Summary
This multi-farm survey across the Netherlands quantifies the relative and interactive effects of field-scale agricultural management and surrounding landscape structure on soil biodiversity across four major organism groups. The findings demonstrate that whilst field management is the dominant driver, landscape heterogeneity—particularly compositional diversity—meaningfully influences soil community structure independently of field-scale land use intensity, with implications for integrated conservation planning.
Regional applicability
The study was conducted in the Netherlands, a comparable intensively managed agricultural landscape to much of lowland Britain. The findings on the importance of landscape-scale diversity alongside field management are likely transferable to United Kingdom farming contexts, particularly for policy recommendations integrating field and landscape-scale interventions, though local soil types and climate conditions may modulate specific outcomes.
Key measures
Soil community diversity and composition (bacteria, fungi, protists, invertebrates); field-scale management intensity; landscape structure (compositional and configurational heterogeneity); land use intensity
Outcomes reported
The study assessed how field-scale management and landscape structure jointly determine soil community diversity and composition across bacteria, fungi, protists and invertebrates in 87 Dutch farms. Field-scale management exerted stronger influence than landscape structure overall, though landscape compositional heterogeneity significantly shaped soil community composition independent of field-use intensity.
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