Global Change Abstracts The Swiss Contribution - SCNAT

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ment diversity and lower interaction evenness in
restored than in intensively managed meadows,
both of which are theoretically positively associated
with increased ecosystem stability in restored
meadows.
Journal of Animal Ecology, 2007, V76, N5, SEP, pp
1015-1025.
08.1-82
Sustaining agricultural production and food
security in Southern Africa: an improved role
for climate prediction?
Archer E, Mukhala E, Walker S, Dilley M, Masamvu K
South Africa, Botswana, Switzerland
Agriculture, Soil Sciences , Meteorology & Atmospheric
Sciences , Ecology , Social Sciences
Livelihoods and household food security in the
Southern African region can be extremely vulnerable
to the negative effects of climate stress
as shown by the 2002-2004 ‘complex emergency.’
Climate prediction may prove a valuable resource
in mitigating these effects. If climate prediction is
applied successfully, it may be able to help guide
responses in populations at risk to reduce vulnerability
to climate stress. The study presented here
seeks to understand what would constitute an improved
role for climate prediction in contributing
to sustaining agricultural production and food
security in Southern Africa. Investigation undertaken
during the 2002/2003 rainy season under regional
conditions of elevated disaster risk shows,
however, that a number of weaknesses and gaps
persistently characterize climate information
systems in the Southern African region, and constrain
such systems’ ability to benefit key sectors,
particularly agriculture. The stakeholder identification
of such gaps forms the basis for distilling
concrete recommendations to improve process
and organizational efficiency. Such recommendations,
while developmental, should better enable
institutions and stakeholders involved in climate
prediction to fulfill their potential in supporting
development of successful adaptation strategies
in populations and sectors at risk.
Climatic Change, 2007, V83, N3, AUG, pp
287-300.
08.1-83
Importance of ecological compensation areas
for small mammals in intensively farmed areas
Aschwanden J, Holzgang O, Jenni L
Switzerland
Agriculture, Soil Sciences , Ecology , Zoology
Small mammals make up an important link in the
food chain as many predator species feed on them.
There are indications that small mammal popula-
Global Change Abstracts – The Swiss Contribution | Terrestrial Ecosystems
tions in Europe are declining due to the intensification
of agriculture. According to national legislation,
farmers in Switzerland have to cultivate at
least 7% of their land as ecological compensation
areas and, thus, some alternative habitats that are
possibly beneficial for small mammals have been
created. In this study, we estimated the diversity
and density of small mammals on two types of
conventional farmland field types (artificial grassland
and autumn-sown wheat) and three types of
ecological compensation areas (wild-flower strips,
herbaceous strips and low-intensity meadows) by
use of capture-recapture in March, May and July
2003. The common vole Microtus arvalis was the
most abundant and predominant species in all
habitat types except in herbaceous strips, which
harboured the highest diversity with six species
caught. In March the density of small mammals
was generally very low, but significantly higher
in wild-flower (mainly due to common vole) and
herbaceous strips than in the other habitat types.
In wild-flower and herbaceous strips, densities increased
strongly from March to May and in July.
On autumn-sown wheat fields, a strong increase
occurred only from May to July and was caused
by common vole. On artificial grassland and lowintensity
meadows, densities of small mammals
(mainly common vole) increased only marginally
with low-intensity meadows supporting slightly
higher densities. Thus, habitats that were not
mown each year supported the highest densities
of small mammals. This demonstrates that ecological
compensation areas, such as wild-flower
and herbaceous strips, make up an important refuge
for small mammals. They probably also have
positive effects on populations of many predator
species that depend on small mammals, particularly
if a mosaic with mown surfaces is created.
Wildlife Biology, 2007, V13, N2, JUN, pp 150-158.
08.1-84
Effects of agri-environmental measures, site
and landscape conditions on butterfly diversity
of Swiss grassland
Aviron S, Jeanneret P, Schüpbach B, Herzog F
Switzerland
Agriculture, Soil Sciences , Ecology , Biodiversity
Agri-environment schemes (AES) were introduced
in Europe to mitigate the loss of biodiversity in
cultivated landscapes. In Switzerland, farmers
have to convert 7% of the arable land into ecological
compensation areas (ECA) in order to enhance
biodiversity, low-input grassland making up the
major part of ECA. This study investigated during
6 years the effect of ECA grassland on butterfly diversity
at the field and the landscape scales in two