Summary
This regional field study examined how land use intensity, determined by multiple simultaneous agricultural practices, influences soil community structure across 87 farms in two contrasting land use types. The research demonstrates that impacts of land use intensity on soil biodiversity are strongly land-use-type dependent, with soil fungi being most susceptible to intensity changes. The findings identify specific agricultural practices—irrigation and pest control in arable fields versus nutrient fertilisation in grasslands—as key drivers of soil community composition, highlighting the importance of context-specific management considerations in agroecosystems.
Regional applicability
The study was conducted in the Netherlands, which shares similar temperate agricultural conditions, farming practices and soil types with substantial areas of the United Kingdom. The findings regarding differential responses of arable and grassland soils to management intensity are likely transferable to UK farming systems; however, direct application would benefit from UK-specific validation, particularly given differences in regional crop types, climate variation and farm management conventions.
Key measures
Soil community diversity and composition (bacteria, fungi, protists, invertebrates); land use intensity indices derived from multiple agricultural practices; soil network complexity metrics
Outcomes reported
The study measured diversity and community composition of multiple soil taxa (bacteria, fungi, protists and invertebrates) across 87 farms, and identified how different agricultural practices structure soil communities differently in arable versus grassland systems. Land use intensity influenced soil fungal diversity most strongly, with irrigation and pest control being key drivers in arable fields, whilst phosphorus and nitrogen fertilisation were dominant in grasslands.
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