G. Rahmann / Landbauforschung - vTI Agriculture and Forestry Research 3 2011 (61)189-208 189 Biodiversity and Organic farming: What do we know? Gerold Rahmann* 1 * 1 Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute (vTI), Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Institute of Organic Farming, Trenthorst 32, 23847 Westerau, Germany, [email protected]Abstract The number of studies on organic farming and biodiver- sity increased significantly within the last years. Meanwhile organic farming has been recognised as a field with scientific relevance. About 19,000 publications were found in the Web of Science (www.isiknowledge.com) using Endnote ® software with the wording “organic farming”, and out of these about 1,200 were published by German scientists (6 %). In total 766 publications of these papers contained also the word “biodiversity” (3.5 %). Half of them were published during the last five years, and are mostly au- thored by Europeans. A meta-data analysis of these 766 scientific papers has been carried out to answer the ques- tion whether organic farming has an advantage for bio- diversity in comparison to conventional farming systems. 327 out of 396 relevant results found a higher degree of biodiversity in organic farming when compared to con- ventional farming. In 56 papers (14 %) no difference was verified, and in 13 contributions (3 %) organic farming yielded less biodiversity (7 of them for soil invertebrates). Thus it may be concluded that organic farming produces more biodiversity. Research gaps still exist for the under- standing of functional biodiversity and ecosystem impact which comprise soil biota, landscape (ecosystem and habi- tat) and genetic biodiversity on agricultural land in natural habitats. In addition, more information is required about biodiversity of farming systems in non-European regions, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics. Keywords: Agri-environmental schemes, organic farming, biodiversity, integration, long-term field studies, segrega- tion Zusammenfassung: Biodiversität und Ökologischer Landbau – Was wis- sen wir? In den letzten Jahren sind eine Vielzahl von neuen Stu- dien zum Ökologischen Landbau und Biodiversität veröf- fentlicht worden. Der Ökologische Landbau hat als wis- senschaftliches Objekt an Bedeutung gewonnen. Im web of science (www.isiknowledge.com) wurden mit dem Quellenrechercheprogramm Endnote ® unter dem Stich- wort “organic farming” 19.000 Quellen gefunden, da- von 1.200 (6 %) aus Deutschland. Mit der ergänzenden Einschränkung “biodiversity” waren es immer noch 766 Quellen (3,5 %), wovon die Hälfte erst in den letzten fünf Jahren veröffentlicht wurde, vorwiegend aus Europa. In ei- ner Metaanalyse wurden diese 766 Quellen auf ihre Aus- sagen bezüglich der Bedeutung des Ökologischen Land- baus für die Biodiversität untersucht. Es konnten 396 Bewertungen verwendet warden. 327 (83 %) der Bewertungen stellten fest, dass der Ökolo- gische Landbau mehr Biodiversität aufweisst als der kon- ventionelle Landbau. Weitere 56 (14 %) der Bewertungen waren indifferent und nur 13 (3 %; davon 7 alleine im Be- reich des Bodenlebens) stellten fest, dass die Biodiversität im Ökologischen Landbau niedriger als im konventionellen Landbau ist. Zusammenfassend kann aus dieser Metaanalyse ge- schlossen werden, dass der Ökologische Landbau förder- lich für die Biodiversität ist. Die wissenschaftliche Arbeit sollte sich verstärkt um die Lücken des Wissens zur funk- tionellen Biodiversität und landwirtschaftliche Systeme kümmern. Das Bodenleben, die Landschaft (Ökosystem, Habitate) sowie die genetische agro- und natürliche Biodi- versität sind dabei hervorzuheben. Auch fehlt es an Wis- sen über die Wirkung des Ökolandbaus auf die Biodiver- sität tropischer oder sub-tropischer Agrozonen (vor allem außerhalb von Europa). Schlüsselworte: Agrarumweltmaßnahmen, Ökologischer Landbau, Biodiversität, Integration, Langzeit Feldstudien, Segregation
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G. Rahmann / Landbauforschung - vTI Agriculture and Forestry Research 3 2011 (61)189-208 189
Biodiversity and Organic farming: What do we know?
GeroldRahmann*1
*1 JohannHeinrichvonThünen Institute (vTI), FederalResearch Institute forRuralAreas,ForestryandFisheries,InstituteofOrganicFarming,Trenthorst32,23847Westerau,Germany,[email protected]
Abstract
Thenumberofstudiesonorganicfarmingandbiodiver-sityincreasedsignificantlywithinthelastyears.Meanwhileorganicfarminghasbeenrecognisedasafieldwithscientificrelevance.About19,000publicationswere found in theWebofScience(www.isiknowledge.com)usingEndnote®softwarewiththewording“organicfarming”,andoutofthese about 1,200werepublishedbyGerman scientists(6%).Intotal766publicationsofthesepaperscontainedalsotheword“biodiversity”(3.5%).Halfofthemwerepublished during the last five years, and aremostly au-thoredbyEuropeans.Ameta-dataanalysisofthese766scientificpapershasbeencarriedouttoanswertheques-tionwhetherorganic farminghasanadvantageforbio-diversityincomparisontoconventionalfarmingsystems.327outof396relevantresultsfoundahigherdegree
ofbiodiversityinorganicfarmingwhencomparedtocon-ventionalfarming.In56papers(14%)nodifferencewasverified, and in 13 contributions (3%) organic farmingyieldedlessbiodiversity(7ofthemforsoilinvertebrates).Thusitmaybeconcludedthatorganicfarmingproduces
morebiodiversity.Researchgapsstillexist for theunder-standingoffunctionalbiodiversityandecosystemimpactwhichcomprisesoilbiota,landscape(ecosystemandhabi-tat)andgeneticbiodiversityonagriculturallandinnaturalhabitats. Inaddition,moreinformationisrequiredaboutbiodiversityoffarmingsystemsinnon-Europeanregions,particularlyinthetropicsandsub-tropics.
Biodiversität und Ökologischer Landbau – Was wis-sen wir?
IndenletztenJahrensindeineVielzahlvonneuenStu-dienzumÖkologischenLandbauundBiodiversitätveröf-fentlichtworden.DerÖkologische Landbau hat alswis-senschaftlichesObjektanBedeutunggewonnen.Imwebof science (www.isiknowledge.com) wurden mit demQuellenrechercheprogramm Endnote® unter dem Stich-wort “organic farming” 19.000 Quellen gefunden, da-von1.200 (6%)ausDeutschland.MitderergänzendenEinschränkung“biodiversity”warenes immernoch766Quellen(3,5%),wovondieHälfteerstindenletztenfünfJahrenveröffentlichtwurde,vorwiegendausEuropa.Inei-nerMetaanalysewurdendiese766QuellenaufihreAus-sagenbezüglichderBedeutungdesÖkologischenLand-bausfürdieBiodiversitätuntersucht.Eskonnten396Bewertungenverwendetwarden.327
(83%) der Bewertungen stellten fest, dass der Ökolo-gischeLandbaumehrBiodiversitätaufweisstalsderkon-ventionelleLandbau.Weitere56(14%)derBewertungenwarenindifferentundnur13(3%;davon7alleineimBe-reichdesBodenlebens)stelltenfest,dassdieBiodiversitätimÖkologischenLandbauniedrigeralsimkonventionellenLandbauist.Zusammenfassend kann aus dieser Metaanalyse ge-
schlossenwerden,dassderÖkologischeLandbauförder-lich für die Biodiversität ist. DiewissenschaftlicheArbeitsolltesichverstärktumdieLückendesWissenszurfunk-tionellen Biodiversität und landwirtschaftliche Systemekümmern. Das Bodenleben, die Landschaft (Ökosystem,Habitate)sowiediegenetischeagro-undnatürlicheBiodi-versitätsinddabeihervorzuheben.AuchfehltesanWis-senüberdieWirkungdesÖkolandbausaufdieBiodiver-sitättropischerodersub-tropischerAgrozonen(vorallemaußerhalbvonEuropa).
Biodiversity isoneof themost important resourcesonearth,andhumanactivitiesendangerthetotalnumberofspecies.Largenumbersarealreadyextinctorclosetobe-ingerased.AttheRio-conference1992,theUnitedNationsagreedtoreducebiodiversity lossestozero in2010.Thegoalshavenotbeenreached.Farming(intensificationandlandusechange)aremainreasonsforbiodiversitylosses,butagriculturecanalsoprotectandenhancebiodiversity.Several strategies havebeendeveloped to produce foodandprotectbiodiversity.Organicfarmingisconsideredanenvironmentally-friendlyformoffoodproductionandre-ceivesagri-environmentalpayments for theprotectionofbiodiversity.Butdoesorganicfarmingliveuptothisexpec-tation?Alotofscientificeffortshavebeenmadetoanswerthisquestion.Thepresentedmeta-dataanalysiswasmadetogiveanup-to-dateevaluationofthestateoftheart.
2 The background
Biodiversityisdefinedasthevariabilityamonglivingor-ganisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,marine,andotheraquaticecosystems,andtheecologicalcomplexesofwhich they arepart; this includesdiversitywithinspecies,betweenspeciesandofecosystems(Refer-ence).Thisbiodiversity isthreatenedbyhumanactivities.Landusechanges,degradation,pollution,climatechange,anddesertificationandlastbutnot leasthumanpopula-tiongrowthenforcedthelossofbiodiversitybyfactor100to1,000whencomparedtonaturalextinction. In1992,the United Nations agreed to rescue the world’s biodi-versity.TheConventionofBiologicalDiversity (CBD:192countriesandtheEuropeanUnion)isoneofthethreeRioconventions. “The target agreedby theworld’sGovern-mentsin2002[Rio+10summitinJohannesburg;GR],“to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”, hasnot beenmet. This disappoint-ingconclusionistheintroductionofthe“GlobalBiodiver-sityoutlook3oftheUnitedNationsin2010”,theyearofbiodiversity.Thisfatalsituationneedstobefacedthoughmorethan170countries(87%ofthePartiestotheCon-vention,includingGermanyandtheEuropeanUnion)im-plementednationalbiodiversitystrategiesandactionplans(ConventionofBiologicalDiversity(CBD),2010).It is a fact that theworld’sbiodiversity is still decreas-
declinedbymorethan30%since1970.WhiletheTropi-calLPIdeclinedbyalmost60%,theTemperateLPI[includ-LPIdeclinedbyalmost60%,theTemperateLPI[includ-ingGermany] increasedby15%.Obviously, the effortstoprotectenvironmentandnatureintemperateclimates(mainlydeveloped countriesof thewesternworld) havebeen successful after substantial declines in the past.About1.75million species aredescribedworldwidebuttheyareprobablyonlyasmallshareofthetruetotalnum-ber(estimatesprovideanumberofupto13millionspe-cies;CBD,2010).InGermany,48,000animalspeciesaredescribed(Anon-
ymous,2011a),and3,600differentplantscanbefoundofwhich2,800areindigenous(BundesamtfürNaturschutz(BfN) ,2007). These figures include 77 tree species; 111shrubs;33,305insects;4,000bacteria(estimationsare1million bacteria species exist); 703 vertebrateswith 100mammals;256birdspecies;14reptiles,and21amphib-ians.Mostof the3001higherplant andanimal speciesareendangeredbecauseoflandusechangesandlanduseintensification (Rahmann, 2000). Among the Europeancountries, losses in biodiversity are highest in Germany.About28%of theflora speciesandevenmoreanimalspecies(44%ofthebirds,51%ofthemammals,61%of ants, and 52% of bees) are extinct or endangered(Anonymous,2011b;BfN,2008).Agro-biodiversityisanimportantpartoftheworldbio-
diversity. From the 250,000 worldwide described plantspecies, about 30,000 are edible, and about 7,000 arecurrentlyused for consumption.Notmore than30 spe-ciescomprisemorethan95%ofthefoodcomposition.Anditisonlythreespecies(rice,wheat,corn)whichsupplymorethan50%oftoday’shumanfood(BundesanstaltfürLandwirtschaftundErnährung(BLE-BEKO),2008).About75% of the genetic diversity of cultivated plants is al-readyextinct(geneticerosion).Particularlyfruitsandveg-etablesspeciesandvarietiesareendangered(Anonymous,2011c).Cropproductiondominatesthelanduseofmanycountriesoftheworld.InGermanymorethan50%ofthelandsurfaceisusedforagriculture.Onlyasmallnumberofdifferentcropspeciesareplanted:Atotalof27%ofthearablelandisusedforwheat,17%forbarley,15%forcorn,12%foroilseedrape,4%forryesothatonlyaquarterof the land is cultivatedwithanyotherplant.Counterproductiveintermsofbiodiversityisthatcropsareregularlycultivatedinmonoculture.Theuseofpesticidescausesachangeofthehabitatandreduce/eradicatewildplantsandwildanimalbiodiversityonaregionalscale.Asimilartrendcanbeobservedinpens.Morethan25
animalspeciesaredomesticatedbutonly11ofthemareof economic relevance. Human selection has created alargenumberofdifferentbreeds.Many livestockbreedsareendangered,especiallysheepandgoatbreeds(Sam-braus, 1999; www.g-e-h.de).The FAO registered more
G. Rahmann / Landbauforschung - vTI Agriculture and Forestry Research 3 2011 (61)189-208 191
than7,600differentbreedsworldwide(FAO,2007),andmorethan1,500ofthemareendangered.The protection and backing of biodiversity is one of
themainchallengesoffarming.Evenbeforepublic lawsenforced protection ofwild plants and animals, organicfarminghaddeclaredtheaimtoprotecttheenvironmentandbiodiversity in thefirstversionofprinciples (IFOAM,1980;www.ifoam.org).Oneofthefourprinciplesoforganicfarmingisdefined
by the International Federation of Organic AgriculturalMovement (IFOAM, 2007): “The Principle of Ecology: Organic Agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them. […] Organic agriculture should attain ecological balance through the design of farming systems, establishment of habitats and maintenance of genetic and agricultural diversity. Those who produce, process, trade, or consume organic products should protect and benefit the common environment including landscapes, climate, habitats, biodiversity, air and water.”ThepreambleoftheEUregulation834/2007confirms
the IFOAM principle: “Organic production is an overallsystem of farmmanagement and food production thatcombinesbestenvironmentalpractices,ahighlevelofbio-diversity,thepreservationofnaturalresources,theappli-cationofhighanimalwelfarestandardsandaproductionmethodinlinewiththepreferenceofcertainconsumersforproductsproducedusingnaturalsubstancesandpro-cesses.”InArticle3(Objectivesandprinciplesfororganicproduction)isfixedthat“Organicproductionshallpursuethefollowinggeneralobjectives:(a)establishasustainablemanagementsystemforagriculture that: (i) respectsna-ture’ssystemsandcyclesandsustainsandenhances thehealthofsoil,water,plantsandanimalsandthebalancebetweenthem;(ii)contributestoahighlevelofbiologicaldiversity;” This includes soil and aquatic biodiversity (ar-ticle5 (a) (n)aswellasfarmcropand livestockdiversity(889/2008introduction(8)).Incontrasttothesegregationstrategyofconventional
farming (production or protection), biodiversity is an in-tegral component of organic farming (production andprotection) (Rahmann et al 2006; Schnug et al., 2008).Thereforewildplants, livestockandagriculturalbiodiver-sityarefoundasco-productsofthefarmingactivity.Theuseofherbicides(butalsootherpesticides) isprohibitedwhichprotectsthenaturalfloraandfauna.Onlymanual,mechanical and heat measures are permitted for weedcontrol.Wildfaunasuchasinsects,snails,beetles,andspi-derscanbecontrolledthroughbiotechnologicalmeasures(traps, lime, etc.) and natural insecticides (Annex II of889/2008/EU)(Kühneetal.,2006).Organicfarming isbasedonnormswhichare inforce
worldwide(IFOAM,2005).Organicproductionisexpand-
ingcontinuouslyandispracticedinmorethan160coun-tries(ofatotalof195countries;intheyear2000only86countriesweredocumentedwithorganicproduction). In2007,morethan1,800,000farms(677,000organicfarmsonlyinIndia)manageabout38millionhectaresfarmlandorganicallywith certification (0.9%of total agriculturalfarmland;plus42millionhectarewildcollectionarea).2/3oftheworld’sorganicfarmlandisgrassland(Willeretal.,2011).Europe was and is the most driving continent in the
developmentandestablishmentoforganicfarming.Onequarter of the world’s organic farm land is in Europe(200,000farms,7.8millionhectares,1.9%shareoftotalfarmland). IntheEuropeanUnion(EU27)about180,000farmsmanage7.2millionhectareslandorganically(4%ofthetotalfarmland;2007)andgenerateproduceworth16.8 billion Euros (2008).With 5.9 billion Euros (2010),Germanyhasthebiggestorganicmarket inEurope.Themarket share of organic products in the German foodmarket is about 3%, about half of the Danishmarketsharewith6.7%,andAustriawith5.7%.Theworldor-ganic purchases are 6 Euro per capita and year (2009).IntheUSA,about50Euroc-1yr-1werespentin2008percapita.With26Euroc-1yr-1theorganicpurchasesarelessin the EU27. Danish citizens purchase about 132 Euroc-1yr-1,whileGermanyisinthemiddlefieldwithabout71Euroc-1yr-1(AMI,2010).94%oftheGermanconsumersbuyorganicfoodbutonly3%ofallGermanconsumersarerelevantfor39%ofallorganicsales.Theseintensivebuyersspendabout730Europeryearandhouseholdonorganicfoodproducts.Thisis39%oftotalfoodpurchaseofthesehouseholds(BÖLW,2011).TheSecondNationalNutritionStudyofGermany(MRI,2008)foundthatorgan-icfrequentconsumershaveahealthierlifestylecomparedwithnon-organicconsumers.CurrentlytheGermanfarmersdeliverabout50%ofthe
organicproductsfortheGermanmarket,theotherhalfisimported,mainlyfromotherEUcountries(BÖLW,2011).Thefarmersgetabout20%ofthemarketsales.Thatmeans,that80%ofthevalueoforganicproducts(finalconsumerspending)isearnedintransport,processingandtrade.Thisiscomparabletoconventionalfamers(AMI,2010).The implementation of official standards and regula-
tionsintheEUin1992(2092/91/EEC,834/2007/ECandrelated regulations; http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/or-ganic/home_en)andthepoliticalsupport–Europeanac-tionplanfororganicfoodandfarming(since2004)andnationalprogrammesliketheGermanBundespropgrammÖkologischer Landbau (www.bundesprogramm-oeko-landbau.de)withmore than 75million Euro R&D fundsince2002–wereandare themaindriving forces.TheGerman speaking countries (DE, CH, AT) comprise themostrelevantorganicfarmingresearchintheworld.
The term “biodiversity” has many facets: It is com-monlyinterpretedasspeciesrichness,onlyoccasionallyasthe richness of varieties, cultivars or genetic expressions(e.g.micro-organisms) (Buchs,2003;Buchsetal.,2003;KasperczykandKnickel,2006).Notallpapersgaveclearanswersonhowtomeasurebiodiversity.Classicalecologyindexeswereusedtodeterminerichness(S),butbiodiver-
sity(H’)anddominance(D)weresometimesmissinginthestudies(Crowderetal.,2010).Theimpactofalpha(with-(Crowderetal.,2010).Theimpactofalpha(with-.Theimpactofalpha(with-in-fieldlevel),beta(between-fieldlevel)andgammadiver-sity(landscape-level)isanimportantcriterion(Rundlofetal.,2008).Here, it isnecessarytoevaluateandcomparecultivationintensities,landscapes,micro-climateandagro-environmentstorespectthesensitivityofthebiodiversityasanindicatorofmanagement.Themeta-dataanalysiswasperformedonthebasisof
scientific publications listed in theWeb of Science and‘grey literature’ inMarch2011.ThescientificpapersareidentifiedthroughaonlinedatabasecheckintheWebofScience(www.isiknowledge.com),usingEndnote®asthesearchandcitation software, theonlinepublicationandprojectdatabaseorganiceprints(http://orgprints.org)andgreyliteratureingoogle(www.google.com),allunderthesearchwords“organicfarming,”“biodiversity”,“[year]”and“[country]”inMarch2011(Table1).Inaddition,theproceedingsofthemainscientificconferencesoftheor-ganicsectorinGermanspeakingcountrieshavebeenas-sessedasthesepapersarenotlistedinISI.
G. Rahmann / Landbauforschung - vTI Agriculture and Forestry Research 3 2011 (61)189-208 193
4 Results
4.1 The search results
Inthelastyearsthenumberofstudiesonorganicfarm-ingandbiodiversity increased significantly (Table1).De-1).De-).De-spitetherelativelynewseriousrecognitionoftheorganicsystem as a field of scientific relevance in the scientificworld,about19,000publicationswerefoundintheWebof Science (www.isiknowledge.com) under the word of“organicfarming”.Outofthesepapers1,200werefromGermany (6%). 766 publications were foundwith thesecondsearchword“biodiversity”(3.5%);halfofthemwerepublishedinthelastfiveyearsbyEuropeanresearch-ers.Thisdatasetincludespapersofthemaininternationalorganicfarmingconferences.IncontrasttoISIlisteddatabanksintheWebofScience
itisusuallyhardtofindgreyliterature.Thesepapersmaywellmeetscientificstandardsbutmissascientificplatformfor publication (e. g. diploma thesis, reports). The databankhttp://orgprints.orgwasestablishedin2001bytheDanishDARCOF(todayICROFS)andjointbyFiBLandBÖLtogivegreyorganicfarmingpapersaweb-basedsource.All international and European organic conferences usethe web platform for submission of papers (Table 2).Nowadaysthisorganicfarmingdatabankhasmorethan10,000 entries. The majority of papers is from Europe,withaboutonethirdfromGermany.Atotalof1,154sub-missions dealwith environmental aspects, but only 526publicationsfocusonthesubject“biodiversityandecosys-tem service.” 96publications concentrate exclusively on
biodiversity(1%).Themainactivitiesoforganicfarmingresearchareinthefieldofdevelopmentoforganicfarm-ing,whilelessattentionhasbeenpaidtoenhancingandstrengtheningsustainability(10%).Onereasonistopicoftheorganicfarmingconference.TheGoogle search brought toomany results without
relevance to this study. This source was not consideredforfurtheranalysis.However,itgivesanimpressionabouttheimportanceofthistopicintheweb.Theproceedingsof themost important scientific conferences of organicfarmingprovedtobethebestsourcetogetanoverviewofmainresearchtopicsandtherelevanceofbiodiversityin scientific studies.At themomentbiodiversity is still aminor topicasonly105papersdedicated their researchtothusfieldofresearch(Table1).Thisequals4%ofallpapers.
4.2 Meta-analysis of ISI listed papers
The meta-data analysis tried to answer the question,whetherorganic farmingbenefitsbiodiversity. From766studiesfoundwithEndnote®inWebofScienceusingthekey words “organic farming” and “biodiversity,” nearlyhalfofthereferences(343)couldbeusedfortheassess-ment,423hadtoberejected(Table3).Becausesomestud-ieshaveassessedmorethanonespecies,multipleanswersweregiven.Thussomestudiesarecitedmorethanonce(totalcitations=396).Notallstudiesmadeclearcompari-sonsbetweenorganicandconventionalfarmingsystems(Pimenteletal.,2005;Pimpinietal.,2005).Nevertheless,themeta-dataanalysiscomestotheunequivocalconclu-
Most of the 396 citations were from Europe (80%;onlyEU2772%),North-America(6%)andLatin-Amer-ica (5%) (Table4). Important countries for comparativestudiesonbiodiversitywereUK(65citations;20%),DE(51;16%),SE(30;9%),CH(27;8%),IT(24;7%),FR(23;7%),NL(21;6%),US(20;6%)andES(18;6%)(McLaughlinandMineau,1995).
Organic farmingwas in favour for all species. The re-stricteduseofpesticidesandlownutrientinputinorganicfarmingwereidentifiedasmainfactorsforahigherbiodi-versityoffloraandfaunawasusually(FrostandArdeshir,2004).Agro-biodiversityandlandscapearchitecturewereless often identified as key parameters for biodiversity.Somefloraandfaunahaveadaptedonintensiveconven-tional farming (highnutrient level in soilsandhighcropyieldsetc.):epigaeicspiders,birds,plantslikeUrtica dioica(Nettel)(RydbergandMilberg,2000).Usuallythesefloraandfaunaisnotendangered.
4.3 Long term trials
Itseemssafetoassumethattheinfluenceofthelandusemanagement isbest reflectedandassessed in long-term field experiments. And all long-term field studies(BMELV,2005)withthetopic“organicversusconventionalfarming”(Raupp,2009)confirmtheadvantageoforganicfarming to improve biodiversity (soil biota, flora, arthro-pods):Glenlea long-termrotationstudy inCanada (Entzetal.,2005);theDOC-trialinSwitzerland(Pfiffner,1996;Fliessbachetal.,2000;Maderetal.,2002);StateResearchInstitute at Osiny in Poland (Feledyn-Szewczyk, 2008);Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trial (Hepperly et al.,2006);EkhagaExperimentalFarminSweden(Lundkvistetal.,2008);TrenthorstorganicfarmingsystemcomparisonstudyinGermany(Rahmannetal.,2006);MediterraneanArableSystemsComparisonTrial(MASCOT)and(MOLTE)in Italy (MiglioriniandVazzana,2006;Mazzoncinietal.,2010).
4.4 Other meta-analysis
Pfiffner (1996) compiled 44 studies related to faunarichness of different land usemanagement systems (Ta-ble4).Theyconcludedthatfaunaismorediverseonor-ganiccomparedtoconventional farmland.BartramandPerkins(2003)foundanadvantageoforganicfarminginbiodiversityin33UKstudies,too.Lynch(2009)analysedstudiesfromCanadaandtheUSAandconcludedthator-ganic farming contributes to diversity of cropping, floraandhabitat.Bengtssonetal. (2005)foundintheirmeta-dataanal-
ysis of literature, published before December 2002 thatorganicfarmingincreasesspeciesrichnessingeneral.Spe-cies richnesswasonaverage30%higher than in con-ventionalfarmingsystems.However,theresultswerevari-ableamongstudies,and16%ofthemactuallyshowedanegativeeffectoforganicfarmingonspeciesrichness.Onaverage,organismswere50%moreabundantinor-ganicfarmingsystems,buttheresultswerehighlyvariablebetweenstudiesandorganismgroups.Birds,predatoryin-
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sects,soilorganismsandplantsrespondedpositivelytoor-ganicfarming,whilenon-predatoryinsectsandpestsdidnot.Thepositiveeffectsoforganicfarmingonabundancewereverifiedatplotandfieldscale,butnotonfarmlevel.Bugg (2002) found in studies conducted in the USA
(PennsylvaniaandNorthDakota),UK(WalesandEngland)and Canada (Saskatchewan and Ontario) that organicfarming and minimum tillage systems support a higherbird diversity and abundance than do conventional sys-tems.Mondelaersetal. (2009)performedameta-dataanal-
ysis of the peer reviewed literature comparing the envi-ronmental impactsoforganicandconventionalfarming.Theyconcludedthatsoilsinorganicfarmingsystemshave,onaverage,ahighercontentoforganicmatterandthatorganicfarmingcontributespositivelytoagro-biodiversity(breedsusedbythefarmers)andnaturalbiodiversity(wildlife).
4.5 Agro-biodiversity
Biodiversityisnotonlydefinedforwildfloraandfaunabut also for cultivated crops (Mondelaers et al., 2009).Whileahigherdiversityofcultivatedandwildplantsandassociatedfaunaisfoundongrassland,arablelandusuallylacksbiodiversityduetopesticideapplications(Geigeretal.,2010).MorethanonethirdoftheGermansurfaceisarablelandandveryoftenthecultivatedcropsaretheonlyplantsontheseareas.Thereareabout40differentcrops/cropgroupscultivatedonorganicandconventionalfarms.These crops have different importance (abundance) andarenotequallydistributedoverthearea.Somecropspe-ciesdominate,whileothershaveonlyaverysmallshareTable5).Theimpactonagro-biodiversitycanbemeasured
fororganicfarmingis0.69andforconventional0.82.Thehigherequalityoforganicfarmingcanbeeasilyexplained.Thecroprotationisbroaderthaninconventionalfarming(aminimumof six versus amaximumof three differentcropsintherotation).
5 Conclusions
In the presented comprehensive meta-data analysis,publications were assessed to prove whether organicfarminghasanadvantageforbiodiversityornot.Thisandothermeta-analyses(Pfiffner,1996;BartramandPerkins,2003;Bengtssonetal.,2005;Chamberlainetal.,2010)provideevidencethatorganicfarmingenhancesandcon-serves biodiversity. A total of 766 ISI-listed publicationswerefoundwiththesearchwords“organicfarming”and“biodiversity”,83%fromEurope.Halfofthemwerepub-lishedinthelastfiveyears.396paperscouldbeusedfortheanswerand327(83%)ofthecitations(multicitationsofthe343paperswerepossible)foundanadvantageoforganicfarmingformorebiodiversitycomparedwithcon-ventional farming.56 (14%)citationswerenot sureortheyfoundnodifferenceandonly13(3%)cametotheconclusionthatorganicfarminghaslessbiodiversity(7ofthemforsoilinvertebrates).
G. Rahmann / Landbauforschung - vTI Agriculture and Forestry Research 3 2011 (61)189-208 197
Long-termfieldstudieson“organicversusconventionalfarming” confirm the advantage of organic farming toimprovebiodiversityforsoilbiota,flora,arthropods(Pfiff-(Pfiff-ner,1996;Maderetal.,2002;Entzetal.,2005;Feledyn-Szewczyk,2008)andcontributetoabetterunderstand-andcontributetoabetterunderstand-ingoffunctionalbiodiversity(Wolfe,2002;Zhongetal.,2005). The impact can be found on the farm land andattachedareassuchashedges.Herbaceousfieldbounda-riesarerich inbiodiversityandcanbeusedasasepara-tionbetweenorganicandconventionalfields(Moonenetal.,2006;Gardarinetal.,2007).Ifthelocalbiodiversityisalreadypoorduetointensivefarminginthesurroundingarea,organicfarmingcannotcompensatethelossofbio-diversity.Thiswasforinstanceshownforflowervisitingin-sects(HopkinsandFeber,1997;Brittainetal.,2010).Seedbankswerenotinfluencedbymanagement(Hawesetal.,2010). It isnosuitablepoliticalsolutiontodefineprefer-. It isnosuitablepoliticalsolutiontodefineprefer-enceareasfororganic (remoteand lowproductivesoils)and conventional farming (high potential soils) as everyregionshouldhaveamixtureoforganicandconventionalfarmingsystems(Taubeetal.,2006).Conventional farming can have similar results in the
caseofcompulsoryset-asidefarmland(segregation).MacDonaldetal.(2007)andNemeceketal.(2006,2011a,b)foundadvantagesoforganicfarminginalpha-diversitybutstatethatset-asidelandonconventionalfarmscanequa-lizethisadvantage.Buton-farmsegregationlikeset-asidelandcanbeariskforlong-termbiodiversityprotection.AstheEUsettheobligationforset-asidefarmlandtozeroin2008,conventionalfarmershaveconvertedset-asidelandintocropland(Rundlofetal.,2010).Thishasbeenfollowedbylossesofbiodiversityonconventionalfarms.Agri-environmental schemes (AES) have a high im-
portance in biodiversity protection (Purtauf et al., 2005;Rund-lof et al., 2008; Taylor andMorecroft, 2009). Thiscanbecarriedoutasorganicfarming(paidundertheagri-environmentalschemes)orasapartofconventionalfarm-ing(natureprotectionareas)(Schaderetal.,2008).Goodfarmingpracticebecomesmoreimportanttoenhanceandimprovebiodiversityinorganicandconventionalfarming(RydbergandMilberg,2000;StrasserandRyffel,2010).Biodiversityassessmentisnotpartoftheinspectionproc-ess(889/2008/EC)sothatitispossiblethatitdependsonthe organic farm manager whether biodiversity will bepromotedorrepelled.Themainquestionistheantagonismbetweenfoodse-
This has to be considered in the analysis of the impactofbiodiversity (LetourneauandGoldstein,2001;Letour-(LetourneauandGoldstein,2001;Letour-neauandBothwell,2008;Ryanetal.,2010).Biodiversityneedsequilibriumbetweenbiodiversityandfoodproduc-tion(Vandana,2000;Crowderetal.,2010;ChappellandLaValle,2011).Biomassproductionisanewchallengeforbiodiversityprotection,particularlyifmaizeisencroachingasamonoculture(Fritsche,2004).Inaddition,itshouldbedecided,if“organic-herbicides”areastrategy(additionaltomechanicalandtemperatureweedcontrolmeasures).Astrongargumentagainstsuchprocedureisthatorganicfarmingwould start togo conventionalwith the riskoflossofbiodiversityandlossofconsumerconfidence(Darn-(Darn-hoferetal.,2010).Holeetal. (2005) came to theconclusion, that“(1) It
remains unclear whether a ‘holistic’ whole-farm approach (i.e. organic) provides greater benefits to biodiversity than carefully targeted prescriptions applied to relatively small areas of cropped and/or non-cropped habitats within conventional agriculture (i.e. agri-environment schemes); (2) Many comparative studies encounter methodological problems, limiting their ability to draw quantitative conclu-sions; (3) Our knowledge of the impacts of organic farm-ing in pastoral and upland agriculture is limited; (4) There remains a pressing need for longitudinal, system-level studies in order to address these issues and to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of the impacts of organic farming, before a full appraisal of its potential role in biodiversity conservation in agro-ecosystems can be made”Thepresentedmeta-dataanalysisconfirmstheconclu-
sions of Hole et al. (2005). However, it is important toemphasisethefactthatnumerousstudiesfavourorganicfarmingforimprovingbiodiversityincomparisontocon-ventionalfarming.Yet,itneedstobetakenintoaccountthat farming systems (includingorganic) and farm func-tions change rapidly. Energy farming and agri-environ-mental schemes force science tounderstand the impactmorerapidlythaninpreviousyears.Forexample,biomassproduction can have a negative impact on biodiversity(maize domination) andbiogas-facilities are installed formanydecades.Infuture,theaspectsoffoodsecurityandfoodsafetywillgainincreasingimportanceirrespectiveofthelandusesystem.Putativesolutionstowardsmorebio-diversityistheuseofsetasidefarmlandforsegregationasitcanhavethesameorevenbetterimpactonbiodiver-sitythanintegratedmeasuressuchasorganicfarming.Amixtureofintensivefarmingwithsetaside,non-farmland,agri-environmental schemes and organic farmsmay de-liverahighrangeofbiodiversitythroughoutalllandscapes(Hollandetal.,2007).Aseparationofthesesystemsintospecific farmingareas (intensive/conventionalandexten-sive/organic)iscounter-productive.
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