Farmland Biodiversity: links to online booklet on farmland habitats

In a blast from the past, I re-discovered our booklet on 'Farmland Biodiversity: measures to create and enhance farmed habitats'.

Four-species mixtures increased weed suppression in intensively managed grasslands

Diversity robustly suppresses weeds in intensive grassland systems

How can we get more from less use of natural resources in agricultural systems? The use of multi-species mixtures (plant diversity) in intensively managed systems has been proposed as one strategy to improve agricultural sustainability. We show that four-species forage mixtures greatly increased weed suppression in intensively managed grasslands.

Uncontrolled weed growth can represent a major source of inefficiency, diverting nutrients, water, light and labour to an undesirable form of biomass, while herbicides incur significant environmental and economic costs. In pastures, weeds can impair forage quantity and quality resulting in reduced animal production, and increase the need for reseeding with its consequent costs. If diversity helps in maintaining a low level of weeds in pastures (and increases yield) it can increase the sustainable production of higher quality forage compared to systems relying on monocultures.