Review
Ecology
Martina Ferraguti, Sergio Magallanes, Marcela Suarez-Rubio, Paul J. J. Bates, Alfonso Marzal, Swen C. Renner
Summary: Global change has been linked to increased vector-borne diseases. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the impact of land-use on disease transmission. The study found that land-use intensity and host-vector species significantly affect disease prevalence.
Article
Business
Hualin Xie, Yingqian Huang, Yongrok Choi, Jiaying Shi
Summary: The study utilized energy analysis to assess the impact of cultivated land use on resources and the environment, revealing that the net loss of topsoil poses significant pressure on land protection, and the continuous increase in waste emissions requires agricultural managers to improve input factors.
TECHNOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND SOCIAL CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Qiangyi Yu, Mingtao Xiang, Zhanli Sun, Wenbin Wu
Summary: This study tests the hypothesis that cropland use intensity measured by different indicators may differ, using empirical evidence from a major breadbasket in Southern China. The results confirm the inconsistency among intensification indicators, suggesting the need for a better understanding of the multidimensionality of cropland intensification process for policy implications.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
A. Leizeaga, C. Duran, L. C. Hicks, H. Sanden, M. Wondie, J. Rousk
Summary: The study found that microbial utilization of organic matter is influenced by legacies of climate and land use along a tropical climate gradient. Factors such as microbial biomass, structure, growth rates, carbon and nitrogen transformation were all impacted by these legacies.
GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
(2022)
Review
Environmental Studies
S. V. R. K. Prabhakar
Summary: This paper discusses the major drivers and impacts of agricultural land-use changes in the Asia region, highlighting the issues in the ecosystem caused by the rapid population growth and increased agricultural productivity. Despite limited policy interventions, coordinated land management and integrated decision support systems can be effective solutions to address land issues and achieve sustainable development.
Article
Environmental Studies
Haocong Wang, Kening Wu, Zhe Feng, Huafu Zhao, Hua Ai, Chao Meng
Summary: This research proposes a method for the parcel-based evaluation of urban commercial land intensification, using a multidimensional evaluation framework and index system. The study finds that the intensive use of urban commercial land is at a medium level and highlights the importance of considering the compatibility and diversity of external land use in evaluating land use intensification.
Article
Environmental Studies
Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Gyorgy Szabo
Summary: This study aims to identify social benefit indicators in urban land use optimization problems, proposing a composite index to measure social benefit. Spatial compactness is identified as the most influential indicator, while compatibility is critical. The potential of using the proposed social benefit index (SBI) is demonstrated in the application to Rajshahi city in Bangladesh.
Article
Agronomy
Hao Liu, Paul C. Struik, Yingjun Zhang, Jingying Jing, Tjeerd-Jan Stomph
Summary: Intercropping cereal and legume species does not improve or reduce the quality of produced feed, but it allows for more effective utilization of the land with higher production per unit area.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Maria Gomez-Tolosa, Gustavo Rivera-Velazquez, Tamara M. Rioja-Paradela, Luis F. Mendoza-Cuenca, Cesar Tejeda-Cruz, Sergio Lopez
Summary: This review analyzed the importance of Odonata for environmental assessments in the Neotropical region, finding that ecosystem health assessments were the most common type. However, due to the great diversity of habitats in the region, there is a need to establish a standardized monitoring protocol for assessing ecosystem health quality.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Sana Romdhane, Ayme Spor, Samiran Banerjee, Marie-Christine Breuil, David Bru, Abad Chabbi, Sara Hallin, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Aurelien Saghai, Laurent Philippot
Summary: This study investigates the long-term effects of changes in land-use intensity on the soil microbiome through a field experiment. The results show that land use has significant impacts on the structure and composition of bacterial, protist, and fungal communities. The study also highlights the importance of protists in soil microbial associations. Overall, this work provides a holistic understanding of the differential responses of various microbial groups to agricultural intensification.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hui Yang, Ligen Chen, Bin Yang, Zhikuan Shi
Summary: This study establishes an evaluation index system for sustainable intensification of cultivated land use (SICLU) based on emergy analysis, and applies it to evaluate SICLU in China from 2000 to 2017. The results show that SICLU in China follows a weak U-shaped trend, with the Western region having the highest SICLU value and the Eastern region having the lowest. The influencing factors analysis reveals that rural per capita net income and per capita planting area of crops play significant roles in promoting SICLU, while other factors have inhibitory effects.
PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
A. Christel, N. Chemidlin Prevost-Boure, S. Dequiedt, N. Saby, F. Mercier, J. Tripied, G. Comment, J. Villerd, C. Djemiel, A. Hermant, M. Blondon, L. Bargeot, E. Matagne, W. Horrigue, P. A. Maron, L. Ranjard
Summary: This study investigated the impact of land use intensification on soil microbial communities in a 3300 km(2) area in Burgundy, France. The results showed that land use intensification had different effects on microbial biomass and diversity, with soil organic carbon content being the main driver for microbial biomass and soil texture and pH being the best predictors for bacterial and fungal richness, respectively. Microbial diversity was less sensitive to land use intensification, while fungal richness was more impacted than bacteria. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed a significant decline in network complexity with land use intensification. Grouping of cropland plots based on agricultural practices confirmed that microbial parameters exhibited different responses to soil management intensification. These findings contribute to evaluating the vulnerability of microbial parameters to land use intensity at a territorial scale.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Soil Science
Iwona Gruss, Rui Yin, Siebert Julia, Nico Eisenhauer, Martin Schaedler
Summary: This study examined the impact of climate change and land use patterns on the biomass patterns of Collembola, focusing on different life forms. The results showed that the response of Collembola biomass to these changes varied among different life forms. Specifically, surface-dwelling Collembola experienced a significant decrease in biomass, while soil-living Collembola were less affected. The reduction in Collembola biomass was mainly due to climate change-induced body size shrinkage and intensive land use-induced density reduction.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Anne-Mette Hjalager, Jan Kloster Staunstrup, Michael Tophoj Sorensen, Rasmus Nedergard Steffansen
Summary: The study reveals a trend towards densification in second homes in Denmark, driven by rising market prices and opportunities for renting the properties to the tourism market. However, this focus on densification neglects other important sustainability goals. Therefore, a more firm and transparent planning practice is necessary.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Salar Farhangi-Abriz, Shahram Torabian, Ruijun Qin, Christos Noulas, Yanyan Lu, Suduan Gao
Summary: The study found that biochar significantly impacted the yield of maize and wheat, while the effects on other crops were not significant. The most effective application rate of biochar was found to be 1 to 10t/ha, leading to significant improvements in crop yield and growth. The combination of biochar type, soil, crop, and climate is crucial to maximize the benefits of biochar for crop production.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Entomology
Qian Li, Mengxiao Sun, Yangtian Liu, Bing Liu, Wopke van Der Werf, Felix J. J. A. Bianchi, Yanhui Lu
Summary: Korla fragrant pear depends on cross-pollination by honeybees, and the use of synthetic NGP can attract more honeybees to the pear trees, especially in orchards with beehives.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Attila Torma, Kitti Revesz, Nikolett Galle-Szpisjak, Jelena Seat, Gyozo Szel, Csaba Kutasi, Igor Malenovsky, Peter Batary, Robert Galle
Summary: Livestock grazing has significant effects on arthropod communities in alkali grasslands. Our study found that wet meadow vegetation had higher species richness and activity density of spiders and ground beetles compared to dry steppe vegetation. Grazing also influenced the community structure of arthropods, with the presence of hygrophilous species in ungrazed meadows. Additionally, the abundance and community structure of true hoppers varied depending on both vegetation type and management.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Yulin Zhu, Junhui Chen, Yi Zou, Xiaolong Huang, Ting Jiang, Kris A. G. Wyckhuys, Wopke van der Werfh, Haijun Xiao
Summary: This study investigated the role of non-crop habitat in modulating the rice stem borer and parasitoid-mediated biological control. The study found that the rice stem borer infestation levels were highest in agriculture-dominated landscapes. The parasitism rate increased with pest pressure but was not related to landscape-level non-crop habitat cover. The landscape-level responses of parasitoids were species-specific and likely modulated by functional traits. More diverse landscapes experienced lower levels of rice stem borer infestation.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Borbala Szabo, David Koranyi, Robert Galle, Gabor L. Lovei, Gabor Bakonyi, Peter Batary
Summary: Urbanization has inconsistent effects on soil invertebrates, with an increase in abundance but a decrease in species richness. This is because a few generalist species can adapt well to the urban environment and achieve higher densities. Annulids, springtails, and snails are particularly sensitive to soil compaction and pollution, causing their species richness to decrease with advancing urbanization.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Shanxing Gong, Xinsheng Zhou, Xiumei Zhu, Jingli Huo, Maede Faghihinia, Bailiang Li, Yi Zou
Summary: Organic farming generally has greater biodiversity compared to conventional farming. Few studies have examined the biodiversity in organic farming of the rice field, especially the below-ground biodiversity, and the impact of the duration of organic farming on biodiversity is not well understood. This study found that organic farming increased arthropod species richness by 40%, with a significant increase in pests (75%) and natural enemies (35%), but there was no difference in soil microbial eukaryotes. The duration of organic farming did not significantly affect the diversity of arthropods and soil microbial eukaryotes. A compatibility index was used to evaluate the trade-off between biodiversity, rice yield, and economic benefits, and the results showed that economic benefits may outweigh the biodiversity gain in organic farming.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tomas Hamrik, Nikolett Galle-Szpisjak, Peter Batary, Robert Galle
Summary: Despite the importance of forest-steppes in nature conservation, there is limited information on the contribution of different habitats to arthropod conservation. We investigated the effects of habitat type and landscape heterogeneity on spider diversity in the forest-steppes, and found that grasslands, forest edges, and forest interiors each had distinct community compositions and species traits. The increasing amount of forests positively affected species richness in grasslands but negatively in forest edges and interiors.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Georgia M. Daykin, Marcelo A. Aizen, Luke G. Barrett, Lewis J. Bartlett, Peter Batary, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Ali Guncan, Sridhar Gutam, Bea Maas, Jayalakshmi Mitnala, Flavia Montano-Centellas, Tarirai Muoni, Erik Ockinger, Ode Okechalu, Richard Ostler, Simon G. Potts, David C. Rose, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Hope O. Usieta, Obaiya G. Utoblo, Christine Watson, Yi Zou, William J. Sutherland, Amelia S. C. Hood
Summary: Many publications lack sufficient background information, hindering scientific progress and the application of science to practice. Reporting guidelines, such as checklists, can improve reporting standards. This study develops a reporting checklist (AgroEcoList 1.0) for ecological and agricultural research through a community-centred approach. The checklist is well-received by the agroecological community, indicating the need for improved reporting standards in these fields. AgroEcoList 1.0 consists of 42 variables and can serve as a guide to enhance reporting standards.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Teja Tscharntke, Peter Batary
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Katalin Szitar, Csaba Tolgyesi, Balazs Deak, Robert Galle, David Koranyi, Peter Batary
Summary: Land use changes have fragmented grasslands and caused extensive biodiversity loss. Habitat fragmentation affects species colonization and extinction probability. Fragment size and landscape-scale connectivity are important factors shaping vegetation composition.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Balazs Deak, Adam Bede, Zoltan Radai, Iwona Dembicz, Iva Apostolova, Peter Batary, Robert Galle, Csaba Albert Toth, Jozsef Dozsai, Ivan I. Moysiyenko, Barbara Sudnik-Wojcikowska, Maria Zachwatowicz, Georgi Nekhrizov, Fedor N. Lisetskii, Zhanna A. Buryak, Szabolcs Kis, Sandor Borza, Laura Godo, Tatyana M. Bragina, Ilya Smelansky, Abel Molnar, Miklos Ban, Ferenc Bathori, Zoltan Argay, Janos Dani, Reka Kiss, Orsolya Valko
Summary: Ancient civilizations have shaped global ecosystems through the coevolution of landscapes and humans. However, the cultural legacies of these civilizations are often overlooked in the conservation of the Eurasian steppe biome. This study investigated how ancient burial mounds can contribute to grassland conservation in the Eurasian steppes. The results showed that these burial mounds played a significant role in preserving grasslands, particularly in transformed landscapes outside protected areas. The study suggests that considering cultural values in conservation efforts can lead to positive synergistic effects. Rating: 8/10.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
David Koranyi, Robert Galle, Attila Torma, Nikolett Galle-Szpisjak, Peter Batary
Summary: Grassland ecosystems are facing significant habitat loss and fragmentation due to agricultural expansion. Grassland arthropods, particularly spiders and true bugs, are sensitive to these changes. This study investigated the impact of fragment size and connectivity on the functional composition and diversity of arthropod communities. The findings demonstrate the importance of small grassland fragments in maintaining high arthropod functional diversity and highlight the potential role of well-connected fragments in promoting ecosystem functioning in human-dominated landscapes.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Penelope C. Fialas, Jeremy S. P. Froidevaux, Gareth Jones, Peter Batary
Summary: The effectiveness of organic farming on biodiversity has been widely documented, but the effects of the transition period on wildlife remain poorly understood. This study found that the transition period to organic farming had detrimental effects on bat activity, and landscape complexity did not moderate these effects. Agricultural policies should consider the transition period and implement measures to mitigate negative impacts on biodiversity.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Maxime Eeraerts, Lisa W. DeVetter, Peter Batary, John J. Ternest, Rachel Mallinger, Matthew Arrington, Faye E. Benjamin, Brett R. Blaauw, Joshua W. Campbell, Pablo Cavigliasso, Jaret C. Daniels, G. Arjen de Groot, James D. Ellis, Jason Gibbs, Lauren Goldstein, George D. Hoffman, David Kleijn, Andony Melathopoulos, Sharron Z. Miller, Ana Montero-Castano, Shiala M. Naranjo, Charlie C. Nicholson, Jacquelyn A. Perkins, Sujaya Rao, Nigel E. Raine, James R. Reilly, Taylor H. Ricketts, Emma Rogers, Rufus Isaacs
Summary: Highbush blueberry production depends on insect pollination, primarily by honeybees and wild bees. Wild bees are more efficient in pollination on a single-visit basis, resulting in a higher relative contribution to pollination. Different management strategies can be adopted based on specific contexts and regions to improve blueberry pollination and yield by utilizing honeybees and wild bees.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elena Gazzea, Peter Batary, Lorenzo Marini
Summary: Animal pollination is crucial for diverse and balanced diets, improving the commercial attributes and shelf life of fruits and vegetables. However, its impact on nutritional value is limited. The meta-analysis shows that pollination plays a significant role in maintaining food quality.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)