Biodiversitätsbewertung von Bio-Ackerbaubetrieben in Österreich

Summary

This paper presents results of an on-farm biodiversity assessment of 45 organic arable farms in eastern Austria (region Weinviertel). The core of the assessment method consists of 99 parameters concerning agricultural practices and semi-natural habitats and their impacts on genetic diversity, habitat diversity and species diversity of eleven indicator species groups. For each farm, a biodiversity performance score was calculated ranging from 0 to 100 %, where 100 % would be reached with the highest possible scores for all parameters. The biodiversity assessment of the 45 organic arable farms revealed big between-farm differences in the biodiversity performance (16.8 to 50.6 %; Ø 32.8 ± 6.1 %). While 32 farms for example achieved biodiversity scores > 40 % in their crop area, only nine farms got more than 10 % concerning semi-natural habitats. These results show that although the assessed farms achieved good biodiversity performances regarding their agricultural practices due to their organic management, semi-natural habitats – which play an essential role in conserving biodiversity in agricultural landscapes – are underrepresented on all farms and reveal the need for improvement concerning conserving and promoting biodiversity on these farms.