Does organic farming enhance biodiversity? Complex issues and modelling approaches

Summary

Changes in agriculture might drive changes in biodiversity and are expected to have just as serious an effect as climate change. These changes are results of complex changes in land-use as well as land management, intensification of management and structural developments in agriculture. In this review we present results of a recent research project (ICROFS 2013) focusing on organic farming and biodiversity in Denmark and relate the results to international studies that focus on drivers of biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. The project was organized under five major themes, forming the main sections of the present review paper: Impact on i) plant biodiversity ii) insect and food-webs in cereal fields, iii) small mammals, iv) natural genetic reservoirs and v) landscape scale studies and the use of agent-based modelling addressing the complexity of landscape structure and temporal variation.