Abstract
The importance of semi-natural vegetation elements in the agricultural landscape is increasingly recognized because they have the potential to enhance multiple ecosystem service delivery and biodiversity. However, there is great variability in the observed effects within and between studies. Also, little is known about the simultaneous delivery of multiple ecosystem services and biodiversity because most studies focus on monitoring one service at a time and in conditions specifically suited to observe this one service. In this study, the results are presented of 1 year of monitoring of a set of parcel-level and simplistic ecosystem service and biodiversity indicators on parcels with grass strips or hedgerows. In the grass strips, an increase in soil organic carbon stock, a decrease in soil mineral nitrogen content, a different carabid species composition and a higher spider activity density were found, compared to the adjacent arable parcel. These results indicate a contribution of grass strips to climate regulation, the regulation of water quality, an increase of beta diversity and potential for pest control. Next to hedgerows, crop yield was reduced and winter wheat thousand kernel weight, soil organic carbon stock and spider activity density were increased. These indicators show an effect of the hedgerow on food production, climate regulation and potential for pest control. The study concludes that both grass strips and hedgerows have the potential to increase multiple ecosystem service delivery, but that an increase of every service is not assured and that multifunctionality is affected by management choices. Also, an improved experimental setup in order to enhance ecosystem service monitoring is suggested.
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Acknowledgements
The doctoral research of Laura Van Vooren was funded by the former Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT), now Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) [grant number 131121]. E.A. was supported via an ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to K.V. (PASTFORWARD project, Grant no 614839). We want to thank Geert De Smet, Geert Haverbeke, Koen De Mey, Erwin De Clercq, Joost Walraet, Wim De Moerloze and Peter Berckmoes. Without their efforts, this research would not have been possible. We are grateful to Greet De Bruyn, Luc Willems, Jasmien De Clerck and Koen Van Loo for their help with the sample analyses. We also want to thank Tommy D’Hose, Thijs Vanden Nest, Bart Vandecasteele, Victoria Nelissen and Pallieter De Smedt for their contribution to the data interpretation.
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Appendices
Appendix A
Soil ammonium (NH4+-N) (kg ha−1) (0–90 cm) content measured on the grass strip parcels (GS 1 up to GS 6). Position −10 is in the grass strip next to the ditch, position −1 is in the grass strip next to the parcel and position 30 is 30 m in the parcel. The different sampling layers are represented
Soil nitrate (NO3--N) (kg ha−1) (0–90 cm) content measured on the grass strip parcels (GS 1 up to GS 6). Position −10 is in the grass strip next to the ditch, position −1 is in the grass strip next to the parcel and position 30 is 30 m in the parcel. The different sampling layers are represented
Appendix B
Soil ammonium (NH4+-N) (kg ha−1) (0–90 cm) content measured on the hedgerow parcels (HR 1 up to HR 4). The soil is sampled at 1, 10 and 30 m from the hedgerow. The different sampling layers are represented
Soil nitrate (NO3−-N) (kg ha−1) (0–90 cm) content measured on the hedgerow parcels (HR 1 up to HR 4). The soil is sampled at 1, 10 and 30 m from the hedgerow. The different sampling layers are represented
Appendix C
Soil P-CaCl2 (mg kg−1) (0–10 cm) concentration measured on the grass strip parcels (GS 1 up to GS 6). Position −10 is in the grass strip next to the ditch, position −1 is in the grass strip next to the parcel and position 30 is 30 m in the parcel. Error bars represent standard deviations among samples from the same row
Soil P-CaCl2 (mg kg−1) (0–10 cm) concentration measured on the hedgerow parcels (HR 1 up to HR 4). The soil is sampled at 1, 10 and 30 m from the hedgerow. Error bars represent standard deviations among samples from the same row
Appendix D
Average number of carabid species caught on the grass strip parcels (GS 1 up to GS 6). Position −5 is in the middle of the grass strip, position 10 is 10 m in the parcel and position 30 is 30 m in the parcel. Error bars represent standard deviations among samples from the same row and collections
Average number of carabid species caught on the hedgerow parcels (HR 1 up to HR 4). Carabids were collected at 1, 10 and 30 m from the hedgerow. Error bars represent standard deviations among samples from the same row and collections
Appendix E
Figure 12
Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot representing dissimilarity in carabid species composition among different sampling positions on the grass strip parcels Position −5 is in the middle of the grass strip, position 10 is 10 m in the parcel and position 30 is 30 m in the parcel. Observations from the grass strip are in green, samples from the arable land are in red
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Van Vooren, L., Reubens, B., Ampoorter, E. et al. Monitoring the Impact of Hedgerows and Grass Strips on the Performance of Multiple Ecosystem Service Indicators. Environmental Management 62, 241–259 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1043-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1043-4