Biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes: transformative societal changes needed

Anne-Christine Mupepele; Helge Bruelheide; Carsten Brühl; Jens Dauber; Michaela Fenske; Annette Freibauer; Bärbel Gerowitt; Andreas Krüß; Sebastian Lakner; Tobias Plieninger; Thomas Potthast; Sabine Schlacke; Ralf Seppelt; Hartmut Stützel; Wolfgang Weisser; Wolfgang Wägele; Katrin Böhning-Gaese; Alexandra-Maria Klein

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.014

Biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes: transformative societal changes needed

Trends Ecol Evol. 2021 Dec;36(12):1067-1070. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.014. Epub 2021 Sep 22.

Authors

Anne-Christine Mupepele¹, Helge Bruelheide², Carsten Brühl³, Jens Dauber⁴, Michaela Fenske⁵, Annette Freibauer⁶, Bärbel Gerowitt⁷, Andreas Krüß⁸, Sebastian Lakner⁹, Tobias Plieninger¹⁰, Thomas Potthast¹¹, Sabine Schlacke¹², Ralf Seppelt¹³, Hartmut Stützel¹⁴, Wolfgang Weisser¹⁵, Wolfgang Wägele¹⁶, Katrin Böhning-Gaese¹⁷, Alexandra-Maria Klein¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: anne-christine.mupepele@nature.uni-freiburg.de.
² Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
³ University Koblenz - Landau, Community Ecology & Ecotoxicology, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
⁴ Thünen Institute of Biodiversity, Bundesallee 65, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany.
⁵ University of Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany.
⁶ Bayerische Landesanstalt fur Landwirtschaft, Institut für Agrarökologie, Vöttinger Straße 38, 85354 Freising, Germany.
⁷ University of Rostock, Crop Health, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 18057, Germany.
⁸ Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN), Abteilung Ökologie und Schutz von Fauna und Flora, Konstantinstraße 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany.
⁹ University of Rostock, Agricultural Economics, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 18057, Germany.
¹⁰ Social-Ecological Interactions in Agricultural Systems, University of Kassel, D-37213 Witzenhausen, and University of Göttingen, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany.
¹¹ Ethics, Theory, and History of the Life Sciences & International Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW), University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstr. 56, 72074 Tübingen, Germany.
¹² University of Münster, Institute of Environmental and Planning Law, Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
¹³ Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Computational Landscape Ecology, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹⁴ Leibniz University Hanover, Institute of Horticultural Production Systems, Hannover, Germany.
¹⁵ Technische Universitat Munchen, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Munich, Germany.
¹⁶ Systematic Zoology, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
¹⁷ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
¹⁸ Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.

PMID: 34563404
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.014

Abstract

Reversing the decline of biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes is urgent. We suggest eight measures addressing politics, economics, and civil society to instigate transformative changes in agricultural landscapes. We emphasize the need for a well-informed society and political measures promoting sustainable farming by combining food production and biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: agricultural landscape; biodiversity; conservation, integrative approach; societal change; transformation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agriculture
Biodiversity*
Conservation of Natural Resources*