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On‐farm habitat restoration counters biotic homogenization in intensively managed agriculture
Author(s) -
Ponisio Lauren C.,
M'Gonigle Leithen K.,
Kremen Claire
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/gcb.13117
Subject(s) - biodiversity , habitat , ecology , beta diversity , ecosystem , ecosystem services , ecosystem diversity , habitat destruction , agriculture , species richness , species diversity , agroforestry , restoration ecology , gamma diversity , geography , biology
To slow the rate of global species loss, it is imperative to understand how to restore and maintain native biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Currently, agriculture is associated with lower spatial heterogeneity and turnover in community composition ( β ‐diversity). While some techniques are known to enhance α ‐diversity, it is unclear whether habitat restoration can re‐establish β ‐diversity. Using a long‐term pollinator dataset, comprising ∼9,800 specimens collected from the intensively managed agricultural landscape of the Central Valley of California, we show that on‐farm habitat restoration in the form of native plant ‘hedgerows’, when replicated across a landscape, can boost β ‐diversity by approximately 14% relative to unrestored field margins, to levels similar to some natural communities. Hedgerows restore β ‐diversity by promoting the assembly of phenotypically diverse communities. Intensively managed agriculture imposes a strong ecological filter that negatively affects several important dimensions of community trait diversity, distribution, and uniqueness. However, by helping to restore phenotypically diverse pollinator communities, small‐scale restorations such as hedgerows provide a valuable tool for conserving biodiversity and promoting ecosystem services.