Changes in agricultural land use and management are largely responsible for the current global biodiversity crisis. Addressing this crisis necessitates a change in management practices that are considered to limit biodiversity. Comparing intensive land-use forms with their extensive and traditional counterparts can help define good practice example for integrated conservation. We compare remnants of traditional meadow orchards with intensively managed apple orchards in a mountain region by investigating the multi-taxonomic diversity of seven groups (including vascular plants, wild bees, diurnal butterflies, orthopterans, spiders, birds, and bats) and macro-invertebrates inhabiting four habitat strata (soil, ground-dwelling, herb, and tree layer). Each group and stratum was sampled with a target sampling method. We found a consistent trend of higher abundance, diversity, and presence of threatened species in meadow orchards compared to apple orchards. Specifically, wild bees, butterflies, orthopterans, and birds showed significantly lower diversity in apple orchards across different diversity indices. Furthermore, multi-taxonomic indices of all taxa and most habitat strata followed the same trend, supporting the conclusion that these findings are applicable to the entire orchard ecosystem. We conclude that traditional agroforestry systems, such as meadow orchards, could represent a well-suited good-practice example for integrated biodiversity conservation in the agricultural landscape. Finally, we emphasize the importance of maintaining traditional management practices through effective conservation measures such as subsidies as part of agri-environmental schemes

Guariento, E.; Obwegs, L.; Anderle, M.; Bell, A.; Fontana, P.; Paniccia, C.; Plunger, J.; Rüdisser, J.; Stifter, S.; Giombini, V.; Egarter Vigl, L.; Tappeiner, U.; Hilpold, A. (2024). Meadow orchards as a good practice example for improving biodiversity in intensive apple orchards. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 299: 110815. handle: https://hdl.handle.net/10449/87235

Meadow orchards as a good practice example for improving biodiversity in intensive apple orchards

Fontana, P.;
2024-01-01

Abstract

Changes in agricultural land use and management are largely responsible for the current global biodiversity crisis. Addressing this crisis necessitates a change in management practices that are considered to limit biodiversity. Comparing intensive land-use forms with their extensive and traditional counterparts can help define good practice example for integrated conservation. We compare remnants of traditional meadow orchards with intensively managed apple orchards in a mountain region by investigating the multi-taxonomic diversity of seven groups (including vascular plants, wild bees, diurnal butterflies, orthopterans, spiders, birds, and bats) and macro-invertebrates inhabiting four habitat strata (soil, ground-dwelling, herb, and tree layer). Each group and stratum was sampled with a target sampling method. We found a consistent trend of higher abundance, diversity, and presence of threatened species in meadow orchards compared to apple orchards. Specifically, wild bees, butterflies, orthopterans, and birds showed significantly lower diversity in apple orchards across different diversity indices. Furthermore, multi-taxonomic indices of all taxa and most habitat strata followed the same trend, supporting the conclusion that these findings are applicable to the entire orchard ecosystem. We conclude that traditional agroforestry systems, such as meadow orchards, could represent a well-suited good-practice example for integrated biodiversity conservation in the agricultural landscape. Finally, we emphasize the importance of maintaining traditional management practices through effective conservation measures such as subsidies as part of agri-environmental schemes
Agroforestry
Traditional fruit orchards
Apple monoculture
Farmland biodiversity
Multi-taxon study
Conservation
Agroecology
Settore AGR/11 - ENTOMOLOGIA GENERALE E APPLICATA
Settore AGRI-05/A - Entomologia generale e applicata
2024
Guariento, E.; Obwegs, L.; Anderle, M.; Bell, A.; Fontana, P.; Paniccia, C.; Plunger, J.; Rüdisser, J.; Stifter, S.; Giombini, V.; Egarter Vigl, L.; Tappeiner, U.; Hilpold, A. (2024). Meadow orchards as a good practice example for improving biodiversity in intensive apple orchards. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 299: 110815. handle: https://hdl.handle.net/10449/87235
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