Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations
Abstract The loss of soil biodiversity through agricultural intensification is a major contributor to the collapse of ecosystem services. Despite their wide application to promote biodiversity, the impact of flower strips on soil organisms is largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of perennia...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-12-01
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| Series: | npj Sustainable Agriculture |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-024-00040-2 |
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| _version_ | 1841559143139246080 |
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| author | Anna Vaupel Zita Bednar-Konski Matías Olivera Nadine Herwig Bernd Hommel Lukas Beule |
| author_facet | Anna Vaupel Zita Bednar-Konski Matías Olivera Nadine Herwig Bernd Hommel Lukas Beule |
| author_sort | Anna Vaupel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The loss of soil biodiversity through agricultural intensification is a major contributor to the collapse of ecosystem services. Despite their wide application to promote biodiversity, the impact of flower strips on soil organisms is largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of perennial flower strips on earthworm communities at 46 sites with paired croplands and perennial flower strips. Earthworm population densities in flower strips were on average 231% greater than in adjacent croplands. Flower strips can enable the establishment of anecic and epigeic populations at sites at which they are absent in croplands. Furthermore, flower strips likely serve as a habitat for the reproduction of endogeic earthworms. We expect that the promotion of earthworms through flower strips improves soil functions and benefits higher trophic taxa. We propose that optimized seed mixtures, improved spatial configuration, and establishment of temporal continuity of flower strips can further promote soil ecosystem services. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6731c96e83b640cbb0930d9563eadc27 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2731-9202 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Sustainable Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-6731c96e83b640cbb0930d9563eadc272025-01-05T12:43:54ZengNature Portfolionpj Sustainable Agriculture2731-92022024-12-012111010.1038/s44264-024-00040-2Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populationsAnna Vaupel0Zita Bednar-Konski1Matías Olivera2Nadine Herwig3Bernd Hommel4Lukas Beule5Julius Kühn Institute (JKI)–Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product ProtectionJulius Kühn Institute (JKI)–Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product ProtectionWeihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT)–Institute for HorticultureJulius Kühn Institute (JKI)–Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product ProtectionJulius Kühn Institute (JKI)–Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product ProtectionJulius Kühn Institute (JKI)–Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Plant Analysis and Stored Product ProtectionAbstract The loss of soil biodiversity through agricultural intensification is a major contributor to the collapse of ecosystem services. Despite their wide application to promote biodiversity, the impact of flower strips on soil organisms is largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of perennial flower strips on earthworm communities at 46 sites with paired croplands and perennial flower strips. Earthworm population densities in flower strips were on average 231% greater than in adjacent croplands. Flower strips can enable the establishment of anecic and epigeic populations at sites at which they are absent in croplands. Furthermore, flower strips likely serve as a habitat for the reproduction of endogeic earthworms. We expect that the promotion of earthworms through flower strips improves soil functions and benefits higher trophic taxa. We propose that optimized seed mixtures, improved spatial configuration, and establishment of temporal continuity of flower strips can further promote soil ecosystem services.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-024-00040-2 |
| spellingShingle | Anna Vaupel Zita Bednar-Konski Matías Olivera Nadine Herwig Bernd Hommel Lukas Beule Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations npj Sustainable Agriculture |
| title | Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| title_full | Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| title_fullStr | Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| title_short | Perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| title_sort | perennial flower strips in agricultural landscapes strongly promote earthworm populations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-024-00040-2 |
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