Land-use intensity and the effects of organic farming on biodiversity: a hierarchical meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: The benefits of organic farming to biodiversity in agricultural landscapes continue to be hotly debated, emphasizing the importance of precisely quantifying the effect of organic vs. conventional farming. We conducted an updated hierarchical meta-analysis of studies that compared biodiversity under organic and conventional farming methods, measured as species richness. We calculated effect sizes for 184 observations garnered from 94 studies, and for each study, we obtained three standardized measures reflecting land-use intensity. We investigated the stability of effect sizes through time, publication bias due to the 'file drawer' problem, and consider whether the current literature is representative of global organic farming patterns. On average, organic farming increased species richness

SUBMITTER: Tuck SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4299503 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature