TITLE:
Enhanced Species Diversity Unlocked by Habitat Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes: New Perspectives on Ecological Weed Management and Sustainable Intensification—Species Diversity and Habitat Conservation
AUTHORS:
Michael Ignatius Ferreira
KEYWORDS:
Crop mosaics, Field Margins, Hedgerows, Microbial Nitrogen Immobilization, Semi-Natural Habitats, Soil Microbes, Weed Cross-Resistance, Weed Seed Predation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
6,
2024
ABSTRACT: The impulse to remain profitable by increasing agricultural production levels in view of the greater demand for food, provided impetus to production intensification. The aim of this review is to summarise current literature, reporting specifically on the impact of production intensification on habitats and yield constraints caused by weeds. Secondly, in alleviating these effects over the short term, ecological measures that enhance species diversity in conserved habitats and promote semi-natural habitats in the agricultural landscape, are discussed. In large-scale intensive agriculture, weed control is predominantly rooted in agrochemical applications in the form of herbicides. Long lasting intensive agricultural practices show discord both with the promotion of the biodiversity of microbes belowground and aboveground and with organisms involved in the breaking down of plant material. The presence of native species in the surroundings, in combination with hedgerows and field margins, with a comparatively intricate and balanced variety of plants in a sheltered environment, are essential for settlement of benign insects, particularly in the face of intensive agricultural production. The promising tactic of advantageous seed predators enables decreased herbicide applications. Crop mosaics arranged to advance compatibility at the landscape scale are important to bolster pollination services and insect management, while ecological variety in the surroundings acts as a safety net for habitat diversity. Weed control in combination with different tactics of vegetation use, comprising cover cropping, hedgerows and field margins, sets up safe havens in the landscape, and improves the diffusion of complementary life forms. Field margins perform a meaningful natural function as point of provision for forage, safe havens and distribution passageways for pollinators and insect predators. Production practices that promote more heterogeneity and combine high density semi-natural safe havens and habitat conservation in agro ecosystems are beneficial to species diversity across trophic levels and contribute to agricultural production stability and food safety.