Approaches to Maintain Biodiversity in Irrigated Landscapes (original) (raw)
Environmental Conservation, 2011
Worldwide, irrigation development has affected preexisting natural habitats and created novel aquatic habitats, and future changes in management will continue to influence flood-dependent vegetation and fauna. Irrigated agriculture has had a profound influence on native biodiversity in the Riverina region of temperate Australia. Current irrigation practices provide large amounts of water to the landscape in the form of constructed wetland habitats: irrigation channels, impoundments and flooded crop-growing areas. Flooded rice bays support many species of native wetland plants, and 12 of the 14 species of frog recorded in the region. All constructed habitats provide a food resource for waterbirds, but not breeding habitat. While a species of tortoise benefits from the provision of constructed habitats, terrestrial reptiles and mammals are most abundant in remaining native vegetation. The climate is predicted to become increasingly hot and dry, with a reduced and more variable supply of irrigation water, thus placing increasing stress on farming and on natural ecosystems. The predicted reduction of constructed aquatic habitats may affect the native species using them, but may not have a major adverse impact on biodiversity regionally because the species recorded in constructed habitats tend be abundant and widespread, and such species also occur in natural wetland habitats. Sensitive species that depend on native vegetation persisting in reasonable amounts and in good condition are at greater risk. In the Riverina, the remaining native vegetation should be managed to protect and improve its condition, including appropriate managed inundation events for flood-dependent communities. The landscape should be managed to provide the best context for the function and health of existing vegetation including moderating the effects of soil disturbance, fertilizers and herbicides. The impacts of changed irrigation practices should be mitigated through managed flooding of remnant vegetation. In countries with more evolved, traditional rice-growing systems than the Riverina, there will be greater emphasis on biodiversity coexistence with cultivation. Nonetheless, in all settings there is value in jointly considering the role of both natural and constructed habitats in biodiversity research and conservation.
bioRxiv, 2020
This study presents some of the first evidence of the effects of nature based agricultural mitigation measures on freshwater biodiversity at catchment level. We measured alpha (site) and gamma (catchment) richness in all waterbody types (streams, ponds, ditches) present in three upper-catchments in the English lowlands to investigate whether adding (i) ecosystem services measures and (ii) biodiversity protection measures would increase freshwater plant biodiversity. All catchments saw a background decline in macrophytes during the nine-year survey period, with a mean species loss of 1% pa, and a rare species loss of 2% pa. Ponds were a lynchpin habitat with a disproportionate influence on catchment trends. Five years after introducing nature based measures, regression analysis shows that natural colonisation of ecosystem services waterbodies (bunded streams and ditches, runoff ponds, flood storage ponds) largely cancelled-out the background catchment decline in plant richness but, i...
New services and roles of biodiversity in modern agroecosystems: A review
Ecological Indicators, 2018
Ecosystem services and biodiversity are critical to ensure sustainable development of agricultural activities. Based on available scientific knowledge, high shares of biodiversity are followed by more carbon sequestration, reduced soil erosion risk, improved production and food security. This review aims to detect biodiversity services in three aspects; (1) providing ecosystem services in modern agroecosystems in response to future challenges, (2) the ability of biodiversity to support agroecosystems, and (3) the agenda for future research on biodiversity. To address our research objectives, we conducted a widespread literature search to estimate new services and roles of biodiversity in modern agroecosystems. The search was set from the date of the first relevant article until the end of the year 2017. Biodiversity is measured by many indices. Many recent studies have proposed new methods and software for biodiversity assessment such as BioFTF, BAT, LaDy and Entropart. According to the present literature review, biodiversity has a pervasive role in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Levels of biodiversity, such as genetic, species and ecosystem, can affect pest control in several ways such as biological control, resulting in complex multi-trophic interactions. The relationships between land use and biodiversity are fundamental in understanding the links between people and their environment. Two models have been planned to increase production in agroecosystems whilst minimizing the consequences for biodiversity: land sharing and land sparing. Studies have shown how biodiversity can be integrated into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on a global scale. LCA mainly introduces biodiversity as an endpoint category modeled as a loss in species richness due to the conversion and management of land in time and space. This review shows that ecological restoration of agroecosystems is generally effective and can be recommended as a way to increase biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems. The conservation, management, and sustainable use of these services require specific attention and a coherent global policy approach. In conclusion, to protect biodiversity in agroecosystems, a policy consonance and strategic support to ecosystems should be considered. This review suggests that advanced research are needed on relationships between biodiversity and genetic erosion, map of life, pest control and urban agriculture. 1) the ability of biodiversity to support ecosystems as modern
Biodiversity of Water Storages on Irrigation Farms in the Border Rivers Catchment
2006
Floodplains along river systems of the northern Murray-Darling Basin contain a diversity of wetland habitats, maintained through highly variable pa� erns of fl ood inundation. However, in catchments such as the Border Rivers, the development of irrigation farms on fl oodplain areas and subsequent fl ow regulation has infl uenced the extent and frequency of fl oods and led to a decrease in the distribution of wetlands. Due to the fl ow variability of the system, irrigators use onfarm water storages to store water until required for irrigation. With the decline in natural wetlands, these water storages may now represent a key form of artifi cial aquatic habitat within the Border Rivers. However, there has been li� le investigation into the ecological value of on-farm storages in Australia.
Editorial: Freshwater biodiversity crisis: Multidisciplinary approaches as tools for conservation
Frontiers in Environmental Science
Editorial on the Research Topic Freshwater biodiversity crisis: Multidisciplinary approaches as tools for conservation Freshwater ecosystems represent less than 0.5% of Earth's surface, and less than 0.01% of Earth's water volume (Miller, 2021; Val et al., 2022). Despite comprising just a small percentage of space compared to terrestial and marine environments, freshwater ecosystems support astonishing levels of biodiversity (Albert et al., 2020; Miller, 2021; Val et al., 2022). For instance, freshwater fishes alone correspond to more than 20% of all vertebrate species (Miller, 2021; Val et al., 2022). Freshwater ecosystems encompass extremely diverse habitats, such as streams, medium to large sized rivers (e.g., Amazon, Nile and Mekong), small ponds, lakes or even very large lakes (e.g., African Great Lakes), waterfalls, rapids, marshes, flooded areas, swamps, puddles, pools (temporary or permanent), underground waters, and rivers or lakes inside caves. The conditions and characteristics of these environments can vary greatly, including the type of the substrate (rocky, sandy or muddy), water flow (lotic or lentic), water pH (ranging from acidic to alkaline), amount of water dissolved oxygen, sunlight exposure, water temperature, vegetation cover, type of bank (rocky, sandy or with plants), depth, turbidity, and many other variables. Environmental filtering drives the composition of species assemblages and the diversification of freshwater species, often resulting in niche specialists with specific habitat adaptations (Dudgeon et al., 2006). Human activities pose serious threats to the persistance of freshwater biodiversity due to damage and modification of ecosystems that specialist species rely on, and even complete habitat destruction (Figure 1) (
Biodiversity conservation in agriculture requires a multi-scale approach
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Biodiversity loss—one of the most prominent forms of modern environmental change—has been heavily driven by terrestrial habitat loss and, in particular, the spread and intensification of agriculture. Expanding agricultural land-use has led to the search for strong conservation strategies, with some suggesting that biodiversity conservation in agriculture is best maximized by reducing local management intensity, such as fertilizer and pesticide application. Others highlight the importance of landscape-level approaches that incorporate natural or semi-natural areas in landscapes surrounding farms. Here, we show that both of these practices are valuable to the conservation of biodiversity, and that either local or landscape factors can be most crucial to conservation planning depending on which types of organisms one wishes to save. We performed a quantitative review of 266 observations taken from 31 studies that compared the impacts of localized (within farm) management strategies and...
Kailbri International Educational Trust, 522, Mahagun Villa, Sector 4, Vaishali, Ghaziabad. Ph: 8800688996 307, Eastern Katchery Road, Meerut. 250001 www.kiet.asia, 2018
This book entitle “Advances in Agriculture and Biodiversity” is useful and beneficial to readers, teachers and students and would create in them the urge to know more about recent researchers going related to Agriculture and biodiversity. Agriculture is one of the key motors of the global economy. It is a source of foods, fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It provides livelihoods and subsistence for the largest number of people worldwide. It is vital to rural development and therefore critical to poverty alleviation. Cultivated land, including arable lands and shifting cultivation, covers approximately 24 percent of the world's land area. Partly or fully irrigated agriculture claims 70 percent of the world's developed fresh water supplies. Today, agriculture accounts for over 38 percent of global employment. The ecosystems of our planet produce a wealth of nourishing food. Vast quantities of grain are harvested from its plain sand steppes, valleys and terraces; while its orchards brim with fruit. Biodiversity is the root of this plenty: the variety of crops and food on which human civilizations have grown and depend is possible because of the tremendous variety of life on Earth. If the Earth’s population is to feed itself in the 21st century and beyond, humankind needs to preserve the biodiversity that grants us our own complex and diverse lives. Biodiversity and the ecosystem services it supports are crucial for successful agriculture. Agriculture relies on biodiversity for pollination, the creation of genetically diverse plant and crop varieties, development of robust, insect or disease-resistant strains, crop protection and watershed control. In short, agriculture has a high level of dependence on the whole range of ecosystem services.