Agricultural intensification and plant diversity in Mediterranean dryland cereal fields: implications for conservation

Abstract

Sans, F.X., Armengot, L., Bassa, M., Blanco-Moreno, J.M., Caballero-López, B., Chamorro, L., José-María, L. (2013). Agricultural intensification and plant diversity in Mediterranean dryland cereal fields: implications for conservation. Ecosistemas 22(1):30-35. Doi.:10.7818/ECOS.2013.22-1.06

The paper analyses the importance of plant diversity in agroecosystems and the effects of the intensification of agricultural practices and the complexity of the landscape on plant diversity. A review of several studies conducted by the research team shows that agricultural intensification, at field and landscape scales, negatively affects the abundance and richness of the flora. The comparison of weed communities from the 50s to the present reflects the reduction of weed flora, especially characteristic arable weeds, and the decline in abundance of functional groups such as legumes and insect-pollinated species. The effect of both agricultural practices and landscape complexity depends on the studied flora. Thus, landscape complexity is the main factor shaping vegetation of field boundaries whereas the intensity of agricultural practices is the most important factor in explaining differences in the weed flora in the centre of the fields. Finally, the paper discusses several proposals for farmland management aiming at reconciling crop production and biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean region.