Researchers at Aarhus University have developed a computer simulation tool that predicts how different biodiversity measures on farmland affect individual species.
The tool was built by Trine Poulsen, a researcher in food systems at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, together with colleagues. DR reports that the simulations show different future scenarios, depending on which measure a farmer chooses.
The program resembles a computer game, but it is not one, according to DR. Five species are released into a simulated world, one at a time, in a setup compared to an advanced weather forecast.
Researchers can then determine how each species reacts to different types of landscape and land use. They can also see whether the animals are able to find food and build nests.
Bees and skylarks need different things
Per Poulsen, the simulations show that a wild bee thrives in old shelterbelts with many shrubs and trees. The skylark, by contrast, needs large, open fields with a clear view.
Different landscapes, areas and measures favor different species. That makes it hard to predict which action works best in a specific area over several years.
Farmers therefore face difficult choices. The options include sowing flower strips, establishing a shelterbelt, or leaving an entire field fallow.
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DR notes that a range of measures can raise biodiversity on farmland. They include flower strips sown with sunflowers, phacelia and other wildflowers.
Shelterbelts planted with different shrubs and trees benefit certain types of bees. Tall grass at the edge of a shelterbelt serves as a hiding place for other animal and insect species.
The simulations cover beetles, bees, spiders, hares and skylarks in a given area. Poulsen has used fields in the Thisted area to map where a ground beetle has good and poor conditions.
The method also makes gaps visible. It shows clearly where a landscape lacks life altogether, according to DR’s reporting.
Poulsen points to Denmark’s green tripartite agreement as the backdrop for the work. She describes the agreement as the threshold of the largest restructuring of the Danish landscape in 100 years.
Under the agreement, 390,000 hectares of farmland are set to be converted into forest and nature. Even after that, farming and cultivated fields will still make up half of the Danish landscape, Poulsen explains.
She says it is therefore important that something is also done on the land where food is grown. Small measures on individual farms matter, according to her.
Farmers will not receive the simulation tool themselves. The research results are instead to be turned into concrete recommendations, so each farmer can pick the measures that suit their own holding.
