Field sizes and the future of farmland biodiversity in European landscapes.

ABSTRACT: Lower diversity of plant and animal farmland species are usually reported where cropland has been aggregated into larger fields, which raises prospects of curbing declines in European farmland biodiversity and associated ecosystem services by halting trends to field size increases associated to agricultural intensification, without having to set aside arable land for conservation. Here, we consider the factors underlying trade-offs between farmer income and biodiversity as mediated by field size at local and landscape scales, and how these trade-offs may be overcome. Field sizes are still increasing, facilitated by increasing farm sizes and land consolidation. Decreases in working time and fuel expenses when fields are larger, uptake of larger machinery and subsidies favoring larger farms

SUBMITTER: Clough Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7816254 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature