Suchergebnisse

Farming and environment are key issues on political and social agendas on a global scale. In the past two decades, agricultural systems went through a major revision having in mind ecological and landscape concepts on a conservation basis. Technical profiles (TP) are used as study tools to evaluate operational costs and to assess the deviation between theoretical production models and each farm system. TPs of sustainable crop systems such as integrated production and organic farming are based on principles, tasks and technologies, such as crop protection, cover crops and ecological infrastructures preservation, that expectably induce differences in the functional biodiversity present in each system. The main target of the present work was to develop a methodology to measure the impact(s) of farming practices on pest importance (occurrence and damages) and functional biodiversity. This study was carried out during 2005 and 2006 and was supported by the national project AGRO 545 "The environmental indicators to assess the IPM, the integration production, the organic farming and the sustainable use of pesticides ". A survey was performed with 191 vineyard farmers in the four Portuguese main important regions: Verdes, Douro, Dão and Alentejo. The survey was carried out during the crop season and biodiversity was assessed (pests and beneficial arthropods) simultaneously. The results presented here are related to a preliminary data analysis. As expected, IPM and organic farming impact on the environment tends to be low, but conventional systems revealed a similar tendency, induced by the need of reducing production costs. Differences among regions were also found, as expected, due to territorial structure and farm dimensions. In monitored vineyards, 48.2% of species variance was explained by the studied variables. The number of discontinuities in the surroundings was found to be associated to all arthropod functional groups. ; The authors wish to thank the growers, which kindly allowed us to conduct our work in their orchards and vineyards; APAS, AAPIM, PAINHO, AJAP, ADVID, AVITILIMA, APIDÃO, AGROBIO, ATEVA, SOGRAPE and BIOCOA for technical assistance. This work was financed by the project AGRO 545 "The environmental indicators to ass ; 5 ; 1 ; 8 ; volume 933 ; DE/NEM ; Revista Acta Horticulturae (ISHS)

Levels of exposure to pesticides in rice fields can be significant depending on the environmental policies practiced. The aim of European Union integrated management policy is to reduce pesticide use and impact on environment. Rice fields provide an alternative breeding habitat for many waterbirds that are exposed to the pesticides used and therefore can be valuable indicators of their risk for wildlife. To evaluate integrated management success we examined exposure of Black-winged Stilts (Himantopus himantopus) to cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides in rice fields under different types of management by measuring plasma cholinesterase activity. Cholinesterase activity was lower in birds sampled in (a) 2008 after a period of intense pesticide application, than in (b) 2005-2007 and 2011 in rice fields subject to integrated management in Doñana (SW Spain) and (c) in control natural wetlands in Spain and Morocco. During 2009 and 2010, cholinesterase activity was lower in rice fields in Doñana than in rice fields in Larache and Sidi Allal Tazi (NW Morocco). Our results suggest that integrated management successfully reduced the exposure of Black-winged Stilts to pesticides in most of the years. Care should be taken to implement mosquito and pest crop controls on time and with environmentally friendly products in order to reduce its impact on wildlife. ; The Junta de Andalucía funded this study through the project "Las aves acuáticas de Doñana y el cultivo del arroz: la interacción entre la agricultura y la conservación de las zonas húmedas". This study was possible thanks to the INRA administration and CNRST-CSIC collaboration program (P2007MA01 and P2009MA01). GMT was funded by an I3P-CSIC grant for the formation of Researchers. MMH is supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (PIEF-GA-2011-299747) within the 7th Framework Programme (FP7 2007-2013) of the European Commission. ; Peer Reviewed