Quantifying the impacts of ecological restoration on biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems: A global meta-analysis

A B S T R A C T Landscape transformation due to agriculture affects more than 40% of the planet’s land area and is the most important driver of losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) worldwide. Ecological restoration may significantly reduce these losses, but its effectiveness has not been systematically assessed in agroecosystems at the global level. We quantitatively meta-analyzed the results of 54 studies of how restoration actions reflecting the two contrasting strategies of land sparing and land sharing affect levels of biodiversity and ES in a wide variety of agroecosystems in 20 countries. Restoration increased overall biodiversity of all organism types by an average of 68%. It also increased the supply of many ES, in particular the levels of supporting ES by an average of 42% and levels of regulating ES by an average of 120% relative to levels in the pre-restoration agroecosystem. In fact, restored agroecosystems showed levels of biodiversity and supporting and regulating ES similar to those of reference ecosystems. Recovery levels did not correlate with the time since the last restoration action. Comparison of land sparing and land sharing as restoration strategies showed that while both were associated with similar biodiversity recovery, land sparing led to higher median ES response ratios. Passive and active restoration actions did not differ significantly in the levels of biodiversity or ES recovery. Biodiversity recovery positively correlated with ES recovery. We conclude that ecological restoration of agroecosystems is generally effective and can be recommended as a way to enhance biodiversity and supply of supporting and regulating ES in agricultural landscapes. Whether a land sharing or land sparing strategy is preferable remains an open question, and might be case dependent. Moreover, it is unclear whether crop production on restored land can meet future food production needs.

[1]  D. Murdiyarso,et al.  The effect of afforestation on water infiltration in the tropics: A systematic review and meta-analysis , 2007 .

[2]  M. Borenstein,et al.  Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis: Prevention, Assessment and Adjustments , 2006 .

[3]  R. Costanza,et al.  Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[4]  Johan Ekroos,et al.  Winners and losers of organic cereal farming in animal communities across Central and Northern Europe , 2014 .

[5]  K. Esler,et al.  Are Socioeconomic Benefits of Restoration Adequately Quantified? A Meta‐analysis of Recent Papers (2000–2008) in Restoration Ecology and 12 Other Scientific Journals , 2010 .

[6]  M. Paoletti,et al.  Environmental Impact of Different Agricultural Management Practices: Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture , 2011 .

[7]  Paul D. Ellis,et al.  The Essential Guide to Effect Sizes: Contents , 2010 .

[8]  James Aronson,et al.  Emerging Threats and Opportunities for Large‐Scale Ecological Restoration in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil , 2011 .

[9]  B. Cardinale.  Impacts of Biodiversity Loss , 2012, Science.

[10]  A. Newton,et al.  Enhancement of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by Ecological Restoration: A Meta-Analysis , 2009, Science.

[11]  Jessica Gurevitch,et al.  THE META‐ANALYSIS OF RESPONSE RATIOS IN EXPERIMENTAL ECOLOGY , 1999 .

[12]  T. Sparks,et al.  Effectiveness of new agri-environment schemes in providing foraging resources for bumblebees in intensively farmed landscapes , 2006 .

[13]  Thomas Elmqvist,et al.  Benefits of Investing in Ecosystem Restoration , 2013, Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology.

[14]  P. Putwain,et al.  Long-term heathland restoration on former grassland: The results of a 17-year experiment , 2011 .

[15]  C. Lindell,et al.  Active or Passive Forest Restoration? Assessing Restoration Alternatives with Avian Foraging Behavior , 2011 .

[16]  P. Meli,et al.  Restoration Enhances Wetland Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Supply, but Results Are Context-Dependent: A Meta-Analysis , 2014, PloS one.

[17]  J. Pykälä,et al.  Effects of restoration with cattle grazing on plant species composition and richness of semi-natural grasslands , 2003, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[18]  Garry D. Peterson,et al.  Untangling the Environmentalist's Paradox: Why is Human Well-Being Increasing as Ecosystem Services Degrade? , 2010, BioScience.

[19]  M. Rundlöf,et al.  Organic farming at local and landscape scales benefits plant diversity , 2009 .

[20]  P. Reich,et al.  High plant diversity is needed to maintain ecosystem services , 2011, Nature.

[21]  M. Power,et al.  Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems , 2012, PLoS biology.

[22]  Y. Lü,et al.  Effects of vegetation restoration on soil organic carbon sequestration at multiple scales in semi-ar , 2011 .

[23]  Raf Aerts,et al.  A global meta-analysis of the biodiversity and ecosystem service benefits of coffee and cacao agroforestry , 2013 .

[24]  D. Kleijn,et al.  At what spatial scale do high-quality habitats enhance the diversity of forbs and pollinators in intensively farmed landscapes? , 2007 .

[25]  David B. Lindenmayer,et al.  A meta-analysis of fauna and flora species richness and abundance in plantations and pasture lands , 2010 .

[26]  J. Bengtsson,et al.  The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: a meta‐analysis , 2005 .

[27]  Mikko Kuussaari,et al.  RESTORATION OF BUTTERFLY AND MOTH COMMUNITIES IN SEMI-NATURAL GRASSLANDS BY CATTLE GRAZING , 2004 .

[28]  M. van Noordwijk,et al.  Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes: Are we asking the right questions? , 2004 .

[29]  J. Aronson,et al.  Restoration of ecosystem services and biodiversity: conflicts and opportunities. , 2011, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[30]  Andrew Balmford,et al.  Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature , 2005, Science.

[31]  M. Vilà,et al.  Ecological impacts of invasive alien plants: a meta-analysis of their effects on species, communities and ecosystems. , 2011, Ecology letters.

[32]  A. Balmford,et al.  Reconciling Food Production and Biodiversity Conservation: Land Sharing and Land Sparing Compared , 2011, Science.

[33]  William J. Sutherland,et al.  How effective are European agri‐environment schemes in conserving and promoting biodiversity? , 2003 .

[34]  G. Arnqvist,et al.  MetaWin: Statistical Software for Meta-Analysis with Resampling Tests. Version 1.Michael S. Rosenberg , Dean C. Adams , Jessica Gurevitch , 1998 .

[35]  J. Bruinsma.  BY HOW MUCH DO LAND, WATER AND CROP YIELDS NEED TO INCREASE BY 2050 ? , 2009 .

[36]  P. Altevogt,et al.  Vesiclepedia: A Compendium for Extracellular Vesicles with Continuous Community Annotation , 2012, PLoS biology.

[37]  F. Herzog,et al.  Mixed biodiversity benefits of agri-environment schemes in five European countries. , 2006, Ecology letters.

[38]  Minjuan Zhao,et al.  Ecological restoration programs and payments for ecosystem services as integrated biophysical and socioeconomic processes—China's experience as an example , 2012 .

[39]  L. Jackson,et al.  Special Issue Article: Advancing Environmental Conservation: Essays In Honor Of Navjot Sodhi Global food security, biodiversity conservation and the future of agricultural intensification , 2012 .

[40]  Frank Witlox,et al.  Organic agriculture and sustainable food production system: Main potentials , 2011 .

[41]  K. Walker,et al.  Restoration of species‐rich grassland on arable land: assessing the limiting processes using a multi‐site experiment , 2002 .

[42]  Adrian C. Newton,et al.  Creating woodland islets to reconcile ecological restoration, conservation, and agricultural land use , 2008 .

[43]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Solutions for a cultivated planet , 2011, Nature.

[44]  D. Kleijn,et al.  Relationship between land-use intensity and species richness and abundance of birds in Hungary , 2004 .

[45]  Garry D. Peterson,et al.  Ecosystem service bundles for analyzing tradeoffs in diverse landscapes , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[46]  F. Herzog,et al.  Effects of Wildflower Strip Quality, Quantity, and Connectivity on Butterfly Diversity in a Swiss Arable Landscape , 2011 .

[47]  Carsten Thies,et al.  Mixed effects of organic farming and landscape complexity on farmland biodiversity and biological control potential across Europe , 2011 .

[48]  E. Holt-gimenez.  Measuring farmers’ agroecological resistance after Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua: a case study in participatory, sustainable land management impact monitoring , 2002 .

[49]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[50]  Millenium Ecosystem Assessment.  Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis , 2005 .

[51]  S. Wratten,et al.  Ecological restoration of farmland: progress and prospects , 2008, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[52]  Jeremy D. Wilson,et al.  Does organic farming benefit biodiversity , 2005 .

[53]  M. Borenstein,et al.  Publication Bias in Meta-Analysis , 2006 .

[54]  R. D. Groot,et al.  Challenges in integrating the concept of ecosystem services and values in landscape planning, management and decision making , 2010 .

[55]  P. Laterra,et al.  Spatial complexity and ecosystem services in rural landscapes , 2012 .

[56]  R. J. Orr,et al.  Learning how to model ecosystem trade-offs at the farm scale , 2010 .

[57]  Lindsay A. Turnbull,et al.  Land‐use intensity and the effects of organic farming on biodiversity: a hierarchical meta‐analysis , 2014, The Journal of applied ecology.

[58]  J. Callaway.  The Challenge of Restoring Functioning Salt Marsh Ecosystems , 2005 .

[59]  Peng Zhang,et al.  Characterizing and Modeling the Dynamics of Activity and Popularity , 2013, PloS one.

[60]  James M. Bullock,et al.  Restoration of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on Agricultural Land , 2012, Ecosystems.

[61]  A. Hector,et al.  Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality , 2007, Nature.