous task for Precious Banda, a farmer in Zambia. It would take her hundreds of hours to prepare her land before sowing and to keep it weed-free until harvest—equipped with nothing but a small hoe. She says it was backbreaking work: "I can still feel it." For a few years now she has hired a tractor, and a neighbor sprays herbicides for her. "Life has become so easy," she says. But she has also noticed changes around her farm.
Technology can boost farming in Africa, but it can also threaten biodiversity - how to balance the two
Cultivating one hectare of maize used to be an arduous task for Precious Banda, a farmer in Zambia. It would take her hundreds of hours to prepare her land before sowing and to keep it weed-free until harvest – equipped with nothing but a small hoe. She says it was backbreaking work: “I can still feel it.” For a few years now she has hired a tractor, and a neighbour sprays herbicides for her. “Life has become so easy,” she says. But she has also noticed changes around her farm.
Landscape heterogeneity and soil biota are central to multi-taxa diversity for oil palm landscape restoration - Communications Earth & Environment
Abstract Enhancing biodiversity in monoculture-dominated landscapes is a key sustainability challenge that requires considering the spatial organization of ecological communities (beta diversity). Here, we tested whether increasing landscape heterogeneity, through establishing 52 tree islands in an oil-palm landscape, is a suitable restoration strategy to enhance the diversity of six taxa (multi-taxa diversity).
Tree islands enhance biodiversity and functioning in oil palm landscapes - Nature
Abstract In the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration1, large knowledge gaps persist on how to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in cash crop-dominated tropical landscapes2. Here, we present findings from a large-scale, 5-year ecosystem restoration experiment in an oil palm landscape enriched with 52 tree islands, encompassing assessments of ten indicators of biodiversity and 19 indicators of ecosystem functioning.
Mechanical weeding enhances ecosystem multifunctionality and profit in industrial oil palm - Nature Sustainability
Abstract Oil palm is the most productive oil crop, but its high productivity is associated with conventional management (that is, high fertilization rates and herbicide application), causing deleterious environmental impacts. Using a 22 factorial experiment, we assessed the effects of conventional vs reduced (equal to nutrients removed by fruit harvest) fertilization rates and herbicide vs mechanical weeding on ecosystem functions, biodiversity and profitability.
Win-win opportunities combining high yields with high multi-taxa biodiversity in tropical agroforestry - Nature Communications
Abstract Resolving ecological-economic trade-offs between biodiversity and yields is a key challenge when addressing the biodiversity crisis in tropical agricultural landscapes. Here, we focused on the relation between seven different taxa (trees, herbaceous plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, and ants) and yields in vanilla agroforests in Madagascar.
Restoring biodiversity needs more than reducing pesticides
], Brühl In their response to our paper on harnessing biodiversity-friendly landscapes [ et al. [ 2. Brühl, C.A. et al. The rejection of synthetic pesticides in organic farming has multiple benefits. Trends Ecol. Evol. (in press) ] argue that we underestimate the benefits of banning synthetic pesticides in organic farming. We thank the authors for highlighting the importance of reducing pesticide applications for biodiversity conservation, an assessment that we share [ , 4. Tscharntke T. et al.
Academic study: ‘We challenge the widespread appraisal that organic farming is the fundamental alternative to conventional farming for harnessing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes’
The GLP Needs Your Help It is easier than ever for advocacy groups to spread disinformation on pressing science issues, such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No, vaccines are not harmful. Yes, the use of biotechnology, GMOs or gene editing to develop antigens for treatments including vaccines are part of the solution. To inform the public about what’s really going on, we present the facts and challenge those who don't. We can’t do this work without your help.
Trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in tropical smallholder landscapes
Land-use transitions can enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but potential economic-ecological trade-offs remain poorly understood. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study of the environmental, social and economic consequences of land-use transitions in a tropical smallholder landscape on Sumatra, Indonesia.
Environmental, Economic, and Social Consequences of the Oil Palm Boom
Annual Review of Resource Economics Vol. 12:321-344 (Volume publication date October 2020) First published as a Review in Advance on May 19, 2020 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-024922 Matin Qaim,1,2 Kibrom T.
Trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in tropical smallholder landscapes
Abstract Land-use transitions can enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but potential economic-ecological trade-offs remain poorly understood. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study of the environmental, social and economic consequences of land-use transitions in a tropical smallholder landscape on Sumatra, Indonesia.
Beyond organic farming - harnessing biodiversity-friendly landscapes
Highlights Biodiversity continues to decline rapidly, despite decades of repeated national and international policy efforts. Agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity losses, while conversion to organic farming has been suggested as a key technique to halt or reverse this trend. In contrast to this widespread view, certified organic agriculture raises local richness of widespread species by just a third when compared to conventional farming.
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