[MCN] Wildlife-friendly farming: Consequences for crop yield

[Lance Olsen]

Proceedings of Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1740

Wildlife-friendly farming increases crop yield: evidence for 
ecological intensification
Richard F. Pywell et al

Abstract (Bold added)

Ecological intensification has been promoted as a means to achieve 
environ- mentally sustainable increases in crop yields by enhancing 
ecosystem functions that regulate and suppor t production. There is, 
however, little direct evidence of yield benefits from ecological 
intensification on commer- cial farms growing globally important 
foodstuffs (grains, oilseeds and pulses). We replicated two 
treatments removing 3 or 8% of land at the field edge from production 
to create wildlife habitat in 50-60 ha patches over a 900 ha 
commercial arable farm in central England, and compared these to a 
business as usual control (no land removed). In the control fields, 
crop yields were reduced by as much as 38% at the field edge. Habitat 
creation in these lower yielding areas led to increased yield in the 
cropped areas of the fields, and this positive effect became more 
pronounced over 6 years. As a consequence, yields at the field scale 
were maintained-and, indeed, enhanced for some crops-despite the loss 
of cropland for habitat creation. These results suggested that over a 
5-year crop rotation, there would be no adverse impact on overall 
yield in terms of monetary value or nutritional energy. This study 
provides a clear demonstration that wildlife-friendly management 
which supports ecosystem services is compatible with, and can even 
increase, crop yields.

This one is open access. Get your pdf here:
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/282/1816/20151740.full.pdf


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"Ignorance of remote causes disposeth men to attribute all events to 
the causes immediate and instrumental: for these are all the causes 
they perceive."

Attributed  to Thomas Hobbes
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"Making connections is the essence of scientific progress."

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