The potential of small landscape features to improve biodiversity and ecosystem services in arable farmland.

Project Background:

 The PhD will form part of CROPDIVA (Climate Resilient Orphan Crops for Increased Diversity in Agriculture), an EU Horizon2020 project, the details of which are below.. The PhD research will encompass two elements from CROPDIVA  an Evidence review and Diversified cropping systems/small landscape elements

 Initially the student, will work with consortium partners to identify knowledge gaps and synergies in existing research relating to the project. CROPDIVA will start with a desktop study of related projects and specific literature. This work will inform the rest of the project for all partners.

 For the rest of the project, the student will investigate the potential of small-landscape elements to improve biodiversity

 The influence of small-landscape elements in agricultural systems will be examined, together with their interactions with diversified crops being investigated elsewhere in the project.  

 Practical field and plot studies will investigate the interactions between different ecosystem services within and between the target crops and border habitats (e.g. vegetative strips) designed to support various ecosystem services. Traditionally off-crop habitats are designed to support individual ecosystem services (eg support for pollinators). More recent research has demonstrated that perennial vegetative strips can be designed to deliver multiple ecosystem services in one strip (e.g. pollinator support, natural pest control support, and water protection) (e.g. Cresswell et al. 2018, Cresswell et al. 2019), and this has minimal trade-offs for some of these individual ecosystem services. This work will investigate the value of annual vegetative strips for delivering single or multiple ecosystem services, and will compare the ecosystem service provision of these off-crop areas with the ecosystem service provision within the diversified cropping systems 

 Vegetative strips will be planted to provide: either specific ecosystem service support (e.g. nectar and pollen for pollinating insects); or multiple ecosystem service support (e.g. communities with pollinator support, and also soil and water protection). The development of the plant communities and their delivery of the target ecosystem services throughout the study period will be assessed. Parallel studies will take place at other European locations.

 Project Aims:

 Carry out a structured literature review to create an evidence map of existing knowledge/evidence.

 Design and implement semi-field experiments to assess the relative value of vegetative strips designed for provision of multiple versus single ecosystem services.

 Compare the value of provision of small landscape features with the provision of diversified cropping systems for delivery of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

 Make recommendations for future sustainable land management

  This project will give the student skills and experience in research methods relating to evidence synthesis, agroecology, farm biodiversity and as well as experience of the technical challenges relating to the management of arable systems that are both productive and enhance biodiversity.

This research studentship is available at Harper Adams University (HAU) in the Agriculture and Environment Department. The project is funded by the European Union Horizon2020 programme.