FØJOII-29: Nature Quality in Organic Farming. Midterm Status Report 2003

Summary

The work is organised in five work packages (WP 1-5, Table A1). Since the start in July 2001 the following work has been accomplished:
 WP 1. Starting up seminar and the annual seminars have served as a successful platform for project planning and cross-cutting activities. The general project co-ordination and planning of field work and selection of case study areas has been stimulated both at these meetings and in separate meetings with the WP responsibles. The first cross-cutting (CC4) has been accomplished in close co-operation with WP 5 and all project scientists. A homepage for the project is now available.
 WP 2. Eleven case areas with high concentration of organic farmers have been selected and 347 farmers have been interviewed. A database holding this information has been constructed. Organic farms show a regional specialisation similar to conventional farms. At the regional level organic farms are concentrated in counties with a higher share of dairy farms. Within counties however, there are important local differences with other factors involved. A GIS-based method for case-area delimitation in the PhD landscape study has been developed.
 WP 3. Inventory data from 24 organic farms in two case areas with information on vegetation composition and arthropods has been analysed. New species for Denmark was found and arthropod indicators showed a good correlation to nature quality. Colonisation experiments showed that moss diversity is favoured by grazing and reduced by fertilisation. There was significantly higher plant diversity in hedges and field boundaries on organic farms than on traditional farms. This effect is evident after only 3-4 years of Organic Farming Period and further increased after 7 years
 WP 4. Data from the same 24 organic farms and experimental fields of Foulum and Flakkebjerg has been collected in 2002 and 2003. Soil fauna diversity is influenced by soil type, tillage intensity and fertiliser use as well as crop and grazing history. In the experimental plots soil fauna and surface arthropods only showed little response to fertiliser use and catch crops. A 10x10-km landscape has been digitised in the ALMASS landscape model and appropriate scenarios and crop rotations are under construction.
 WP 5. Results from the first project workshop (CC4) in 2002 on indicators for esthetical qualities show that a more professional use of the esthetical experience is difficult for many natural scientist. Serious illness has postponed work in 2003 but the final outcome of the work package is expected to be achieved.