Effects of Agricultural Practices on Biodiversity: A Review

ABSTRACT The loss of biodiversity has become a major concern in the 21st century. The current agricultural model is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss; however, agriculture can also help maintain and even promote biodiversity. Therefore, the understanding of the consequences of agricultural practices on the different compartments of terrestrial biodiversity needs to be increased. With the aim of compiling a summary of robust knowledge on this topic, we developed a method to summarise the results of meta‐analyses on the relationship between agriculture practices and biodiversity. We qualified the meta‐analyses on several criteria: relevance, data accessibility, statistical transparency and clarity. We selected and reviewed 27 meta‐analyses from the literature, which provide a detailed overview of the effects of several agricultural practices on terrestrial biodiversity at the local scale: inorganic or organic fertilisation, crop rotation, intercropping, use of cover crops, use of plant‐protection products, tillage, landscape management and grazing. We found that (i) the meta‐analyses considered certain taxonomic or functional groups in preference to others, depending on the agricultural practices considered and feasibility criteria; (ii) the compositional biodiversity, especially at the species level, was usually considered through changes in abundance, richness or diversity; (iii) the taxonomic/functional groups and metrics chosen determined the biodiversity observed and (iv) all of the agricultural practices studied influence biodiversity dynamics, and some have a dominant influence, such as the use of plant‐protection products and landscape management. The intensity of practices, the interactions between practices and the sensitivity of environments influenced the effects observed and must be better understood to classify practices objectively according to their effects on biodiversity. Further research and data are required to qualify in more detail the relationship between agricultural practices and biodiversity, as well as to increase understanding of the relations between ecosystem functioning and the compositional and structural components of biodiversity.