The Farm4Bio project: investigating the relationship between uncropped land and beneficial invertebrates.

Abstract

The overall project's aim is to determine whether management of uncropped land for biodiversity on conventional arable farms can achieve significant and measurable increases in biodiversity, that are at least equivalent to those attained on organic farms. The proportion and type of land usage within and surrounding the I km² study areas is also being investigated for a range of organisms that include natural enemies of pests for which results are presented. The numbers of pests and their natural enemies within grass margins were positively related to the proportion of arable land in the 3 x 3km surrounding the study area. Numbers of hoverflies were similar in a range of sown non-crop habitats, but lower in grass margins and natural regeneration. The findings indicate that sown wildlife habitats can support natural enemies but landscape usage is also a key driver.