Trade-offs in arthropod conservation between productive and non-productive agri-environmental schemes along a landscape complexity gradient

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Viktoria Mader
  • Eva Diehl
  • Fiedler, Daniela
  • Simon Thorn
  • Volkmar Wolters
  • Klaus Birkhofer

Productive and non-productive agri-environmental schemes (AES) were developed to support farmland biodiversity. This study compares arthropod predators between productive (organic farming) and non-productive (sown flowering fields) AES along a landscape complexity gradient. We compared species richness, community composition and community weighted mean body sizes of 12 306 carabids and 4868 spiders in organically managed cereal fields and flowering fields along a landscape complexity gradient. These data were used to evaluate the conservation success of different AES types for a number of exclusive species, financial incentives and benefits for farmers. Carabids only responded to the AES type and their communities had higher species richness in flowering fields. Spider species richness increased with landscape complexity. Community composition differed between AES types for all predator groups, with the composition of ground-dwelling spiders being additionally affected by landscape complexity. The mean body size of web-building spiders decreased with landscape complexity and the mean body size of female spiders was larger in flowering fields. Both AES types can contribute to the conservation of predator communities. Species richness increased with non-productive AES. Agrobiont species occurred more frequently in productive AES. The overall number of exclusive predator species was lower in flowering fields. We emphasise that there is an additive effect of establishing productive and non-productive AES within the landscape, and a diverse mosaic of different AES types holds the greatest potential to provide a large regional species pool of arthropod predators, while simultaneously guaranteeing financial benefits for farmers from production and subsidies.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInsect Conservation and Diversity
Volume10
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)236-247
Number of pages12
ISSN1752-458X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the farmers who supported our study. Thanks to Ingmar Weiß for identification of ground-dwelling spiders; Elvira Sereda, Dennis Baulechner and Michael-Andreas Fritze for verifying individual web-building spiders and carabids; Daniela Warzecha for acquisition of flowering fields; Andrea Früh-Müller for fruitful discussions, Patricia Schmidt for arthropod sorting and Mareike Kortmann for drawings. This study within the project ‘ÖkoService’ was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Royal Entomological Society

    Research areas

  • Araneae, body size, Carabidae, community composition, generalist predators, organic farming, sown flowering fields, subsidies, traits

ID: 379710443