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Project title

Monitoring, Functional Significance And Management Tools For The Maintenance And Economic Utilisation of Bio-Diversity in the Farmed Landscape.

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

Gordon Purvis

Project Abstract

Agriculture accounts for about 62% of Irelandis land area. Due to the intensification of agricultural methods there has been a drastic change in the farmed landscape since the second half of the last century and a widely perceived decline in Irish biodiversity similar to that experienced across much of Western Europe. This integrated study informally known as the i?Ag-Biotai? Project was funded as a five-year i?capability developmenti? project starting in 2001 to develop capacity and expertise in biodiversity research within the context of agriculture. The Project had 4 specified objectives:i) to develop research capacity and methodologies for biodiversity monitoring within agro-ecosystemsii) to identify and investigate key aspects of agricultural practice that influence biodiversityiii) to develop a better understanding of the benefits and utilisation of natural populations within agricultural production systemsiv) to address fundamental ecological questions regarding the functional value of biological diversitySeven key achievements of the Project are:1) The identification and use of four potentially important bio-indicator groups reflecting the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity at different scales (section 2):a) at the field level parasitoid wasps which have importance in natural pest regulation and are shown to reflect wider biodiversity and ecological change in agricultural grasslands (sections 2.2.2 2.2.3 3.2.1 3.3.1 3.4.1)b) bumblebees which have importance as pollinators and are shown to have undergone significant decline over recent decades (sections 2.3.2 2.5.1)c) birds whose incidence in farmland is shown to reflect the management of field boundaries farm habitat diversity and the intensity of grassland husbandry which may not necessarily always be bad for biodiversity (sections 2.3.3 2.5.1)d) aquatic invertebrates in the rivers and streams draining Irish farmland which reflect the wider impact of agricultural practice on water quality (sections 2.4.1 2.5.1).2) Demonstration of the particular significance of parasitic and pollinator taxa as i'front linei indicators of biodiversity loss at lower trophic levels within agro-ecosystems (section 2.5.1). 3) Demonstration that surrogate indicators based on aspects of farm management and condition can be reflective i'driversi of likely change in the status of biological populations within farmland. This insight has subsequently informed wider EU-funded research focused on the development of agri-environmental policy evaluation (section 2.3.4 6.2 6.3).4) Development and application of research tools including simulation models real-time PCR stable isotope methods and novel statistical designs for studying the ecology of specific populations trophic relationships and the value of mixed-species communities within the agro-ecosytem (sections 4.2 4.3 4.4 5).

Grant Approved

�1,271,746.00

Research Hub

Natural Environment

Research Theme

Sectoral Impacts on Biodiversity

Start Date

01/12/2001

Initial Projected Completion Date

n/a