This document discusses measuring biodiversity on farmland. It notes that 60% of ecosystem services have been impaired and over 20% of global agricultural land is degraded. Assessing farmland biodiversity is challenging due to high spatial variability. Protocols for landscape-scale assessment include measuring land cover, trees, birds, and modeling remote sensing data with ground calibration. Optional protocols examine linear tree features, pollinators, natural enemies, and soil organisms. A farmland biodiversity score is proposed that weighs biomass, spectral diversity, neighborhood effects, and slope/proximity to water.

1. Measuring Farmland Biodiversity
Rhett D Harrison
r.harrison@cgiar.org

2. Background
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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment estimated
that 60% of ecosystem services were impaired
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Over 20% of agricultural land globally (40% in
sub-Saharan Africa) is degraded
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Agricultural expansion is a major driver of
biodiversity loss
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Deforestation and land-use change account for
~20% of CO2 emissions
(often ~80% in developing countries)

3. Farmland Biodiversity
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Benefits of biodiversity dependent on
abundance, diversity and distribution
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High spatial variability makes assessment
challenging
●
Management requires fine grain, easy-to-
update information on social outcomes, land
health, carbon and biodiversity

4. Landscape Protocols
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Landscape scale
assessment of biodiversity
●
Basic protocols
– Land-cover (coverage)
– Trees (1 ha circular plots)
– Birds (30 m radius point counts)
– Modeling of RS data with ground
calibration

5. ●
Optional protocols
– Linear tree features
– Pollinators
– Natural enemies
– Soil organisms
Landscape Protocols

6. Prediction
MDS2
MDS1
Axis 1: r2 = 0.80
Axis 2: r2 = 0.52
r2 = 0.75
TonF Biomass TonF Composition

7. TonF vs Biodiversity
Next steps
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Landscape factors
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Multispecies modeling
Problems
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Land use not random
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Extinction debt
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Other drivers of BioD loss
(e.g. hunting; pesticides)

8. Farmland BioD Score
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Biomass correlates with abundance and
size of TonF (a)
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Spectral Diversity to assess diversity (b)
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Weigh scores by neighbourhood (c)
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Weigh scores by slope and proximity to
streams / rivers (d)
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FBS = (a + b)cd (~100 m pixel scale)