Tag: farming

Agriculture, Infographic, Monitoring and methods, Pollinators, Research summaries

Infographic: Pollinator monitoring more than pays for itself

New research from Breeze and colleagues demonstrates that a well-designed monitoring scheme provides  excellent value for money, compared with traditional research funding models, and could help save species and protect UK food security. This infographic provides an overview of their work. ‘Our findings demonstrate that long‐term systematic monitoring can be a cost‐effective tool for both answering key research questions and setting action points for policymakers. … Continue reading Infographic: Pollinator monitoring more than pays for itself

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Monitoring and methods, Pollinators, Research summaries

Pollinator monitoring more than Pays for Itself

In their latest research, Breeze and colleagues evaluate the costs of running pollinator monitoring schemes against the economic benefits to research and the society that they provide Take a look at the accompanying infographic here Bees, hoverflies and other insects provide vital pollination services to crops and wild plants throughout the UK. There is a lot of information demonstrating that these insects are declining but … Continue reading Pollinator monitoring more than Pays for Itself

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Forests, Research summaries

Improving soil fertility in cocoa agroforests using the most suitable shade tree species

Can leaf quality explain the influence of shade tree species on the fertility of cocoa farms? Marie Sauvadet and colleagues summarise their recent research. Cocoa, a major commodity worldwide, is largely produced by smallholder farms in developing countries. With limited access to synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, smallhold farmers traditionally lean on cocoa ecology to ensure their harvest thorough the years. Cocoa naturally grows under the … Continue reading Improving soil fertility in cocoa agroforests using the most suitable shade tree species

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Journal covers, Research summaries

Cover stories: is fallow management relevant to improving habitat suitability for steppe birds?  

Research by Ana Sanz‐Pérez et. al. shows how managing the vegetation structure of fallow fields with agricultural practices commonly used by farmers increases the occurrence of endangered steppe bird species. This work features as our September cover image, taken by Jordi Bas. Read a summary of the research and explore the promotion of fallow management in our latest cover story. And don’t forget to scroll … Continue reading Cover stories: is fallow management relevant to improving habitat suitability for steppe birds?  

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Agriculture, Coastal and marine, Grasslands

Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?

Following a recently published Research Article, Jennifer Smart explores this question and considers ways we can continue to work with the farming community to achieve conservation goals. Jennifer worked on this post with the British Ecological Society Policy team. In contemporary landscapes, grazing by domesticated cattle and sheep has become an increasingly important aspect of grassland management. This is largely because natural processes such as … Continue reading Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?

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Agriculture, Infographic, Research summaries

Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Is it possible to meet food demands and increase production without the damaging costs to the environment? Patrick White et al. tackle this challenge in their recently published research in the journal. As the world population grows, our finite land is put under increasing pressure to meet food demands. Historically we have increased agricultural yields by increasing the intensity of agricultural practices – for example … Continue reading Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Monitoring Welsh agri-environment schemes

Alongside the British Ecological Society Policy team, Michael MacDonald looks at the future of environmental funding in agricultural landscapes and discusses his new article, Have Welsh agri-environment schemes delivered for focal species? Results from a comprehensive monitoring programme. Agri-environment schemes (AES) have been European governments’ major attempt to reduce and reverse biodiversity losses on farmland. However, there have been criticisms of the performance of AES, … Continue reading Monitoring Welsh agri-environment schemes

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Research summaries, Themed collections

Spotlight: Managing biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland landscapes

Issue 56:1 of Journal of Applied Ecology turns its focus to innovative developments in sustainable food production with the Spotlight, Landscape‐level design for managing biodiversity in agroecosystems. Associate Editor, Tomas Pärt and colleagues from The Landscape Ecology Network group at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences summarize the importance of this new collection of work. How should we use and manage agricultural landscapes for sustainable … Continue reading Spotlight: Managing biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland landscapes

Journal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Conferences and events, Journal news, Perspectives

To share or to spare…

That is the question Associate Editor, Gavin Siriwardena (British Trust for Ornithology) invites you to explore at a new Interactive Session during this year’s British Ecological Society Annual Meeting. Here he offers an insight into ‘When and how are land-sparing and land-sharing appropriate for environmental management’? Find out how you can get involved here. Recent studies have proposed land-sparing as an optimal solution for biodiversity … Continue reading To share or to spare…

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Research summaries

The orchard guardian: pest vole control by owls

Following the recently published article, Effectiveness of vole control by owls in apple orchards, Chie Murano highlights the vital role predators such as Ural owls play in protecting farmers’ produce from pests.   Voles are one of the world’s major pests. For the past few decades, Japanese farmers, especially apple producers have suffered from escalating levels of apple tree damage caused by the Japanese field … Continue reading The orchard guardian: pest vole control by owls

Journal of Applied Ecology3 Comments