Multi-species grasslands enhanced diversity of soil nematode community

New research from the Teagasc Environment Research Centre, Johnstown Castle shows that higher plant diversity of intensively managed multi-species swards enhances belowground soil biodiversity and health. The study, which has been published in the international scientific journal, ‘European Journal of Soil Biology’, showed that as grasslands increased plant diversity up to six species of grasses, clovers and herbs, soil-dwelling nematode communities also had increased diversity and improved performance across a range of ecological soil health indices.

Plant diversity (and drought) affect legacy effects on soil fertility

We investigated the effect of grassland diversity, drought and higher nitrogen level on legacy effects. Legacy effects (measured as yield of a follow-on crop, which reflect the influence of the preceding crop) were strongly positively affected by the proportion of legumes. Drought can impact legacy effects, but is modest relative to the effect of plant diversity. Aggregated across both ley and follow-on crop phases, the high-diversity, lower-nitrogen grassland community yielded more than the higher-nitrogen grass monoculture. 

Fig. 1. Overhead shot of the field site with the experimental design and plot management to track the effect of plant diversity, drought and fertiliser level on the legacy effect within plots.

Assessing the habitat quality of Irish field margins

 

We developed a methodology to assess the habitat quality of field margins in a set of more intensively managed farms in Ireland. Overall, we found that over half of the field margins surveyed had low or very low levels of habitat quality.

Field margin with very low habitat quality (dominated by negative indicator species)

Semi-natural habitats and Ecological Focus Areas on Irish farmland

HIighlights: We surveyed farmland habitats on tillage and more intensive beef and dairy farms. Habitat area was lower than that found in the general countryside, and was dominated by linear features (especially hedgerows). All tillage farms and the majority of pastoral farms in our sample met the current 5% EFA requirement, and the vast majority (93%) met a scenario with a 7% EFA requirement. There is a considerable amount of a broader range of wildlife habitats already present on intensively managed farms that was not included in EFA in Ireland, and is not reflected in policy or legislation. 

Open Access data: landscape classification of Ireland

The FarmForBio project has developed a landscape classification map of the Republic of Ireland. 

The map and the GIS data are now available on Teagasc’s TStor repository https://t-stor.teagasc.ie/handle/11019/2790

Lower nitrous oxide emissions intensity from multi-species swards

Recent Teagasc research shows that multispecies grasslands can potentially reduce both nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions and emissions intensities, and can contribute to more sustainable grassland production. Greenhouse gas measurements carried out by Saoirse Cummins showed that the annual greenhouse gas emissions per unit output (DM yield or biomass N) from the multi-species mixture were lower than those from perennial ryegrass receiving either 150 or 300 kg ha^-1 yr^-1 of inorganic nitrogen (N).

Webinar: piloting a biodiversity indicator in the Teagasc National Farm Survey

As part of the EU SmartAgriHubs project, Teagasc is investigating how to incorporate biodiversity into the Teagasc National Farm Survey. In a recent webinar, I presented the first results from the application of a habitat index to a sample of 300 farms in the NFS.