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Grassland arthropod species richness in a conventional suckler beef production system and one compatible with the Irish agri-environment scheme (REPS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

A. J. Helden ,
A. Anderson  and
G. Purvis
A. J. Helden*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Resource Management, Faculty of Agri-Food and the Environment, University CollegeDublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
A. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Resource Management, Faculty of Agri-Food and the Environment, University CollegeDublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
G. Purvis
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Resource Management, Faculty of Agri-Food and the Environment, University CollegeDublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
*
Email: alvin.helden@ucd.ie
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Extract

Grassland management practices, such as grazing, strongly affects the biodiversity of grassland arthropods; increasing grazing intensity causes a general decline in species richness (Morris, 2000). One of the aims of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) is to conserve and enhance biodiversity within Irish agricultural land (Feehan et al., 2002). In order to determine the effectiveness of this aspect of REPS, one must compare the relative biodiversity of grassland under REPS with that of conventionally managed grassland. Aiming to determine whether species richness was higher in REPS-compatible compared with a standard system of management, we measured the species richness of grassland arthropods within two contrasting grassland treatments within an experimental study of suckler beef production.

Type
Poster Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2005 , 2005 , pp. 236
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2005

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References

Feehan, J., Gillmor, D. A. and Culleton, N. E. 2002. The impact of the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) on plant and insect diversity. Tearmann: Irish Journal of Agr-environmental Research: 42: 15–28.Google Scholar
Morris., M.G., 2000. The effects of structure and its dynamics on the ecology and conservation of arthropods in British grasslands. Biological Conservation: 95: 129–142.Google Scholar