Abstract
In the USA, conservation and monitoring of biodiversity on organic farms have been poorly enforced, leading to the suggestion of explicitly addressing biodiversity through the organic system plan. We use primary data to examine the efficacy of this approach. We find that that farmers reporting using no-till farming, cover crops, and buffer strips observed improved or maintained levels of pollinator and wild animal biodiversity on their farms. Those using biological pest management observed higher or constant levels of pollinators on their farms. Inclusion of questions about biodiversity on the certifier-provided template, used to guide development of the organic system plan, was determined to be positively and significantly related to the predicted probability of observing higher or constant levels of pollinator and wild animal biodiversity on their farms.
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Notes
Approved by NYU’s Institutional Review Board, IRB-FY2017-551
The question on the survey instrument asked farmers about pollinators and beneficial insects separately. Thus, while pollinators are beneficial insects, the paper discusses them individually, in order to remain consistent with the survey.
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The data collection was conducted by S. Sundius, as part of her MA project, under the supervision of C. Dimitri. J. Herrera and C. Dimitri conducted the econometric analysis. C. Dimitri took the lead on writing the final paper, with support from S. Sundius and J. Herrera.
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The data collection was approved by NYU’s Institutional Review Board, IRB-FY2017-551.
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Sundius, S., Dimitri, C. & Herrera, J. Using the organic system plan template as a policy lever for improving biodiversity on US organic farms. Org. Agr. 10 (Suppl 1), 149–157 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-020-00324-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-020-00324-0