Can flower strips combined with hedges improve biodiversity in intensively used agricultural areas?
Can flower strips combined with hedges improve biodiversity in intensively used agricultural areas? This is what a team from the University of Würzburg is investigating with project partners from four EU countries.
The problem is well known: Worldwide, the quantity and diversity of insects are declining. The populations of many bird species have also shrunk drastically in recent decades. The reasons for this have been well researched. On the one hand, scientists attribute this decline to changes in land use, for example the increase in large monocultures such as corn and rapeseed. On the other hand, they also cite climate change with increased heat and long periods of drought as a cause.
Whether biodiversity in intensively used agricultural areas can be preserved and so-called "ecosystem services" maximized with comparatively simple measures: That is what an international collaborative project will be investigating over the next three years. Eight project partners from four EU countries are involved, and the project is being led by the University of Rennes in France. The Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is also involved in the project and will receive around 200,000 euros from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Read more at University of Würzburg
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