The Farm4Bio project: investigating the relationship between uncropped land andbeneficial invertebrates

Abstract: The overall project’s aim is to determine whether management of uncropped land forbiodiversity on conventional arable farms can achieve significant and measurable increases inbiodiversity, that are at least equivalent to those attained on organic farms. The proportion andtype of land usage within and surrounding the 1km2 study areas is also being investigated for arange of organisms that include natural enemies of pests for which results are presented. Thenumbers of pests and their natural enemies within grass margins were positively related to theproportion of arable land in the 3 x 3km surrounding the study area. Numbers of hoverflies weresimilar in a range of sown non-crop habitats, but lower in grass margins and natural regeneration.The findings indicate that sown wildlife habitats can support natural enemies but landscape usageis also a key driver.