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Transect counts are one of the most popular approaches to assess and monitor butterfly diversity, especially with the background of biodiversity loss. This method was developed in Europe, but its transferability is seldom tested across the world. To assess transferability, we compared butterfly richness estimates based on transect counts in Spain, Germany and central China, a region with a considerably different biogeographic history and more diverse butterfly fauna compared to Europe. We found that the efficiency of transect counts was much lower in China than in the other two regions. Apart from the fact that traditional transect counts may undersample canopy species which are predominant in central China, higher efficiency in Europe may be primarily attributed to different patterns of butterfly richness likely caused by different biogeographic and anthropogenic land-use history. Our results highlight that great caution is needed when transect count methods are transferred to other regions of the world, especially to particularly species rich areas with a high number of rare species. Low detectability of certain species can substantially mask species richness estimates, and we suggest to carefully adapt sampling effort and perhaps combine transect counts with other methods to ensure more realistic assessment of species richness in such regions.

Agricultural intensification threatens biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Promoting ecosystem services, such as biological pest control, could help to reduce pesticide inputs while simultaneously sustaining a high productivity. The highly intensive rice production in Southeast Asia, where more than 20% of the world's rice yield is produced, is challenged by devastating losses each year due to rice hoppers. This poses a great threat to the more than 3.5 billion people depending on rice as staple food. Egg parasitoids are among the most important natural enemies of rice hoppers and might be promoted with effective habitat management. However, empirical studies that focus on the management of parasitoid populations to enhance biological pest control in rice agroecosystems are largely lacking. We therefore analysed the effects of the availability of diverse habitats on hopper parasitoid performance, parasitism rates and pest control services, hypothesising that egg parasitoid abundance and pest control is positively influenced by diverse non-crop areas, which provide food resources as well as retreat areas for the fallow season. We experimentally tested the efficiency and abundance of egg parasitoids of Nilaparvata lugens and Nephotettix spp. in three study sites representing different levels of floral resources over the course of two rice growing seasons. We used mixed effect models to test whether habitat diversity positively influenced parasitoid abundance and subsequently reduces hatching rates of the hopper nymphs. Nephotettix spp. eggs were parasitized by Gonatocerus spp. and Paracentrobia spp. by 92.5%; Nilaparvata lugens eggs were parasitized by Oligosita spp. and Anagrus spp by 93%. In contrast to our hypothesis, we could demonstrate that additional floral resources do not significantly enhance parasitoid abundance and pest control in rice agroecosystems. Up to six times more parasitoids hatched from the bait plants exposed in the monoculture compared to the non-crop areas (p In contrast to our hypotheses and findings from temperate productions systems, we found higher parasitoid abundance during all crop stages and increased hatching rates in the monocultures than in the non-crop habitats. The structural and temporal heterogeneity of rice crops and ratoon rice within the production area seemed to be sufficient to sustain high densities of parasitoid populations. We conclude that ecological intensification schemes should implement asynchronous planting cycles in rice systems to maintain or enhance parasitoids populations and their biocontrol services. In combination with reduced pesticide inputs, these measures might help to avoid yield losses due to rice hoppers in the future.

Wild and domestic bees are essential for the pollination of crops in home gardens, agroforests and vegetable fields of rice smallholders. However, it remains unclear how rice fields and agroforests affect pollinator communities. We investigated the effects of habitat loss and isolation on four different components of bee diversity: abundance, species richness, functional diversity, and plant-pollinator interactions. Flower-visiting bees were recorded in a lowland rice-based production region on the Philippines. We sampled two different land use systems (agroforests and rice fields) and along a gradient of habitat isolation (isolated rice fields and rice fields connected to agroforests). All components of bee diversity were higher in agroforests than in rice fields. Especially above-ground nesting and long-tongued species were adversely affected by rice field habitats and body sizes decreased with isolation from agroforests. For plant-pollinator interactions we found that plants received less diverse pollinator visits in isolated rice fields. In conclusion, agroforests provide important food and nesting resources for bees that translate into taxonomically and functionally diverse pollinator communities as well as stable pollinator visitation networks. These cultivation systems should therefore be maintained or expanded to ensure pollination services and biodiversity conservation. On the contrary, rice fields provide habitat for only few generalist bee species and flower visitation is reduced in isolated rice fields, possibly also leading to impaired pollination of wild plants and crops. Connectivity between bee habitats located in rice production areas is probably disrupted even after a few hundred meters and should therefore be promoted by measures like flower strips in rice fields.

Irrigated rice croplands are among the most biologically diverse agroecosystems globally; however, intensification and simplification of farmed areas into homogeneous monocultures can lead to biodiversity loss and a reduction of associated ecosystem services such as natural pest regulation. Understanding how landscape heterogeneity affects the diversity of arthropod communities is therefore crucial for the sustainable management of rice agroecosystems. Here, we examine the influence of fine-scale landscape heterogeneity and regional-scale effects on the arthropod communities of three rice-production regions in the Philippines. Our analysis of 213 arthropod morphospecies (37,339 individuals) collected using two sampling methods at 28 field sites indicated that the rice agroecosystems in each study region had unique arthropod assemblages, likely reflecting region-specific environmental and land-use conditions. For all sites together, we found no effect of fine-scale landscape context (classified as rather high or low heterogeneity sites) on assemblage structure (arthropod abundance, species richness or diversity). When assemblages were analyzed separately, significant effects of fine-scale landscape context were only detected in one region and for two functional groups (predators and detritivores). Elevation gradient, used as a proxy for regional-scale effects in the study regions, explained more than 60% of variance in assemblage structure. Total arthropod abundance and rarefied species richness were negatively related to elevation, suggesting that regional-scale effects rather than fine-scale landscape heterogeneity explained the composition of rice-arthropod communities in landscapes. To further disentangle the complex effects of broad-scale environmental drivers versus fine-scale landscape complexity on arthropod communities and biocontrol services, future research in rice agroecosystems should focus on a more detailed quantification of landscape heterogeneity and examine its effect at multiple spatial scales.

Traditional rice production has shaped distinctive cultural landscapes in SE Asia. Rice cultivation is closely linked to socio-cultural values and has created specific agrobiodiversity. Increasing development pressures lead to an intensification of small-scale production systems and with this to changes of landscapes and associated ecosystems services. With a focus on cultural ecosystem services and along different land use gradients a qualitative assessment of farmer’s perceptions regarding cultural values of their landscapes was conducted. Interviews focused on traditional farming methods and the abundance of cultural values and perceptions that support the preservation of low-input, sustainable land management strategies. 73 indicators for Cultural Identity, Landscape Aesthetics, and Knowledge Systems were derived, revealing that socio-cultural structures and the socioeconomic situation of farmers influence their view on landscape-related cultural services. The qualitative approach of this research provides an important contribution to the field of ecosystem service assessments because these are the values people perceive based on culturally embedded and socially shaped preferences. For the implementation of ecological engineering, which is based on participation and on the belief into the natural resilience of ecosystems, the assessment of cultural ecosystem services provides important evidence in which areas this theoretical concept could find higher acceptance.

Rice ecosystems vary greatly in climate, edaphic conditions, landscape heterogeneity, agricultural management and biodiversity. However, ongoing land use intensification and conversion to large-scale monoculture are threatening this diversity. We analyzed how rice-growing regions in Southeast Asia differ in diversity and composition of vascular plants in paddy rice ecosystems, and how the local and regional biodiversity of these plants is determined by variations in abiotic conditions, habitat type (paddy vs. bunds) and the proximity of non-paddy habitats. The vegetation of paddies and their bunds was surveyed in seven important rice production regions located in highlands and lowlands of Vietnam and the Philippines. Within the regions we sampled 67 pairs of study sites comprising a total of 122 paddies and 134 bunds. We identified major drivers of field-level weed diversity (alpha diversity) separately for bunds and paddies. Species turnovers (beta diversity) across sampling sites, between paddies and their bunds, and between regions were visualized using the Bray-Curtis coefficient of dissimilarity and DCA ordinations. Species richness on bunds was mainly influenced by the proximity of non-paddy habitats, mean annual temperature and soil acidity. Soil moisture was the decisive factor for the variation in paddy weed richness. In both habitat types, Shannon diversity and the number of insect-pollinated plants showed patterns similar to species richness. Regional differences in plot species richness were stronger on bunds than in paddies. Species turnover was high among habitat types and between upland and lowland regions. Future ecological engineering approaches can build on our findings to promote pollination services more efficiently in Southeast Asian rice landscapes.

A conversion from permanently flooded rice cropping systems to crop rotations that include non-flooded upland crops is heavily promoted in tropical regions to meet the challenges of sustainable food production while reducing water consumption and trace gas emissions. Shorter periods of flooding and manipulation of fertilizer inputs affect belowground community composition, biomass and functioning. However, there have been no previous studies of how such shifts in rice field management might affect soil biota and decomposition. Our objective was to examine how crop diversification, which demands different moisture regimes and nitrogen inputs, influences belowground invertebrate assemblages and their contribution to the decomposition of crop residues. We conducted a litterbag experiment in lowland paddy fields at the experimental field sites of the DFG-ICON project (Laguna, the Philippines) that were either continuously flooded, had seasonally alternating wet and dry periods, or were continuously dry. Additionally, subplot treatments within these crop rotations included different N fertilizer management practices. At a total of 36 plots we used litterbags with two different mesh sizes to assess decomposition with and without fauna over a period of 72 days. Furthermore, we sampled soil microfauna and mesofauna in both the wet (rainy) and dry seasons. Although we found no correlation between faunal abundance and the contribution by invertebrates to rice straw decomposition, we found that soil water content was the decisive factor determining the activity of decomposer invertebrates as well as the composition and abundance of the soil fauna in fields with alternating cropping regimes. The impact of invertebrates on rice straw decomposition was higher under anaerobic than aerobic soil conditions which compensated for reduced microbial decay rates during periods of flooding. In contrast, microbial decomposition rates were higher under aerobic conditions, whereas invertebrates had no apparent effects on the mass loss of rice straw despite their higher abundance in dry fields. Our results demonstrate that invertebrates are essential for the effective decay of rice straw residues under flooded soil conditions, and therefore play an important role in supplying nutrients to flooded rice.

There is increasing interest in the use of sown ground covers in agriculture to provide alternative resources to predators and parasitoids as part of conservation biological control. Nevertheless, there is limited evidence that this approach is effective in commercial orchards, where a wild complex of plants co-occur with the sown plant species. In citrus orchards, ground covers with grasses (Poaceae) were originally promoted to prevent soil erosion. Herein, we analyzed the effect of this sown ground cover on the biological control of Aphis spiraecola Patch (Hemiptera: Aphididae), the main aphid pest on citrus. We therefore first described the ground cover plant composition and their inhabiting aphids in four commercial citrus orchards. Second, we compared the presence of A. spiraecola and its natural enemies between these and four other commercial orchards with bare soil. While grasses represented ∼66% of the ground cover, the rest of the cover comprised mainly Malva sp. (13%), Oxalis sp. (5%) and Sonchus sp. (2%). Poaceae plants and Oxalis sp. harbored stenophagous aphids and Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas (Hemiptera: Aphididae), respectively, which appeared sooner in the system than citrus aphids. These aphids may serve as alternative prey or hosts for natural enemies, and thus could enhance the biocontrol of A. spiraecola. By contrast, Malva sp. and Sonchus sp. harbored the potential citrus pest Aphis gossypii Glover and other aphids that appear simultaneously with A. spiraecola. Therefore, by attracting them to the cover, this latter group could relieve the attack of natural enemies on A. spiraecola in the canopy. Although these wild plants may act as reservoirs for A. spiraecola as well as other aphid species that can disrupt the biocontrol services of natural enemies, overall, the sown cover was effective in terms of biological control of A. spiraecola in the citrus canopy. It promoted the early presence of predators in citrus canopies but did not promote the early presence of parasitoids. Predators attacked A. spiraecola colonies before their exponential increase. These attacks resulted in satisfactory aphid control, as citrus orchards with ground cover never exceeded the aphid economic threshold.

Scientists talk of “ecosystem services” and their economic value when arguing for the conservation of biodiversity. The limits to this line of argumentation are analysed based on the philosophy of values (axiology), exploring different kinds of values and discussing which of them can be adequately described with economic methods. The three promises of economic valuation, raising awareness in polity, saving biodiversity by internalising external cost, and contributing to better decisions are assessed and turn out to be more than questionable. Finally, the niche is defined where economic valuation makes sense, taking into account the restrictions from the axiological and the economic analysis.

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. The CES subcategories cover a wide range of domains (e.g. recreation, conservation of cultural heritage, human-nature relations). The CES concept has been proposed to acknowledge the nonmaterial values linking people and nature in social-ecological systems. Agricultural landscapes are outstanding examples of complex social-ecological systems where synergies and trade-offs between production and conservation determine the CES values. Europe is still rich in such landscapes/systems with outstanding cultural and natural values that deliver a multitude of CES. In this paper, we address the knowledge and perceptions of identified experts on the role of CES in the management of European agricultural landscapes. To achieve this goal, we developed a questionnaire on CES which was answered by experts working with various issues of European agricultural landscapes, including sustainable agriculture, landscape ecology, grassland management, nature conservation, cultural heritage conservation, environmental policy, sustainability research and rural development. The results show a wide knowledge and acceptance of the CES concept within such expert communities. Especially the aesthetic, cultural heritage, educational and recreational values were considered the most relevant CES subcategories. Interdisciplinary approaches, landscape planning and integrative science-policy approaches were perceived as the most promising methodologies to improve the CES approach for policy and management. Our results also show that according to experts the CES concept is still far from practical implementation in policies that target agricultural landscapes. In order to sustain such systems, we suggest the better implementation of inter- and transdisciplinary research for the development of CES-integrative policy and decision-making.

Biodiversity can be characterised across several dimensions, which are crucial for the evaluation of ecosystem services. Functional diversity, a key aspect of biodiversity, provides a more realistic characterisation of the functioning of ecological communities than only studying their taxonomic diversity. The relevance of functional ecology studies has steadily increased in agroecosystems. However, the combined effects of pesticides and land cover heterogeneity on the taxonomic and functional diversity of arthropod communities have been studied less frequently. We sampled arthropods during the dry season in 19 rice fields located in two different regions of Northern Vietnam. We assorted the arthropods into functional groups corresponding to different feeding habits and calculated the taxonomic and functional group diversities. Finally, we analysed the impacts of pesticide applications and land cover heterogeneity on both diversity measures. Taxonomic and functional group diversity measures were highly correlated. In turn, both diversity measures responded similarly to land cover heterogeneity and pesticides. Land cover heterogeneity had positive effects on taxonomic and functional group diversity, mainly at the early stage of rice crops. Conversely, the impact of pesticide application on both diversity measures was strongly negative. Our results suggest that rice agroecosystems can be more sustainable by increasing landscape heterogeneity and a reduced pesticide use. Such schemes may help to maintain higher levels of biodiversity that ensure ecosystem functioning, which will be therefore likely beneficial to provide ecosystem services in agroecosystems.

Success rates for conservation translocations of species are low and there is a need for increased understanding of how this activity is best applied. Here, using static species distribution models and a spatially-explicit dynamic simulation model, RangeShifter, we examine the impacts of habitat cover in recipient landscapes, allocation of individuals into multiple sites and species trait characteristics on the long-term fate of hypothetical translocations of a grassland specialist butterfly, Maniola jurtina, in Finland. While persistence of populations introduced to climatically suitable locations northwards of the current range can be increased by selecting sites with increasing habitat cover and by allocation of individuals to multiple release sites, local population growth rate is shown to be the key parameter in determining likely translocation success. We conclude that the long-term persistence of translocated habitat specialist butterflies, particularly with low growth rates, appears to be uncertain in modern-day fragmented grassland networks and that translocation activities should prioritize management that improves local growth rate.

Conceptually, stakeholder participation in the governance of ecosystem services (ESS) is necessary for several reasons, some of them well-known for sustainability governance in general but some more specific for ecosystem services. In particular the failure of monetary valuation to provide meaningful valuation instruments requires participation of a representative diversity of stakeholders in ESS research and governance to answer the question what people value, and how. Building upon experience from transdisciplinary research projects in Asia, Africa and Europe, we argue that successful participation depends on the specific socio-cultural context and requires different means and modes of participation during different project phases. We list a variety of tested methods, with reference to the pros and cons each of them has. The challenges we describe are structured according to theoretical concepts, but not derived from them but from project experience. They are formidable, both conceptually and empirically, but with good project coordination such difficulties can be anticipated and handled. The paper first outlines the specific challenges of ESS assessment and valuation in inter- and transdisciplinary research, arguing in Section 1 that the failure of internalisation requires participation as value attributing mechanism. Section 2 describes challenges experienced with participation in research design and implementation; the latter links to Section 3 which draws lessons for ESS governance strategies. Section 4 presents some lessons learned for future ESS research and governance.

Sustainable management of agricultural systems includes promoting nutrient cycles, which can reduce the need for application of fertilizer. As rice is one of the most important food resources in the world, sustainable management of rice paddies is increasingly in demand. However, little is known about the influence of invertebrates on decomposition processes in these ecosystems. We hypothesized that invertebrates contribute significantly to the decomposition of rice straw in paddies and that their relative contribution is affected by the distance to other landscape structures within fields. We placed rice straw in litterbags of two different mesh sizes which prevent (20 μm × 20 μm) or allow (5 mm × 5 mm) access of invertebrates in six irrigated rice fields for 84 days. In each field, bags were set on three transects running from the bund to the center of the field. Invertebrates significantly increased total rice straw litter mass loss by up to 45% (total decomposition: fine-meshed bags 64%; coarse-meshed bags 83%). Litter mass loss in bags accessed by invertebrates decreased with increasing distance from the bund. Such a spatial trend in litter mass loss was not observed in bags accessed only by microbes. Our results indicated that invertebrates can contribute to soil fertility in irrigated rice fields by decomposing rice straw, and that the efficiency of decomposition may be promoted by landscape structures around rice fields.

Habitat management needs comprehensive perspectives, considering multiple ecosystem services at local and landscape scales. Stakeholder involvement with participatory research and development programmes for farmers is an essential part of it. Currently, ecological engineering by habitat management and participatory programmes and mass media campaigns are developed to counteract the adverse effects of ongoing intensification of rice production in Southeast Asia. These schemes often suggest the establishment of flower strips. Flower strips are a common measure to promote biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation in industrialised countries, since they aesthetically enrich production landscapes and provide supplementary food resources and shelter for natural enemies and pollinators. We review management options for biological pest control, pollination and cultural services in rice production landscapes and evaluate the parallel development of participatory programmes and mass media campaigns for sustainable rice production. Biological pest control, pollination services and landscape aesthetics could benefit from the establishment of flower strips in rice production landscapes. However, more experimental studies are needed to test the benefits of different plant species, potential interactions between local and landscape scale and interactions between different ecosystem services. Rice farmers should better appreciate their benefits from regulating ecosystem services and should be involved in the development and implementation of ecological engineering. Mass media campaigns and participatory programmes can motivate farmers, but their efficiency needs to be tested in different regions. Combining participatory approaches and mass media campaigns with the establishment of flower strips and other beneficial habitats has potential to increase the sustainability of rice production in Asia.

gricultural landscapes and ecosystem services in South-East sia—the LEGATO-Project osef Settelea,b,∗, Joachim H. Spangenberga,c, Kong Luen Heongd,q, enjamin Burkharde,f, Jesus Victor Bustamanteg, Jimmy Cabbigatg, o Van Chienh, Monina Escaladai, Volker Greschoa,j, Le Huu Haik, lexander Harpkea, Finbarr G. Horgand, Stefan Hotesl, Reinhold Jahnm, ngolf Kuhna,b, Leonardo Marquezn, Martin Schadlera,b, Vera Tekkeno, oris Vetterleina, Sylvia “Bong” Villareald, Catrin Westphalp, Martin Wiemersa

Continuing global population growth requires an increase in food production, but also new strategies to reduce negative effects of intensive land use on the environment. Rice as key staple food for a majority of the human population is of crucial importance for global and particularly Southeast Asian food supply. As food provision is one key ecosystem service (ES), it is important to know which ESs are provided at which places. Therefore, an ES scoring exercise harnessing local experts’ knowledge in a ‘rapid assessment’ was conducted in seven rice cropping regions in Vietnam and the Philippines. The expert-based scoring values were linked in an ‘ES-matrix’ to the different land use/land cover (LULC) classes abundant in the study areas. The LULC classifications were based on SPOT satellite image interpretation. The matrices were used to compile ES supply maps that give first indications about ES in regions with different intensive agriculture. The outcomes provide a first ‘screening’ of ES supply related to different LULC types in rice-dominated regions enabling the communication of the relevance of specific ecosystems for local communities and decision makers. Uncertainties inherent in expert- and land cover-based ES assessments are discussed and recommendations for improvements of future studies are given.

A narrow perception of causality chains can be counterproductive and self-defeating, as the case of pesticide use in Asian rice production shows. Using the Driving Forces – Pressures – State – Impact – Response (DPSIR) scheme developed by EEA and Eurostat we analyse the logic inherent to the application of insecticides. Its underlying biology-to-society perspective considers insects as the initial Pressure, spraying insecticides as adequate Response and yield protection as result. This view is apparently supported by positive results in the early growth phase, but this short term success is paid for by increased system sensitivity, possibly leading to severe damages in the later stages when a seemingly similar situation is indeed very different. This is due to the complementary but ignored society-to-biology loop: insecticide spraying leads to biocontrol loss enhancing vulnerability. Once the system has gone through both loops, the State of the system has changed, enhancing its sensitivity to planthopper infestations. The changed State leads to unexpected Impacts – in particular, the standard Response is no longer capable of reducing the Drivers (the numbers of planthoppers) as expected. This does not become obvious, however, before a new pressure arises and cannot be understood inside the standard management loop but requires combining it with the society-to-biology loop. A double-DPSIR scheme is suggested as a heuristic device, and as a communication tool conveying the message in a simplified way. It shows that the Responses of one loop are the Drivers of the other, leading to different conclusions based on different pre-analytical visions.

The ‘cascade model’ of ecosystem service generation and valuation highlights the links between biophysical aspects/biodiversity and human well-being, in particular for the case of marginal changes, but does not include societal processes. Services seem to flow effortlessly from ecosystems to beneficiaries, as free gifts of nature. We integrate such processes, strengthening the model's applicability to non-incremental changes, and to landscape planning. A process analysis shows how use value attribution turns biophysical ecosystem functions into ecosystem service potentials which (except for ‘final services’) have to be mobilised to provide ecosystem services. Once appropriated, these services generate ecosystem benefits which may be commercialised, or not. The important role of use value attribution for the final (e)valuation of policies, plans and their expected outcome is illustrated by discussing different service potentials attributed to the same function, biomass provision, and the different bioenergy services resulting. For the reverse use of the ‘cascade’ as ‘stairways’ for planning processes, the prevailing uncertainty requires legal and participative foundations for decision making, and an awareness of the potentially conflicting private and public interests involved. This reverse application combines with the ‘cascade’ to form a full cycle of ecosystem services generation and management.

Land-use changes can alter the spatial population structure of plant species, which may in turn affect the attractiveness of flower aggregations to different groups of pollinators at different spatial scales. To assess how pollinators respond to spatial heterogeneity of plant distributions and whether honeybees affect visitation by other pollinators we used an extensive data set comprising ten plant species and their flower visitors from five European countries. In particular we tested the hypothesis that the composition of the flower visitor community in terms of visitation frequencies by different pollinator groups were affected by the spatial plant population structure, viz. area and density measures, at a within-population (‘patch’) and among-population (‘population’) scale. We found that patch area and population density were the spatial variables that best explained the variation in visitation frequencies within the pollinator community. Honeybees had higher visitation frequencies in larger patches, while bumblebees and hoverflies had higher visitation frequencies in sparser populations. Solitary bees had higher visitation frequencies in sparser populations and smaller patches. We also tested the hypothesis that honeybees affect the composition of the pollinator community by altering the visitation frequencies of other groups of pollinators. There was a positive relationship between visitation frequencies of honeybees and bumblebees, while the relationship with hoverflies and solitary bees varied (positive, negative and no relationship) depending on the plant species under study. The overall conclusion is that the spatial structure of plant populations affects different groups of pollinators in contrasting ways at both the local (‘patch’) and the larger (‘population’) scales and, that honeybees affect the flower visitation by other pollinator groups in various ways, depending on the plant species under study. These contrasting responses emphasize the need to investigate the entire pollinator community when the effects of landscape change on plant–pollinator interactions are studied.

The butterfly fauna of west parts of the Central Chinese Qinling Mountains was studied in the Xiaolongshan Forests (which are situated in Gansu Province) and the impact of forest management characterised. Field assessment is based on transects, supplemented by field investigations, and yielded 218 butterfly species. 95 of these species (=44%) belong to the Palaearctic Region, 46 (=21%) to the Oriental Region, and 77 (=35%) are widespread. Five different forest management regimes have been studied, from close-to-nature forests to mixed forest to shrub. The number of species differed from 86 to 15 species, which gives a first indication of the impacts of forestry, but also for the opportunities these regimes might provide for the conservation of butterflies as core elements of biodiversity.

There are many biological factors that influence the developmental stability and therewith the morphological symmetry of species, such as the environment, stress during development, hybridisation between species, inbreeding and loss of genetic variability. Here, we analysed the developmental stability of wing traits of the butterfly Parnassius apollo , a threatened species with small local populations. We assessed the historical trajectory of developmental stability as measured by fluctuating asymmetry (FA) to evaluate the effect of protection and management actions on an Apollo population in Germany. We analysed 89 individuals collected from 1906 to 2004 at six morphological wing traits, four of which were FA traits. Our results show that legal protection (= listed on a red list) alone did not have any effect on FA and hence did not improve the population fitness. However, FA showed a clear response to management actions, but only after several generations. In 2004, 13 years after population management actions were implemented, the variance of population wide FA was comparable to the FA-variance from the beginning of the 20 th century. Our study supports the utilisation of FA as an assessment tool of effects of population management.

Environmental scientists employ political and economic arguments to argue for the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services. However, the economic terminology has a number of connotations which makes its usefulness for the intended effect questionable. On the one hand, the basic assumptions underlying economic valuation are far from realistic and represent rather a caricature of human behaviour. On the other hand, the methods based on these assumptions are manifold and lead to wildly diverging results. Thus the calculated value of ecosystems and their services is not a robust figure, but varies with the valuation method applied (plus a plethora of subjective assumptions). As a result, it is not possible to ‘objectively’ calculate the value of ecosystem services. Fortunately, it is also not necessary to do so. Given the inherent flaws of the valuation process, it seems more promising for biodiversity and its conservation to restrict the economic calculus to the role of a contribution in the implementation process for a set of politically defined targets, rather than using it as the target setting mechanism itself. The paper lists some of the core assumptions, presents a systematic overview of the most relevant valuation methods, illustrates them by providing examples and discusses their limitations. As an alternative, political target setting is suggested, based on a multi-stakeholder, multi-criteria analysis. Market prices play a role in this analysis, as one factor amongst others. For the implementation, costeffectiveness analysis gives important hints, and economic instruments – inter alia – can play an important role as enforcement mechanisms. However, incentives should be based on criteria of (potential) effectiveness, not on value calculations.

The increasing spread of invasive alien plants has changed biodiversity throughout the world. To date research in this area has focused on how invasive plant species affect pollinator behaviour, but there is a lack of data on the impact that alien plant species have on wild pollinator populations. Since their introduction in the 19th century, and rapid spread after the 1950s, alien goldenrods (Solidago canadensis, Solidago gigantea) have been among the most successful invasive plant species in Europe. We studied the effects of goldenrods on wild pollinator communities in SE Poland. The abundance, species richness and diversity of wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies were compared between wet meadows invaded by goldenrod (10 transects) and non-invaded controls (10 transects). Furthermore, we compared the plant diversity and average cover between the two groups of sites. Invasion of goldenrods had a very strong negative effect on wild pollinator diversity as well as abundance. Plant diversity and average cover were also negatively affected by goldenrod invasion. Wild pollinators were grouped according to their nesting and food specialization, but none were resistant to the invasion, indicating that introduced goldenrod may affect the entire wild pollinator community. Our study emphasises the urgent need to develop specific protection plans for wild pollinators in habitats threatened by foreign plants and we call for the introduction of programs to stop the invasion of goldenrod not only in Poland, but also on a continental scale.

One of the key challenges in designing agri-environmental schemes targeted at conservation is the determination of the amount of financial resources that should be allocated towards a particular aim such as the conservation of an endangered species. Economists can contribute to an answer by estimating the ‘optimal level of species conservation’. This requires an assessment of the supply and the demand curve for conservation and a comparison of the two curves to identify the optimal conservation level. In a case study we estimated the optimal conservation level of Large Blue butterflies (protected by the EU Habitats Directive) in the region of Landau, Germany. The difference to other studies estimating optimal conservation is that a problem was addressed where costs and ecological effects of conservation measures are heterogeneous in space and over time. In our case study we found a corner solution where the highest proposed level of butterfly conservation is optimal. Although our results are specific to the area and species studied, the methodology is generally applicable to estimate the amount of financial resources that should be allocated to conserve an endangered species in the context of agri-environmental schemes.

Classic metapopulation theory assumes relatively frequent population extinctions and colonisations on local habitat patches and consequently its interest is focused on spatial presence–absence patterns rather than on local population densities and their dynamics. However, the latter may also be important for metapopulation functioning, especially in the case of low turnover of local populations. We investigated spatial occurrence and abundance patterns of three species of endangered Maculinea butterflies in the Krakow region, southern Poland, in relation to various habitat parameters. For all three species investigated we found almost complete occupancy of their foodplant patches. The few patches lacking Maculinea populations were significantly smaller and more isolated. Foodplant availability proved to be the main factor limiting population densities for M. alcon, but not for M. teleius and M. nausithous, for which patch size and shape mattered the most. Small and highly internally fragmented patches supported higher densities of these two species. We hypothesise that the negative density–area relationship as well as positive impact of patch fragmentation on butterfly densities derive from differences in relative abundance of Myrmica ant hosts, which are a vital resource for myrmecophilous Maculinea butterflies. Since ants are under strong parasite pressure from Maculinea within their foodplant patches, and spread mainly through nest budding from surrounding refuge areas, their densities can be expected to be higher on small and fragmented patches. This underlines the importance of not only foodplant patches, but also their surroundings for the conservation of Maculinea butterflies.

An approach is present which integrates an economic and an ecological model for designing cost-effective compensation payments for conservation of endangered species in real landscapes. The approach is used to develop a cost-effective compensation payment scheme for conservation of an endangered butterfly species (Maculinea teleius) protected by the EU Habitats Directive in the region of Landau, Germany. The economic model determines the costs of relevant conservation measures mowing meadows at different times and frequencies - and the ecological model quantifies the effects of these mowing regimes on the butterfly population. By comparing the ecological effects of different mowing regimes, the cost-effective regime and the corresponding payments are determined as a function of the conservation budget. The results of the case study are used to analyse the effect of metapopulation dynamics on the cost-effectiveness of compensation payment schemes, to evaluate an existing scheme in the region of Landau and to draw conclusions for the institutional design of payment schemes.

The effects of natural succession and invasions of indigenous reed Phragmites australis and alien goldenrods Solidago sp. on butterfly communities of wet grassland were investigated in Krakow (southern Poland) after management cessation. The total number of species and individuals, mean number of species per survey and a species diversity (Shannon-Wiener index) were highest in fallow lands, old fallow lands and young forests, and the lowest in fallow lands invaded by reed and goldenrod and in mature forests. These results (1) reveal the importance of extensively mown meadows and fallow land for butterflies, (2) indicate that meadow restoration is still possible even several decades after abandonment and (3) show that invasion of reed and non-native goldenrods should be prevented. A few very rare species included in the Habitat Directive (Lycaena dispar, Lycaena helle, Maculinea teleius and Maculinea nausithous) were common on the wet grasslands in Krakow, thus the area should be protected. Moreover, it was shown that the presence and relative abundance of Maculinea butterflies were good indicators of general butterfly species richness and abundance in the investigated wet grasslands.

Summary For the design and declaration of conservation areas as well as for planning habitat management it is important to quantitatively know the habitat preferences of the focal species. To take into account the requirements of as many species as possible, it would be of great advantage if one would either (i) find one or several species whose habitat requirements cover those of a large number of other species or if one could (ii) identify a common set of habitat parameters that is important for the occurrence of many species. Ideally such common habitat parameters should be easy to measure. Only then they may be of practical value in applied conservation biology. In this study, we compared the habitat preferences of different insect species (grasshoppers, bush crickets, butterflies, moths) in the same region by applying identical methods. To identify common explanatory variables that predict the occurrence probability of these species, we first tested the transferability of the specific ‘species models’ to other species within the same insect group. We tested how well the incidence of one species can be predicted by the occurrence probability of another species. The ‘best’ models within each group were then tested for transferability between the different groups. Additionally, we tested the predictive power of the predictor variable ‘habitat type’ as an easy and often available measure for conservation practice. Although in the different ‘species models’ different key factors determine habitat suitability, some models were successfully transferred and were able to reasonably predict the distribution of other species. The habitat preferences of the burnet moth Zygaena carniolica were particularly well suited for the prediction of suitable habitats for all other species. In addition, the predictor variable ‘habitat type’ played a dominant role in all models. Models using this aggregated predictor variable may well predict suitable habitat for all species.

Mosaic cycles were originally understood as cyclical regeneration phases in forests. In this review, we shall examine how far the concept can be extended towards cyclical mosaics of habitat quality in patterned landscapes as a special case of ‘dynamic landscapes’. We will concentrate on habitats and plants in European temperate agricultural landscapes and grasslands in particular. Mosaic cycles of habitat quality are characterised by spatiotemporal shifts between disturbance and secondary succession. We found evidence for mosaic cycles in traditional agricultural systems, modern crop farming, and in recent conservation management. The relevant disturbance parameters to describe land-use drivers of mosaic cycles are spatial extent, frequency, and magnitude (biomass loss). Land-use-related drivers are usually regular and deterministic in space and time, with the exception of year-round grazing by free-ranging large herbivores. Fluctuating soil resources such as water and nutrients in interaction with climate variability add a stochastic component to these (land-use-related) drivers. The proportion of deterministic and stochastic components and their autocorrelation in time and space divides purely deterministic mosaic cycles from purely stochastic dynamic landscapes. In a second part, we briefly review plant life-history traits that may facilitate survival of plants in mosaic cycles of habitat quality. Theoretical studies emphasise (i) dispersal functions for extinction and recolonisation processes of metapopulations, (ii) storage effects as a component of buffered population growth in response to temporal fluctuations of habitat quality, and (iii) competitive ability in metacommunities. We propose a simple scheme relating these functions to the temporal and spatial correlation of patterned landscapes. There are only a very limited number of field studies available that give some support for the proposed scheme. We provide perspectives for further research in this field.

Summary The foraging behaviour of the parasitoid wasp Neotypus melanocephalus and factors affecting parasitism at the population level were studied. This specialised parasitoid attacks caterpillars of the butterfly Maculinea nausithous , which sequentially feed on the plant Sanguisorba officinalis and specific red Myrmica ants. Among M. nausithous populations, there is considerable variation in caterpillar densities. At low M. nausithous densities, foraging might be time consuming for N. melanocephalus. High host densities may not always be advantageous to foraging parasitoids due to the caterpillars’ frequent overexploitation of ant resources and subsequent density-dependent mortality. In order to disperse progeny, we hypothesised that N. melanocephalus should search in a non-random way at the level of the micro-habitat, i.e., single flower heads of S. officinalis . Our analysis of 32 natural populations in the Upper Rhine valley in Germany did not show a density-dependent relationship between M. nausithous caterpillars and parasitism. Furthermore, habitat parameters like patch size and density of the host's food plant did not affect the parasitism rate. Foraging N. melanocephalus females preferred to search on large flower heads. They probed host-occupied flower heads only, visiting non-host-exploited flower heads only briefly. Time spent on a flower head was independent of the number of caterpillars per flower head. This study indicates that N. melanocephalus increases its foraging efficiency by preferring large flower heads that were previously shown to contain more host caterpillars than small flower heads. Furthermore, oviposition increases the likelihood of continuing to search on a flower head, which is an adaptive strategy for parasitoids foraging for aggregated hosts. However, many host-occupied flower heads were not probed by N. melanocephalus . We discuss the possibility that temporal host refuges of M. nausithous caterpillars might contribute to heterogeneity of parasitism, and why spreading offspring might constitute a suitable strategy for a parasitoid of an ant-parasitic butterfly.

This article investigates the biology of Byasa impediens , presenting its life-table data and analyzing its habitat requirements and the key factors threatening the survival of this species. This study also aims to detect specific protection methods to guarantee the long-term survival of Byasa impediens in Baishuijiang Reserve. Byasa impediens is bivoltine in Baishuijiang Reserve. The pupae overwinter on shrubs or on branches of trees. The eclosion of the first generation starts in mid-April. The adults of the first generation emerge in large numbers in mid-late May, and the second generation emerges from late June to mid-July. The two generations overlap. The adult males emerge 7–10 days earlier than the adult females. Their flight behavior is determined by factors such as perching along small rivers and gullies, and visiting flowers. The males are strong fliers. On the contrary, the flying ability of the females is weak; therefore, they just visit flowers, mate, and lay eggs near the natal area. The ratio of female to male is 1:4.1. The maximum lifespan of the males is 26 days, with an average of 6.9 days, whereas the maximum lifespan of the females is 21 days, with an average of 7.6 days. The pregnant eggs per female are 31.5 on average. The incubation period of the first generation is 12–14 days, whereas that of the second generation is 7–9 days. The larvae feed mainly on Aristolochia heterophylla . The larval period of the first generation lasts for 30 days with five instars and that of the second generation lasts for 30–40 days with five or six instars. The pupal period of the first generation begins in early June and lasts for 20–26 days whereas for the second generation, it begins between late July and late September. The adults prefer the following nectar plants: Albizzia julibrissin, Bauhinia glauca, Clerodendrum bungei , and Sambucus chinensis . The plant Aristolochia heterophylla is distributed at an altitude of 900–1680 m, and the most suitable range is 1200–1500 m. The host plants grow mainly along the paths and along the borders of forests where the canopy is rather open and shrubby undergrowth is found. The plant can hardly be found when the canopy density of the forest is greater than 80%. The elevation range most suitable for the larvae is 1200–1500 m. The ideal habitat of host plants also seems to be the ideal habitat of Byasa impediens . The key factors that adversely affect the population of Byasa impediens are loss and deterioration of habitats. The loss and deterioration of the habitats result in a decrease in the numbers of host plants and a more restricted distribution of the potential habitats. The habitat is easily influenced by anthropogenic activities, such as herding, cultivating, and using pesticides, which in turn influences the growth of the host plant Aristolochia heterophylla and the larvae of butterflies. Abnormal climatic conditions and natural enemies are the key factors affecting population density. The hot and dry weather in summer and the heavy rain in autumn considerably reduce the survival rate of eggs and larvae. The ichneumon parasitoids reduce the survival rate of the over-wintering pupae. The primary natural enemies of the larvae include spiders, earwigs, wasps, bugs, and ichneumon parasitoids. Other natural enemies of pupae and adults are birds. The most important conservation measures are preservation and reconstruction of the natural habitat, which includes rebuilding forests, enhancing management, enforcing existing laws, and developing eco-tourism. Creating a core-patch near all patches at a central area is also an important measure for conservation. In the most ideal habitat, appropriate shrub cutting can increase the growth of host plants, thereby promoting expansion of the Byasa impediens population.

In this paper, habitat models were used to predict potential habitat for endangered species, which is an important question in landscape and conservation planning. Based on logistic regression, we developed habitat distribution models for the burnet moth Zygaena carniolica and the nymphalid butterfly Coenonympha arcania in Northern Bavaria, Germany. The relation between adult occurrence and habitat parameters, including the influence of landscape context, was analyzed on, 118 sites. Habitat connectivity analyses were carried out on the basis of (1) habitat suitability maps generated from these models and (2) dispersal data from mark recapture studies. Our results showed that (1) the presence of the burnet depended mainly on the presence of nectar plants and of nutrient-poor dry grasslands in direct vicinity, that of the nymphalid on larger areas of extensively used dry grasslands within 100 m vicinity in combination with small patches of higher shrubs and bushes. (2) Internal as well as external validation indicated the robustness and general applicability of the models. Transferability in time and space indicated their high potential relevance for applications in nature conservation, such as predicting possible effects of land use changes. (3) Habitat connectivity analyses revealed a high degree of habitat connectivity within the study area. Thus, we could show no effects of isolation or habitat size for both species. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

A model study is presented that investigates the effect of land use changes on arthropods in Philippine rice terraces. These changes include the increase of non-rice areas (vegetable fields and woodlots), the introduction of a second cropping season and the abandonment of the traditional synchrony in the cropping regimes over whole regions. Such changes are likely to have an effect on the balance between rice pests (plant and leaf hoppers, e.g. Nilaparvata lugens and Sogatella furcifera) and their natural enemies (spiders, predatory bugs and parasitoids), and therefore could be of considerable interest in the context of pest management. The model explicitly considers several arthropod species and their population dynamics in several rice fields with different cropping cycles. Thus various spatio-temporal land use regimes can be investigated and compared in their effect on pest abundance. According to the model results, a high proportion of vegetable fields reduces pest abundance. Whether synchronous cropping reduces pest abundance, depends on the interactions between their natural enemies, particular the feeding behaviour of the mirid bug Cyrtorhinus lividipennis. A cropping regime that minimises pest abundance in all circumstances, does not exist. Whether traditional farming practices are superior to modern ones or not, is very much influenced by the type of integration of different control strategies and tactics and the ecology of the species involved.

Compensation payments to farmers who apply species-friendly farming activities are a common instrument to reconcile nature conservation with agriculture in Europe. In order to design cost-effective and ecologically effective compensation payments for conservation measures an ecological-economic modelling procedure has been developed using the example of protecting Large Blue butterflies. The modelling procedure forms the basis for the decision support tool EcoEcoMod. By comparing the effects of different mowing regimes on the butterfly populations for a given budget, the user can identify the cost-effective mowing regime and the corresponding compensation payments for that budget.