Organic farming and landscape structure: effects on insect-pollinated plant diversity in intensively managed grasslands.

ABSTRACT: Parallel declines in insect-pollinated plants and their pollinators have been reported as a result of agricultural intensification. Intensive arable plant communities have previously been shown to contain higher proportions of self-pollinated plants compared to natural or semi-natural plant communities. Though intensive grasslands are widespread, it is not known whether they show similar patterns to arable systems nor whether local and/or landscape factors are influential. We investigated plant community composition in 10 pairs of organic and conventional dairy farms across Ireland in relation to the local and landscape context. Relationships between plant groups and local factors (farming system, position in field and soil parameters) and landscape factors (e.g. landscape complexity) were

SUBMITTER: Power EF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3364189 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature