Making agricultural landscapes more sustainable for freshwater biodiversity: a case study from southern England

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bella Davies ◽  
Jeremy Biggs ◽  
Penny Williams ◽  
Stewart Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Southern England

scholarly journals Fishing with Pesticides Affects River Fisheries and Community Health in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, Nicaragua

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10152
Author(s):  
Joel T. Betts ◽  
Juan F. Mendoza Espinoza ◽  
Armando J. Dans ◽  
Christopher A. Jordan ◽  
Joshua L. Mayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Health ◽  
Study Participant ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Aluminum Phosphide ◽  
Pesticides In Water ◽  
Biological Reserve ◽  
Destructive Fishing

The practice of harvesting fish and crustaceans by using pesticides is understudied and under-reported in tropical inland fisheries yet poses a significant threat to freshwater biodiversity and community health. This research provides a brief review of the practice and an in-depth case study from southeast Nicaragua. In 2019, 86 interviews and 5 focus groups were conducted in remote communities in the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve (IMBR) and nearby surrounding area and combined with 4 years of local Indigenous Rama and Afrodescendent Kriol community forest ranger data. Forest rangers and 74% of interviewees reported that fishing with pesticides occurs in their communities, including both inside the IMBR and in the nearby surrounding area. The practice is primarily used by illegal settlers, and not by Rama and Kriol communities who have rights to the land in the IMBR. It entails the release of liquid pesticides in water or mixing powdered pesticides with corn flour and using the mixture as bait. Of seven chemicals reported, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, and Aluminum Phosphide were most common. The use of ichthyotoxic woody plants was more rarely reported. Habitats targeted ranged from swift headwaters to slow pools in small creeks to larger rivers, depending on target species. Main uses reported for the catch were food for family, bait to catch larger fish, and for sale. The main motivation was increased catch efficiency. Many interviewees attributed stomach issues, diarrhea, cough, convulsions, and miscarriage to exposure to poisoned river water. Twenty-five interviewees blamed poisoned rivers for livestock miscarriages or death. Severe local losses of fish and shrimp populations were reported. Rama and Kriol interviewees describe the practice as a threat to their river-based food security. Despite its illegality, no study participant knew a case of pesticide fishing that had been prosecuted. This destructive fishing practice has significant implications for conservation of the intact river systems of the primary rainforests of southeast Nicaragua, and to the local traditional fisheries they support.

Advances in understanding the biology and epidemiology of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV)

2021 ◽  
pp. 709-746
Author(s):  
Douglas Lau ◽  
◽  
Talita Bernardon Mar ◽  
Carlos Diego Ribeiro dos Santos ◽  
Eduardo Engel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Yellow Dwarf ◽  
Dwarf Virus ◽  
Barley Yellow Dwarf ◽  
The World ◽  
Trophic Network ◽  
Rational Management ◽  
Yellow Dwarf Virus

A tri-trophic network of domesticated grasses (host), various aphids (vector) and barley yellow dwarf virus (pathogen) species has been spread by humans from Eurasia to the rest of the world. Understanding how climate, natural and agricultural landscapes challenge pathogens, vectors, and their natural enemies and shape their dynamics is the key to managing this pathosystem. This chapter provides an overview of this complex system and its evolution. The chapter includes a case study of biological control of aphids causing wheat BYDV in Brazil. The current challenge is to create tools that integrate knowledge of this complex pathosystem and facilitate monitoring and decision making for rational management to reduce the burden of disease.

scholarly journals The importance of non-forest tree stand features for protection of the Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus in agricultural landscape: a case study from South-Eastern Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 1825-1835
Author(s):  
Jerzy Michalczuk
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Dendrocopos Syriacus

Abstract Non-forest tree stands are important habitats for many species of birds in the agricultural landscape. They are also the main habitat of the Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus, whose numbers have been decreasing in recent years in some parts of Europe. Recognition of the habitat requirements of this species may help better planning of its protection in the context of the treed agricultural landscapes. During this study, the habitat preferences of the Syrian Woodpecker were determined in the agricultural landscape of South-Eastern Poland. A set of 12 habitat parameters of tree stands located in the breeding territories of the Syrian Woodpecker (n = 122) and in randomly chosen control areas (n = 122) located outside the range of the breeding territories of this species were characterized. The number and species diversity of trees was significantly higher in stands located in Syrian Woodpecker territories than in the random control areas. Stands occupied by breeding pairs also had trees of worse health condition and a larger proportion of fruit trees. The model best explaining the probability of the occurrence of the species indicates that the Syrian Woodpecker requires mainly the presence of tree stands with a greater species diversity of trees, as well as tree stands in worse health condition. When planning the protection of this species’ habitats in the agricultural landscape, the characteristics of non-forest tree stands noted above should be taken into account.

scholarly journals Relevance of Intermittent Rivers and Streams in Agricultural Landscape and Their Impact on Provided Ecosystem Services—A Mediterranean Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 2693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Kaletová ◽  
Luis Loures ◽  
Rui Alexandre Castanho ◽  
Elena Aydin ◽  
José Telo da Gama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Intermittent Rivers ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Classification Tool ◽  
The Impact

Ecosystem services (ES), as an interconnection of the landscape mosaic pieces, along with temporal rivers (IRES) are an object of research for environmental planners and ecological economists, among other specialists. This study presents (i) a review on the importance of IRES and the services they can provide to agricultural landscapes; (ii) a classification tool to assess the impact of IRES to provide ES by agricultural landscapes; (iii) the application of the proposed classification to the Caia River in order to identify the importance of this intermittent river for its surrounding agricultural landscape. The classification of the ES follows the Common International Classification of Ecosystem (CICES) classification that was adapted for the purposes of this study. Firstly, the list of ES provided by agricultural landscape was elaborated. In the next step, we assessed the potential of IRES to provide ES. Next, IRES impacts to ES within the agricultural landscape were evaluated according to observations from the conducted field monitoring in the study area. This study focuses on the relevance of the intermittent Caia River—a transboundary river in Spain and Portugal—and its ephemeral tributaries in the agricultural landscape. Our study estimates that each hydrological phase of IRES increases the ES provided by the agricultural landscape. However, the dry phase can potentially have negative impacts on several services. The intensification of the agricultural sector is the main provision of the water resource within the Caia River basin, but we were able to identify several other ES that were positively impacted. The present study is in line with the conclusions of other authors who state that IRES constitute a valuable resource which should not be underestimated by society.

scholarly journals Assessing the Benefits of Forested Riparian Zones: A Qualitative Index of Riparian Integrity Is Positively Associated with Ecological Status in European Streams

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis J. Burdon ◽  
Ellinor Ramberg ◽  
Jasmina Sargac ◽  
Marie Anne Eurie Forio ◽  
Nancy de Saeyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Riparian Buffers ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Land Use Impacts ◽  
Freshwater Biodiversity ◽  
Functional Relationships ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Qualitative Index

Developing a general, predictive understanding of ecological systems requires knowing how much structural and functional relationships can cross scales and contexts. Here, we introduce the CROSSLINK project that investigates the role of forested riparian buffers in modified European landscapes by measuring a wide range of ecosystem attributes in stream-riparian networks. CROSSLINK involves replicated field measurements in four case-study basins with varying levels of human development: Norway (Oslo Fjord), Sweden (Lake Mälaren), Belgium (Zwalm River), and Romania (Argeş River). Nested within these case-study basins include multiple, independent stream-site pairs with a forested riparian buffer and unbuffered section located upstream, as well as headwater and downstream sites to show cumulative land-use impacts. CROSSLINK applies existing and bespoke methods to describe habitat conditions, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Here, we summarize the approaches used, detail protocols in supplementary materials, and explain how data is applied in an optimization framework to better manage tradeoffs in multifunctional landscapes. We then present results demonstrating the range of riparian conditions present in our case-study basins and how these environmental states influence stream ecological integrity with the commonly used macroinvertebrate Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) index. We demonstrate that a qualitative index of riparian integrity can be positively associated with stream ecological status. This introduction to the CROSSLINK project shows the potential for our replicated study with its panoply of ecosystem attributes to help guide management decisions regarding the use of forested riparian buffers in human-impacted landscapes. This knowledge is highly relevant in a time of rapid environmental change where freshwater biodiversity is increasingly under pressure from a range of human impacts that include habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.

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