Potential benefits of commercial willow Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) for farm-scale plant and invertebrate communities in the agri-environment
نویسندگان
چکیده
The cultivation of bioenergy crops (BECs) represents a significant land-use change in agrienvironments, but their deployment has raised important issues globally regarding possible impacts on biodiversity. Few studies however, have systematically examined the effect of commercial scale bioenergy plantations on biodiversity in agri-ecosystems. In this study we investigate how the abundance and diversity of two key components of farmland biodiversity (ground flora and winged invertebrates) varied between mature willow Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and two alternative land-use options (arable crops and set-aside land). Although the abundance of winged invertebrates was similar across all land-uses, taxonomic composition varied markedly. Hymenoptera and large Hemiptera (>5 mm) were more abundant in willow SRC than in arable or set-aside. Similarly although plant species richness was greater in set-aside, our data show that willow SRC supports a different plant community to the other land-uses, being dominated by competitive perennial species such as Elytrigia repens and Urtica dioica. Our results suggest that under current management practices a mixed farming system incorporating willow SRC can benefit native farm-scale biodiversity. In particular the reduced disturbance in willow SRC allows the persistence of perennial plant species, potentially providing a stable refuge and food sources for invertebrates. In addition, increased Hymenoptera abundance in willow SRC could potentially have concomitant effects on ecosystem processes, as many members of this Order are important pollinators of crop plants or otherwise fulfil an important beneficial role as predators or parasites of crop pests. a 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 114 115 116 117 118 119 92335. e), [email protected] (D. Clarke), [email protected] (C.P. Doncaster), [email protected]. th, School of Biological Sciences, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom. outh.ac.uk , School of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Stirling, FK9 4LA, United Kingdom. k 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 , et al., Potential benefits of commercial willow Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) for farmnities in the agri-environment, Biomass and Bioenergy (2010), doi:10.1016/ shed by Elsevier Ltd. b i om a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y x x x ( 2 0 1 0 ) 1e1 2 2 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 JBB2049_proof ■ 1 September 2010 ■ 2/12
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