Month: August 2022

The workshops ends with a plenary session, in which participants are asked whether there is a shared vision about the future farming system. If such a shared vision is present, the discussion on the strategies to select is tailored towards this vision. If not, all possible alternatives and strategies are kept in mind. These strategies for future systems are compared with the strategies that have been implemented in the past and current system, as derived from FoPIA-SURE-Farm 1, to understand what should change. The case study is the extensive sheep farming system located in the Huesca province, Northeast Spain. Huesca covers about 15,000 km2 and two main regions can be distinguished: 1) The Pyrenees and prePyrenees in the North, covering about 6,000 km2 , where agricultural activities are confined to extensive livestock; and 2) the southern part of the province, characterised by the plains of the Ebro depression , where extensive farming , intensive farming and crop farming are present. In Huesca, the number of decreased from 2,902 to 1,018 and the number of sheep from 923,399 to 521,501 . The size of farms has shown an upward trend in the last years. The current size of a herd is between 200 and 1,000 sheep . These trends are a result of the convergence of a range of economic, institutional, social and environmental challenges the farming system is facing. The extensive sheep farming system is highly dependent on EU and national subsidies, and hence, vulnerable to changing agricultural policy goals and increasing bureaucracy and control requirements. Regarding the social challenges, hydroponic channel the case study area suffered a vast population decline over the last century that comes along with a lack of skilled labour, social services and infrastructures.

The low attractiveness of the farming system and the agricultural specialization result in the lack of new entrants. Finally, the extensive sheep farming system is increasingly limited in the access to pastures. The strategies that farmers have been implementing over time to deal with these challenges follow four management patterns, i.e. intensification, extensification, diversification and conservation . In addition to the provision of private goods, such as to ensure sufficient farm incomes and deliver high-quality food at affordable prices the extensive farming system also provides public goods. Grazing helps to maintain and preserve the natural resources contributing to keep soil quality and biodiversity by maintaining landscape heterogeneity . Extensive livestock activity is also important to prevent forest fires by keeping the area clean from dry biomass , which act as fuel in Mediterranean areas . Grazing activities also provide recreational areas demanded by society and keep the rural areas attractive. As a result of the challenges mentioned in the previous paragraph, levels of functions in the farming system are generally perceived to be low . The clear presence of interacting economic, social and environmental domains makes the extensive sheep farming system in Huesca, an interesting case study for studying sustainability and resilience. In addition, there are signs of low sustainability, low resilience and consequently a pending decline of the farming system . The FoPIASURE-Farm 2 workshop was conducted on 14 February 2020 from 9.00 am till 3.00 pm with one break in the middle and lunch at the end. Eighteen people participated in the workshop, of which seven were farmers . The rest of participants belonged to the agri-food value chain , cooperatives and distributors, and public sector , and local public administration.When discussing critical thresholds , participants argued that these were already reached and that the farming system was on the edge of collapse/decline .

When participants resisted to participate individually, the flexibility of the methodology allowed for slightly adapting the procedure in Step 21 . In order to stimulate the discussion and obtain values for thresholds, the trend and current value of the indicators according to the official statistics were presented to participants. In case of disagreement, participants were asked to define the current value of the indicators in a plenary session, which helped the researchers to determine how the discussed values were more or less close to the threshold. Based on the plenary discussions on thresholds, researchers deduced a number of enabling conditions that are needed to maintain the current system in the future. In the next sections, actual levels, developments and threshold levels of function indicators, indicators of resilience attributes and challenges are presented. articipants indicated that the gross margin is the decisive variable that determines whether the farming system is on the edge of collapse or not. Participants indicated that the gross margin threshold of the farms is 25–30 €/head. According to the literature, gross margins in the farming system vary among farms depending on feeding costs, size of herds and aids . This implies that not every farm is similarly close to the gross margin threshold. While the gross margin of the farms in the flat areas is at threshold and beyond , the distance of gross margins to the thershold appears larger in the farms located in the mid-mountain areas. The latter have lower feeding costs than the former because the herd feeding relies almost enterely on the availability of pastures. Herd size in mountain areas used to be higher allowing farmers to benefit from economies of scales.Participants agreed that the current number of sheep has reached the tipping point in the area.

There are currently about 521 thousand sheep heads in the province of Huesca, with a reduction of 43.7% since 2005 . The decrease in the number of sheep in the farming system has not been as sharp as that of the number of farms. The reason that the decrease of sheep number has not been so marked in the last 10 years is because herds of quitting farms have been acquired by the farms that stayed. The strategy of buying sheep from quitting farmers allowed other farmers to increase their margins and remain in the farming system. Pardos et al. found an average increment of 85 sheep per farm from the period 1996–2001 to period 2002–2005. Currently, farmers are investing a great effort and time managing between 500 and 1,000 sheep/shepherd, but the gross margins are not enough to hire new shepherds and increase the herd. Consequently, from now on the number of sheep is expected to decrease with each farm disappearing from the system. All participants agreed that the costs of feeding are strongly related to the availability of pastures. During the workshop, availability of pastures was assessed by looking at the total available surface of pastures . In the province of Huesca the total amount of pastures has decreased by 65% in the period 2003–2018, with a current total of 160,000 ha in the province of Huesca . Participants concluded that the availability of pastures meets the farming system’s needs, especially now the number of sheep has decreased. However, in some areas such as the flat areas and those surrounding the Natural Parks and other protected areas , the access to pastures is limited or nil. Although grazing contributes to modulate the vegetation dynamics , bureaucracy and regulations limit the access to the pastures in the protected areas. Simultaneously, the increasing intensification of the agriculture in the flat areas is limiting the area of grazing lands. Moreover, the intensification of the farming system has led to the abandonment of lands, mainly in the mid-mountain areas. This abandonment causes a simplification and homogenization of the landscape due to the increase of the tree and shrub stratums, which lead to decrease in biodiversity and increase of fires . Participants found it difficult to provide a minimum value of pasture surface they need for grazing, but they pointed out that the authorities must ease the access to pastures as well as compensate for environmental services delivered by the ovine farming system.

Based on the input from participants, the research team estimated that the system is somewhat close to a critical threshold regarding the availability of pastures. According to participants, the lamb consumption should not decrease more than the current level, indicating that the current level in fact is the critical threshold. Lamb meat consumption has declined strongly in the period 2006–2019 , with a current value of 1.3 kg/inhabitant/year . Participants mentioned that in the short term this challenge has a negative influence on the gross margin and the number of sheep, whereas, in the long term, it can lead to the closure of farms. Participants identified several drivers that explain the lowering demand: consumers preferring other type of meats, mainly pork and chicken; disappearing culinary traditions; upcoming vegetarian and veganism trends; and the increasing campaigns against livestock farming influencing the negative perception of the sheep farming system . Overall, decreasing demand is indeed related to urban trends and social-economic conditions such as consumer preferences and family structures . The quality of products from the case study area may give a competitive advantage .Participants in the workshop are extremely worried about the increasing number of wolves and bears. The wild fauna attacks are recent and there are no clear statistics, but there is great concern about the potential impact. Participants did not provide the value of a critical threshold for wild fauna attacks in the ovine farming system. They indicated that the wild fauna attacks are more frequent in the mid-mountain than in the flat areas,hydroponic dutch buckets where the attacks rarely occur. Participants mentioned that the attacks not only negatively affect the profitability of the farm, but also the farmers’ quality of life as attacks imply more time and investments to take care of the herd. Based on the input from participants, the research team estimated that the system is not close to a critical threshold regarding wild fauna attacks. To compensate for the plenary input in Step 2, the research team decided that each participant should individually assess the impact when critical thresholds are exceeded . In a plenary session all participants discussed the effects of exceeding critical thresholds of challenges and interactions between critical thresholds. Overall, exceeding the critical threshold of one of the challenges was expected to lead to moderate to strong decline in performance of main functions and resilience attributes .

Plenary discussion results are presented in detail in Appendix C. In the evaluation step, interactions of thresholds across domains and scales resulted in a vicious circle which explains the expected decline in system functioning when critical thresholds are approached and exceeded . To adequately describe interacting thresholds in Fig. 2, some additional indicators were added that came forward during the discussions with stakeholders. Fig. 2 can be read as a summary of the information provided in the previous sections on thresholds of main function indicators, challenges and resilience attributes. Gross margin, a main function indicator of the system, plays a pivotal role in the interaction of thresholds and affects the number of farms and consequently the number of sheep in the area. Gross margins are directly affected by three main challenges: reducing subsidies, decreasing consumption and increasing feeding costs. Reducing gross margins and the closure of farms further reduces the available workforce, which reinforces the closure of remaining farms directly and indirectly via increasing feeding costs, which is why a lack of labor is seen as a main challenge. The challenge of increasing feeding costs is indirectly affected by increasing occurrence of droughts and wild fauna attacks, two other identified challenges. These challenges reduce the access and use of pastures, a proxy for the resilience attribute “production being coupled with local and natural capital”. Reduced access and use of pastures is eventually leading to shrub encroachment. Shrub encroachment is further stimulated when the number of sheep becomes insufficient to graze all available pastures. From a social perspective, the closure of farms and the decreasing workforce is expected to lead to a decreasing rural population.Instead of providing defined alternative systems on post-its, participants proposed ideas in a plenary session, thus using the flexibility that the methodology is offering. Two main alternative systems, their goals, functions and resilience attributesand enabling conditions came up in the brainstorming.

We anticipate that these three projects can be sustained in the future without additional funding if the scale of the projects remains at the current level. However, if the scale increases, it will be necessary to consider ways to increase funding. Blue carbon ecosystems have been shown to mitigate climate change. However, we should not limit ourselves to these ecosystems when considering ways to mitigate climate change and provide other co-benefits. The scope of blue carbon offset schemes should be broadened to include other ecosystems that can also play important roles in climate change mitigation. For example, tidal mudflats can be viewed as a type of intertidal blue carbon ecosystem . Although they lack large vegetation, their microphytobenthos can absorb atmospheric CO2 and their soils can store the captured carbon. Moreover, similar coastal ecosystems and carbon storage mechanisms can be found in microbial mat systems and coastal sabk has in arid regions. Among potential blue carbon ecosystems, the macroalgal beds and macroalgae aquaculture areas discussed in this study are gaining recognition . However, to the best of our knowledge, worldwide only these three Japanese sites discussed here have been implemented. Although estimates are few and extremely uncertain, macroalgal beds in SCEs may be the largest contributor to the net CO2 uptake rate. Although this study focused on the specific ecosystem service of climate regulation, SCEs provide various ecosystem services, and thus, represent natural capital. Managing this natural capital is vital to take advantage of co-benefits such as food provision, recreation, environmental purification, health, and employment creation,ebb flow tray in addition to contributing to food security, ecosystem integrity, and biodiversity.

However, highlighting climate change countermeasures, in which society is becoming increasingly interested, can help in initiating or accelerating the conservation and restoration of SCEs. Ensuring that the effectiveness and importance of SCEs are widely perceived and understood by various coastal stakeholders, researchers, engineers, and economists is of primary importance when quantifying SCE functions and monetization and ideally crediting the full range of the provided benefits. While considering the cost-effectiveness of SCEs, it is preferable to first quantify all of their functions and consider the trade-offs among them, and then to monetize them according to the results they produce. This method is preferable to basing the monetization of SCEs’ benefits on willingness-to-pay, as determined by questionnaire surveys. The direct evaluation of multi-functionality supported by numerical evidence is more likely to satisfy coastal stakeholders and to help secure public financing or attract funds from private companies and investors. Although the quantitative social impact of blue carbon offset credits is currently minimal, given the potential of blue carbon for mitigating climate change, expanding the volume and enhancing the social impact of credit trading are important. Some future challenges to be addressed are as follows. First, the motivation of both credit creators and buyers needs to be improved. For example, the Japanese government has set a goal to account for blue carbon in the national inventory by 2024. Making blue carbon offset credit schemes contribute directly to such a national indicator can be expected to improve the motivation of credit creators. In addition, for credit buyers, being able to reflect the blue carbon credits they offset in the nationally determined contributions of the Paris Agreement will enable them to contribute directly to the international community’s goals.

Furthermore, it will motivate them to contribute to their own corporate social responsibility as well as other ESG indicators. Second, it is necessary to enhance offset credit transaction products to generate interest from more participants. One idea to increase the number of participants is to present an array of trading products by assessing the economic value of co-benefits and allowing them to be traded together with carbon. Consequently, credit creators can expect to increase their sales proceeds by increasing both the unit price and the transaction volume. In turn, credit buyers will be motivated by the ability to choose trading products that better fit their goals and branding messages. Third, increasing the number of demonstration projects and accumulating good practices will contribute to raising awareness and interest in blue carbon offsetting. In turn, this can further motivate participants. Finally, we should not forget the role of the credit secretariat, which mediates transactions. Currently, because the amount of blue carbon credits traded worldwide is low, it is difficult to maintain the system in a stable and sustainable manner with the income from intermediary fees. Increasing the trading volume and the unit price by increasing the number of participants is thus important for the smooth operation of the secretariat. In addition, a system such as a validation and verification body, which is independent of the credit secretariat as established by JBE, is important to ensure the credibility of the system through enhanced validation and verification. This credibility is essential for increasing the number of participants in the credit system. The protection of biodiversity and ecosystems is an important and key task in maintaining nature conservation. By stabilizing agricultural conditions, it can contribute to the protection of ecosystems. The occurrence of zoofauna is significantly influenced by the structure of vegetation in connection with various agrotechnical interventions and inputs into the soil .

Sustainable agroeco systems must be biologically and ecologically balanced, technically manageable, economically efficient and socially acceptable. The aim should be to reach a compromise between environmental needs and economic efficiency.One of the main goals of sustainable agriculture is to reduce the risk of diseases and pests in crop systems, thus contributing to the protection of the environment. When applying agrochemicals in different types of farming , we must first understand the ecological processes taking place in these types of agroeco systems. Usually, the management of low input agroeco systems is more environmentally friendly and sustainable compared to classical conventional types.The structure of communities, with emphasis on the abundance and dominance of the Carabidae population within agroecosystems are influenced by many synergistically acting factors such as pedological and hydrological conditions, microclimatic conditions specific to each stand, agrotechnical measures, presence of diseases and pests. Knowledge of trends in the communities of Carabidae agroecosystems is essential for assessing their condition and understanding the processes taking place in nature and in a changing climate, which is manifested by frequent fluctuations in climatic events . Highly specialized agrocenoses are exposed to excessive pressure during the entire growing season, e.g. in the form of an increased number of pests. In addition to anthropogenic factors, Carabidae are one of the main groups that significantly contribute to their regulation. Therefore, their roles and function in environmental services cannot be underestimated . The dominance structure of the Carabidae communities clearly reflflects the conditions of the given habitat and their trophic structure changes depending on the state of the environment . Species of the Carabidae family act as effective bioindicators within agroecosystems, they are extremely adaptable, able to colonize almost all terrestrial habitats and geographical locations, with a stable taxonomy. They are useful organisms in agroecosystems due to their role as predators of cultivated plant pests, thereby reducing pest populations. An important role also belongs to the granivorous species that consume weed seeds, which can only be welcomed in agroecosystems.

From the functioning view of the agroecosystems, dominant species play an important role, the spectrum of prey and the degree of trophic specialization also depend on the individual seasons . In addition to the basic factors influencing agroecosystems, two important aspects are currently crucial. In the first place, there are negative anthropogenic factors acting on a local scale, whilst their effects are unpredictable. In addition, there is the phenomenon of global warming, the causes of which are related to human activities . Whether species can survive in agroecosystems depends on many integrating factors, most of the research focuses on the requirements of adult individuals, and on abiotic and biotic factors influencing their survival, larval research is problematic due to the practicality of the research . Agroecosystems include a myriad of species from the Carabidae family, which increase the biodiversity of agroecosystems with their presence, examples are presence of the abundant species Harpalus rufipes, Poecilus cupreus, Pterostichus melanarius, etc. They are so adapted to the anthropogenic influences that their occurrence in agroecosystems affected by human activity is highly dominant. Species richness and abundance of organisms increase with the intensity of habitat disturbances, but if the intensity exceeds certain limits, biodiversity decreases and leads to the overall imbalance of the community. Such disturbances are usually caused by management, which is a decisive factor influencing the populations present, including Carabidae . The aim of the presented study is to evaluate and compare the impact of ecological and integrated arable farming systems on the species composition, spatial structure and biodiversity of Carabidae populations, within selected cultivated crops. Prediction of the richness of Carabidae populations and homeostasis of agroecosystems was also evaluated. Monitored species indicate topical and trophic environmental conditions and serve as part of complex mechanisms.It was recorded during the period considered 7 801 adult carabids belonging to 26 different species were recorded. The number of species during individual years varied between the types of farming and cultivated crops from 11 to 15. The number of registered species tended to decrease, but increased for some species. The values of the total epigeic activity, their abundance and dominance of ground beetles captured at individual sites during this research are shown in Tables 1, 2, 3. Based on the abundance of the results presented in Tables 1, 2, 3 when comparing the implemented farming methods for the observed period for Carabidae biodiversity,flood and drain tray the results are in favor of the ecological type of farming , compared to the integrated type .

Triticum aestivum dominated in the assessment of the impact of the crop type , Pisum sativum , Medicago sativa . We found that the highest biodiversity of the monitored species was usually in crops with denser growth. In terms of management and based on the number, 2019 can be evaluated as the most suitable year. 3 610 individuals were obtained . In 2020, 3 156 individuals were obtained . The lowest abundance was recorded in the first year of the study, when 1 035 individuals were collected . According to our findings, the integrated management system has a positive effect on the number of dominant groups, especially Coleoptera. Their population varies in abundance and species representation depending on the type of vegetation and soil conditions. The impact of crop harvesting, the application of insecticides and herbicides in integrated farming has had a significant negative effect on biodiversity, but organic fertilizers have contributed to increasing their abundance. It can be stated that the identified epigeic groups represent a diversified component of soil fauna, with different adaptations to the soil environment and different sensitivity to stress. In both farming systems over a three-year period representatives of the Carabidae family had almost mirror occurrence, andspecies always recorded a higher dominance. None of the other species was as prominent as Harpalus rufipes. In relation to climatic factors and the year, its occurrence recorded a high level of significance. This macropterous, highly expansive species confirmed the suitability of the environmental conditions, which are suitable for moist to semi-moist, slightly shaded habitats of fields and meadows. Its presence in agrocenosis in relation to other species con- firmed insignificance. Based on our findings, the average dominance of Harpalus rufipes in organic farming was 70.88% and in integrated 75.70%. The open land species Brachinus crepitans was also dominant. Its dominant occurrence was limited to 2019 within the integrated management system and to 2020 in the ecological system and the integrated management . The impact of the year, temperature, precipitation and type of farming was not significant. Its occurrence is not affected by the presence of another species. It is a species characterized by a strong link to the environment. In 2020, Poecilus cupreus species also showed a dominance in ecological management , which together with Harpalus rufifipes act as evidence of adaptation to anthropogenic influences, as their occurrence is higher in agroecosystems affected by human activity, with potential to reduce the populations Limacidae and Agriolimacidae, both adults and their eggs, but also the elimination of an increasing number of aphids.