Category: Grasslands

Agriculture, Grasslands, Research summaries, Themed collections

Diversifying plant communities in vineyards to increase natural pest control services

Léa Beaumelle and Adrien Rusch introduce their team’s latest research exploring different landscape contexts to identify ways to best foster natural pest control on agricultural lands. Insects and arthropods play key roles in agricultural systems. Arthropods comprise pests, such as aphids or caterpillars, but also beneficial organisms: predators such as spiders and ground beetles (natural enemies) prey upon insect pests and limit pest populations. As … Continue reading Diversifying plant communities in vineyards to increase natural pest control services

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

A deep learning model for pollinator plant surveys

Buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) feeding on the nectar of Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) flowers © Damien Hicks Authors Damien Hicks and Christoph Kratz introduce their team’s latest research demonstrating the use of machine learning for quadrat surveys to improve accessibility and resource efficiency of current methods for floral vegetation monitoring. The nectar sugar contained in flowers is a key driver of pollinator abundance and diversity. … Continue reading A deep learning model for pollinator plant surveys

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Grasslands, Research summaries, Restoration, Themed collections

Rewilding old fields: why additional effort is needed to restore wildflowers

Why has restoring old fields been a challenge for practitioners for decades? In their latest research, Tina Parkhurst, Suzanne Prober and Rachel Standish explore the efficacy of intervention efforts to understand limitations in current practices. Globally, there is a trend towards widespread abandonment of marginal agricultural land. Land abandonment is often associated with land degradation following long-term unsustainable agricultural practices, resulting in low productivity. Whilst … Continue reading Rewilding old fields: why additional effort is needed to restore wildflowers

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Pollinators, Practitioners, Research summaries

Bee abundance estimates vary by collection method and flowering richness

Monitoring bee populations is becoming increasingly important and commonplace, but do current methods produce reliable estimates of bee communities? Authors Marirose Kuhlman and Philip Hahn explore this question in their latest research. Wild bees are the main pollinators in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems and are essential to the reproductive cycles of many native plants, agricultural crops, and to the success of habitat restoration projects. Because … Continue reading Bee abundance estimates vary by collection method and flowering richness

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Editor's Choice, Grasslands, Practitioners, Restoration, Themed collections

ESE Editor’s Choice 2:2 – Restoring ecosystems and our well-being

Associate Editor Elizabeth Bach introduces our latest Editor’s Choice article by Patrick Swanson who calls for a new paradigm in ecosystem restoration called ‘Restorative recreation’. Ecosystem restoration seeks to reunite native plants and animals in degraded ecosystem, improving biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Many people deeply involved in ecosystem restoration also recognize the process of learning and restoring an ecosystem deepens our understanding of the natural … Continue reading ESE Editor’s Choice 2:2 – Restoring ecosystems and our well-being

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Grasslands, Invasive species, Perspectives, Practitioners, Research summaries, Restoration, Themed collections

Restorative recreation: One landowner’s restoration experience in Iowa’s Loess Hills

In his latest From Practice article, author and landowner Patrick Swanson describes his experience restoring a native prairie remnant in Iowa’s Loess Hills and introduces a new paradigm that maximizes benefits to personal wellbeing while improving the landscape for other species. This article is part of the cross-journal, cross-society Special Feature on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystems worldwide are under mounting stress from … Continue reading Restorative recreation: One landowner’s restoration experience in Iowa’s Loess Hills

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Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Fire is a globally important driver of ecosystem composition, structure and function

In fire-prone landscapes, appropriate fire management may help bring native mammals back from the brink of extinction. In a new paper, Shaw et al. use prescribed burning to understand how small mammal populations recover after fire, so that recovery mechanisms can be incorporated into management strategies. Fire plays a pivotal role in ecosystems around the world, influencing where species are found, their abundance in the … Continue reading Fire is a globally important driver of ecosystem composition, structure and function

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Grasslands, Invasive species, Research summaries, Restoration, Translation

በኬንያ ባሪንጎ ካውንቲ የፕሮሶፒስ ጁሊፍሎራ መቆጣጠር የአከባቢዉን መሀበረሰብ የኑሮ ሁኔታን በከፍተኛ ማሻሻሉን ያሳያል

This post is also available in English (here) and Swahili (here) የአየር ንብረት ለውጥ፣ የመሬት መበላሸትና እንደ ፕሮሶፒስ ጁሊፍሎራ ያሉ ወራሪ የባዕድ ዝርያዎች  በደረቅ እና ከፊል-ደረቅ አካባቢዎች ለባህላዊ የሰዎች  ኑሮ ዋና አደጋዎች ናቸው።እነዚህ ምክንያቶች በአርብቶ አደር እና በከፍል-አርብቶ አደሮች ዋና ሀብት የሆነውን የእጽዋት ባዮማስን ጨምሮ በስነ-ምህዳር አገልግሎቶች ላይ አሉታዊ ተፅእኖዎች አላቸው። በዶ/ር ሬኔ ኤሽቼን እና ባልደረቦቻቸው የተደረገ ጥናት እንደሚያመለክተው ወራሪ እንጨት የሆነዉን ፕሮሶፒስ ጁሊፍሎራን በማፅዳት … Continue reading በኬንያ ባሪንጎ ካውንቲ የፕሮሶፒስ ጁሊፍሎራ መቆጣጠር የአከባቢዉን መሀበረሰብ የኑሮ ሁኔታን በከፍተኛ ማሻሻሉን ያሳያል

Journal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Grasslands, Invasive species, Research summaries, Restoration, Translation

Mikakati madhubuti ya kudhibiti Mathenge (Prosopis juliflora) yaonyesha mafanikio makubwa katika kuboresha maisha ya wananchi wa Kaunti ya Baringo, Kenya

This post is also available in English (here) and Amharic (here).   Mabadiliko ya tabia ya nchi, uharibifu wa mazingira na ueneaji wa mimea vamizi kama Mathenge (Kitaalamu Prosopis juliflora) ni tishio kubwa kwa upatikanaji endelevu wa kipato kwa jamii zinazoishi maeneo makame. Changamoto hizi pia zinaathiri mifumo ya kiikolojia katika kutoa huduma kama malisho kwa mifugo ambayo ni rasilimali muhimu kwa wafugaji na wakulima. … Continue reading Mikakati madhubuti ya kudhibiti Mathenge (Prosopis juliflora) yaonyesha mafanikio makubwa katika kuboresha maisha ya wananchi wa Kaunti ya Baringo, Kenya

Journal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Grasslands, Invasive species, Research summaries, Restoration

Spatially explicit scenarios for management of an invasive woody weed in Baringo County, Kenya, reveal significant livelihood benefits

This post is also available in Amharic (here) and Swahili (here). A new study by Eschen and colleagues suggests that clearing the invasive woody weed, Prosopis julifora, and subsequently restoring this land into grassland may have significant financial benefits for local stakeholders and contribute to climate change mitigation in Baringo County, Kenya. Climate change, land degradation, and invasive alien species (IAS), such as Prosopis julifora, … Continue reading Spatially explicit scenarios for management of an invasive woody weed in Baringo County, Kenya, reveal significant livelihood benefits

Journal of Applied Ecology2 Comments