Long-term organic farming fosters below and aboveground biota:: Implications for soil quality, biological control and productivity

被引:399
作者
Birkhofer, Klaus [1 ]
Bezemer, T. Martijn [2 ,3 ,4 ]
Bloem, Jaap [5 ]
Bonkowski, Michael [1 ]
Christensen, Soren [6 ]
Dubois, David [7 ]
Ekelund, Fleming [6 ]
Fliessbach, Andreas [8 ]
Gunst, Lucie [7 ]
Hedlund, Katarina [9 ]
Maeder, Paul [8 ]
Mikola, Juha [10 ]
Robin, Christophe [11 ]
Setala, Heikki [10 ]
Tatin-Froux, Fabienne [11 ]
Van der Putten, Wim H. [2 ,3 ]
Scheu, Stefan [1 ]
机构
[1] Tech Univ Darmstadt, Inst Zool, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany
[2] Ctr Terr Ecol, Netherlands Inst Ecol NIOO KNAW, NL-6666 ZG Heteren, Netherlands
[3] Univ Wageningen & Res Ctr, Nematol Lab, NL-6700 ES Wageningen, Netherlands
[4] Univ Wageningen & Res Ctr, Dept Entomol, NL-6700 EH Wageningen, Netherlands
[5] Soil Sci Ctr, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands
[6] Univ Copenhagen, Dept Terr Ecol, DK-1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
[7] Agroscope Reckenholz Tanikon Res Stn, CH-8046 Zurich, Switzerland
[8] Res Inst Organ Agr FiBL, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland
[9] Lund Univ, Dept Ecol, S-22362 Lund, Sweden
[10] Univ Helsinki, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, Lahti 15140, Finland
[11] INRA Agron & Environm Nancy Colmar, UMR 1121, INPL, ENSAIS, F-54505 Vandoeuvre Les Nancy, France
关键词
DOK trial; ecosystem functioning; farming system; fertilization; generalist predators; microbial community; nutrient cycling; natural enemies; soil fauna; soil quality; sustainability;
D O I
10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.05.007
中图分类号
S15 [土壤学];
学科分类号
0903 ; 090301 ;
摘要
Organic farming may contribute substantially to future agricultural production worldwide by improving soil quality and pest control, thereby reducing environmental impacts of conventional farming. We investigated in a comprehensive way soil chemical, as well as below and aboveground biological parameters of two organic and two conventional wheat farming systems that primarily differed in fertilization and weed management strategies. Contrast analyses identified management related differences between "herbicide-free" bioorganic (BIOORG) and biodynamic (BIODYN) systems and conventional systems with (CONFYM) or without manure (CONMIN) and herbicide application within a long-term agricultural experiment (DOK trial, Switzerland). Soil carbon content was significantly higher in systems receiving farmyard manure and concomitantly microbial biomass (fungi and bacteria) was increased. Microbial activity parameters, such as microbial basal respiration and nitrogen mineralization, showed an opposite pattern, suggesting that soil carbon in the conventional system (CONFYM) was more easily accessible to microorganisms than in organic systems. Bacterivorous nematodes and earthworms were most abundant in systems that received farmyard manure, which is in line with the responses of their potential food sources (microbes and organic matter). Mineral fertilizer application detrimentally affected enchytraeids and Diptera larvae, whereas aphids benefited. Spider abundance was favoured by organic management, most likely a response to increased prey availability from the belowground subsystem or increased weed coverage. In contrast to most soil-based, bottom-up controlled interactions, the twofold higher abundance of this generalist predator group in organic systems likely contributed to the significantly lower abundance of aboveground herbivore pests (aphids) in these systems. Long-term organic farming and the application of farmyard manure promoted soil quality, microbial biomass and fostered natural enemies and ecosystem engineers, suggesting enhanced nutrient cycling and pest control. Mineral fertilizers and herbicide application, in contrast, affected the potential for top-down control of aboveground pests negatively and reduced the organic carbon levels. Our study indicates that the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicide application changes interactions within and between below and aboveground components, ultimately promoting negative environmental impacts of agriculture by reducing internal biological cycles and pest control. On the contrary, organic farming fosters microbial and faunal decomposers and this propagates into the aboveground system via generalist predators thereby increasing conservation biological control. However, grain and straw yields were 23% higher in systems receiving mineral fertilizers and herbicides reflecting the trade-off between productivity and environmental responsibility. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:2297 / 2308
页数:12
相关论文
共 60 条
[1]  
Alef K., 1995, METHODS APPL SOIL MI, DOI DOI 10.1016/B978-012513840-6/50024-0
[2]  
Andrzejewska L., 1976, Polish ecol Stud, V2, P93
[3]  
[Anonymous], 2002, COMMUNITIES ECOSYSTE
[4]   The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance:: a meta-analysis [J].
Bengtsson, J ;
Ahnström, J ;
Weibull, AC .
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, 2005, 42 (02) :261-269
[5]   Cursorial spiders retard initial aphid population growth at low densities in winter wheat [J].
Birkhofer, K. ;
Gavish-Regev, E. ;
Endlweber, K. ;
Lubin, Y. D. ;
von Berg, K. ;
Wise, D. H. ;
Scheu, S. .
BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2008, 98 (03) :249-255
[6]  
BIRKHOFER K, ANN APPL BI IN PRESS
[7]   Subsidy from the detrital food web, but not microhabitat complexity, affects the role of generalist predators in an aboveground herbivore food web [J].
Birkhofer, Klaus ;
Wise, David H. ;
Scheu, Stefan .
OIKOS, 2008, 117 (04) :494-500
[8]  
Birkhofer K, 2007, ENVIRON ENTOMOL, V36, P801, DOI 10.1603/0046-225X(2007)36[801:SSPOWS]2.0.CO
[9]  
2
[10]  
Bloem J., 2004, Molecular microbial ecology manual. Volumes 1 and 2, P861