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Volume 21, Issue 5 p. 1772-1781
Article

Agricultural intensification and biodiversity partitioning in European landscapes comparing plants, carabids, and birds

Andreas Flohre,

Corresponding Author

Andreas Flohre

Agroecology, Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

E-mail: aflohre@gwdg.deSearch for more papers by this author
Christina Fischer,

Christina Fischer

Agroecology, Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

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Tsipe Aavik,

Tsipe Aavik

Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, Tartu EE51005, Estonia

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Jan Bengtsson,

Jan Bengtsson

Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

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Frank Berendse,

Frank Berendse

Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, P.O. Box 47, Wageningen University, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands

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Riccardo Bommarco,

Riccardo Bommarco

Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

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Piotr Ceryngier,

Piotr Ceryngier

Centre for Ecological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, CBE PAN, Dziekanow Lesny, Konopnickiej 1, 05-092 Lomianki, Poland

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Lars W. Clement,

Lars W. Clement

Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Straße 159, 07743 Jena, Germany

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Christopher Dennis,

Christopher Dennis

Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland

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Sönke Eggers,

Sönke Eggers

Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

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Mark Emmerson,

Mark Emmerson

Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, Cork, Ireland

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Flavia Geiger,

Flavia Geiger

Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, P.O. Box 47, Wageningen University, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands

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Irene Guerrero,

Irene Guerrero

Department of Ecology, c/Darwin, 2, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

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Violetta Hawro,

Violetta Hawro

Centre for Ecological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, CBE PAN, Dziekanow Lesny, Konopnickiej 1, 05-092 Lomianki, Poland

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Pablo Inchausti,

Pablo Inchausti

Centre for Biological Studies of Chizé CNRS, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France

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Jaan Liira,

Jaan Liira

Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Lai 40, Tartu EE51005, Estonia

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Manuel B. Morales,

Manuel B. Morales

Department of Ecology, c/Darwin, 2, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

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Juan J. Oñate,

Juan J. Oñate

Department of Ecology, c/Darwin, 2, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain

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Tomas Pärt,

Tomas Pärt

Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

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Wolfgang W. Weisser,

Wolfgang W. Weisser

Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Straße 159, 07743 Jena, Germany

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Camilla Winqvist,

Camilla Winqvist

Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

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Carsten Thies,

Carsten Thies

Agroecology, Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

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Teja Tscharntke,

Teja Tscharntke

Agroecology, Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

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First published: 01 July 2011
Citations: 169

Corresponding Editor: V. C. Radeloff.

Abstract

Effects of agricultural intensification (AI) on biodiversity are often assessed on the plot scale, although processes determining diversity also operate on larger spatial scales. Here, we analyzed the diversity of vascular plants, carabid beetles, and birds in agricultural landscapes in cereal crop fields at the field (n = 1350), farm (n = 270), and European-region (n = 9) scale. We partitioned diversity into its additive components α, β, and γ, and assessed the relative contribution of β diversity to total species richness at each spatial scale. AI was determined using pesticide and fertilizer inputs, as well as tillage operations and categorized into low, medium, and high levels. As AI was not significantly related to landscape complexity, we could disentangle potential AI effects on local vs. landscape community homogenization. AI negatively affected the species richness of plants and birds, but not carabid beetles, at all spatial scales. Hence, local AI was closely correlated to β diversity on larger scales up to the farm and region level, and thereby was an indicator of farm- and region-wide biodiversity losses. At the scale of farms (12.83–20.52%) and regions (68.34–80.18%), β diversity accounted for the major part of the total species richness for all three taxa, indicating great dissimilarity in environmental conditions on larger spatial scales. For plants, relative importance of α diversity decreased with AI, while relative importance of β diversity on the farm scale increased with AI for carabids and birds. Hence, and in contrast to our expectations, AI does not necessarily homogenize local communities, presumably due to the heterogeneity of farming practices. In conclusion, a more detailed understanding of AI effects on diversity patterns of various taxa and at multiple spatial scales would contribute to more efficient agri-environmental schemes in agroecosystems.