Agricultural areas provide habitat for a wide range of species with many species also depending on this agro-ecosystem. At the same time, agriculture depends on ecosystem services provided by species in the system, such as pollinators and natural pest controllers. Other organisms contribute to disease or weed suppression or to nutrient cycling and water management. The groups of organisms that provide these ecosystem services are called "functional groups". The intensification of agriculture, including the loss of natural landscape elements and the use of synthetic plant protection and fertiliser products, is one of the main causes of the increasingly well-documented decline in biodiversity in agricultural areas and beyond. The natural control of pests and pollination of agricultural crops, mostly provided by insects and other arthropods, are thus compromised. Making agriculture more sustainable requires restoring these ecosystem services. It is generally thought that targeted landscape management is important in this regard.
In this report, we evaluate the effects of targeted landscape elements on said ecosystem services. This targeted biodiversity enhancement can be achieved in various ways, such as by constructing specifically composed flower field edges or woody landscape elements such as hedgerows, but also by e.g. mixed cultivation, strip cultivation and forest cultivation. By aligning these measures with the functional groups providing ecosystem services, they can be more effectively supported, a concept that has come to be called Functional Agrobiodiversity (FAB).
You can read the full report here. (Dutch)