The role of hedgerows in supporting biodiversity and other ecosystem services in intensively managed agricultural landscapes

Publication date: 21/09/2020
Extent: 28 pages

Contributions by: Audrey Alignier, Léa Uroy and Stéphanie Aviron, INRAE, France

Chapter synopsis: Over the past half century, agricultural intensification has substantially changed agricultural landscapes and farming systems. These changes have been beneficial to provisioning services, i.e. agricultural yields, but detrimental for biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. As a contribution to halting and reversing the decline, it has been suggested that conserving and/or restoring hedgerows would be beneficial. Hedgerows are key features of agricultural landscapes. They have a wide range of roles, including agronomical, ecological and cultural functions. In particular, hedgerows provide habitats, refuges and resources for many plant and animal species. At the landscape scale, hedgerows can contribute to species movements by acting as corridors and ensure landscape connectivity. Focusing on pest regulation and pollination services, we highlight how hedgerows contribute to the multifunctionality of agroecosystems even in intensively-managed agricultural landscapes.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2020.0071.09