ABSTRACTLand use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α‐diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ‐diversity), either due to reduced β‐diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased β‐diversity dampening diversity loss. Additionally, studies often focus on taxonomic diversity, while other important biodiversity components, including phylogenetic diversity, can exhibit differential responses. Here, we evaluated how agricultural and urban land use alters the taxonomic and phylogenetic α‐, β‐, and γ‐diversity of an important pollinator taxon—bees. Using a multicontinental dataset of 3117 bee assemblages from 157 studies, we found that taxonomic α‐diversity was reduced by 16%–18% in both agricultural and urban habitats relative to natural habitats. Phylogenetic α‐diversity was decreased by 11%–12% in agricultural and urban habitats. Compared with natural habitats, taxonomic and phylogenetic β‐diversity increased by 11% and 6% in urban habitats, respectively, but exhibited no systematic change in agricultural habitats. We detected a 22% decline in taxonomic γ‐diversity and a 17% decline in phylogenetic γ‐diversity in agricultural habitats, but γ‐diversity of urban habitats was not significantly different from natural habitats. These findings highlight the threat of agricultural expansions to large‐scale bee diversity due to systematic γ‐diversity decline. In addition, while both urbanization and agriculture lead to consistent declines in α‐diversity, their impacts on β‐ or γ‐diversity vary, highlighting the need to study the effects of land use change at multiple scales.

Concerns about a global decline in pollinators have called for more knowledge about the drivers of wild pollinator abundance and diversity in agroecosystems. Maintaining flowering plants in agricultural field margins is often recommended as a cost-effective and efficient method of offering habitat for wild pollinator conservation. This research involved a three-year, multi-farm study, examining Mediterranean cereal field margins in order to investigate which general and functional characteristics of margin plant communities were important for sustaining wild bee abundance, diversity, community evenness and functional diversity. Wild bees were collected and identified to genus, and a database was compiled listing the morpho-physiological features and behaviours of the observed genera. A database was also compiled of the flowering plant species observed and relevant trait values. General and generalized linear models indicated that margins with a higher percentage of trees and shrubs and higher floral richness displayed positive effects on wild bee diversity and visits to flowers in Mediterranean cereal agroecosystems. They also indicated that high plant functional diversity, in terms of flower colour and morphology, as well as high nectar accessibility, were important to encourage bee visits and community evenness within wild bee assemblages in these field margins. This study stresses the importance of maintaining protected field margins and, when necessary to restore their functionality, sowing floral mixtures with diverse native species, including trees and shrubs, and providing plenty of accessible nectar and a diverse assortment of colours and shapes.

Heterogeneous agroecosystems with diverse natural areas are more resilient than homogeneous landscapes. One way of achieving this is by creating field margins in order to establish a network of semi-natural vegetation across the landscape. Field margins support biodiversity within agricultural systems, offering a range of ecosystem services. This chapter reviews the ways field margins benefit biodiversity, their design, management and enhancement with seed mixes, as well as economic aspects.

Concerns about a global decline in pollinators have called for more knowledge about the factors influencing wild pollinator abundance and diversity in agroecosystems. Agricultural intensification has been identified as the main cause of this “global pollinator crisis”, particularly due to reductions in natural areas holding critical floral and nesting resources. Maintaining native wild plants in agricultural landscapes (e.g., in field margins) is often recommended as a cost-effective and efficient method for pollinator conservation. In this study, the role of common wild flowers, often considered weeds, in supporting pollinators in a Mediterranean agroecosystem was investigated. This work involved a two-year field trial to compare five native weed species common in Mediterranean cereal agroecosystems: Convolvulus arvensis L., Daucus carota L., Malva sylvestris L., Papaver rhoeas L., and Sonchus oleraceus L. The goal was to compare the attractiveness of these species, and a mixture of all five, to different flower-visiting insect groups in order to assess their value in supporting wild pollinators. Overall, D. carota had the highest number of insect visits, followed by P. rhoeas. C. arvensis, M. sylvestris, and S. oleraceus, which had lower numbers of visits. On the basis of their overall attractiveness to pollinators and low risk for invasiveness, D. carota, P. rhoeas, and M. sylvestris are the most likely to contribute positively to the conservation of pollinators in agroecosystems. Our results also suggest that it is advantageous for wild flowers sown for the purpose of pollinator conservation to be grown in clumps, rather than highly intermingled, for improved visitation rates.

The potential shift in weed communities is a common concern in conservation tillage systems. The aim of this study was to determine, in a fi eld study, the weed community evolution over time in conventional and conservative cultural systems. The study was carried out in northern Italy over the period 1997-2012. Two cultural systems were compared: conventional (CONV), based on ploughing, and conservative (CONS), based on minimum tillage. A four-year crop rotation, including wheat, maize, pea, sunfl ower, rape and soybean was adopted. In both systems weeds were controlled with herbicides. Weed density was assessed for each crop at least twice during the growing season in non treated areas, while weed seed bank (at 0-15 cm depth) was monitored at the end of each crop rotation cycle. For the majority of the crops grown in CONS total weed density was signifi cantly higher than in CONV. In summer crops the most abundant weeds were Echinochloa crus-galli, Chenopodium album and Galinsoga quadriradiata, with the highest density in system CONS. In wheat, weed infestation was mostly represented by Stellaria media, Veronica persica and Lamium purpureum. At the beginning of the study weed seed bank varied from 11838 seed/m2 in CONV, to 13616 seed/m2 in CONS. In the following assessments, weed seed bank decreased remarkably in both systems, particularly in CONV. Over the period weed species richness was infl uenced by the rotation cycle and by the changes in agronomic practices occurred. The highest number of weed species was generally observed in summer crops and in the system CONV. The CONS system was characterized by a higher Simpson index and a lower Shannon value, compared to CONV system. Weed management resulted more simplifi ed in CONV system, due to a more diversifi ed and generally less abundant infestation.

Ecosystem services have received increasing attention in life sciences, but only a limited amount of quantitative data are available concerning the ability of weeds to provide these services. Following an expert focus group on this topic, a systematic search for articles displaying evidence of weeds providing regulating ecosystem services was performed, resulting in 129 articles. The most common service found was pest control and the prevailing mechanism was that weeds provide a suitable habitat for natural enemies. Other articles showed that weeds improved soil nutrient content, soil physical properties and crop pollinator abundance. Weeds were found to provide some important ecosystem services for agriculture, but only a small number of studies presented data on crop yield. Experimental approaches are proposed that can: (i) disentangle the benefits obtained from ecosystem services provisioning from the costs due to weed competition and (ii) quantify the contribution of diverse weed communities in reducing crop competition and in providing ecosystem services. Existing vegetation databases can be used to select weed species with functional traits facilitating ecosystem service provisioning while having a lower competitive capacity. However, for services such as pest control, there are hardly any specific plant traits that have been identified and more fundamental research is needed.

Summary Ecosystem services have received increasing attention in life sciences, but only a limited amount of quantitative data are available concerning the ability of weeds to provide these services. Following an expert focus group on this topic, a systematic search for articles displaying evidence of weeds providing regulating ecosystem services was performed, resulting in 129 articles. The most common service found was pest control and the prevailing mechanism was that weeds provide a suitable habitat for natural enemies. Other articles showed that weeds improved soil nutrient content, soil physical properties and crop pollinator abundance. Weeds were found to provide some important ecosystem services for agriculture, but only a small number of studies presented data on crop yield. Experimental approaches are proposed that can: (i) disentangle the benefits obtained from ecosystem services provisioning from the costs due to weed competition and (ii) quantify the contribution of diverse weed communities in reducing crop competition and in providing ecosystem services. Existing vegetation databases can be used to select weed species with functional traits facilitating ecosystem service provisioning while having a lower competitive capacity. However, for services such as pest control, there are hardly any specific plant traits that have been identified and more fundamental research is needed.

Agricultural field margins are often recommended as a cost-effective and efficient method for wild bee conservation, in response to the threat imposed by global pollinator declines as a result of intensive agricultural practices. In this study we compared margin characteristics and wild bee community structure from sites with landscapes of varying agricultural intensity in order to (i) investigate if field margins are valuable for wild bee conservation in all types of landscapes, and (ii) determine which biotic and abiotic margin characteristics best support wild bee abundance and community richness. Margin surveys and wild bee community sampling, comprising, pan traps and observations of foraging activity, were carried out over three years at 27 cereal field margins in Catalonia, Spain. Generalized 'linear models indicated a strong inverse relationship between surrounding landscape diversity and wild bee abundance. The proportion of Halictidae bees (common generalists) increased with decreasing landscape complexity. Floral richness exhibited a positive association with number of foraging bees and morphospecies richness, and was positively correlated with the proportion of shrubs and trees represented in the margins. It was observed that wider margins held a higher proportion of perennial plants and a lower proportion of Halictidae bees. Our study suggests that field margins are more crucial in intensively farmed areas than in heterogeneous landscapes where foraging resources are more abundant. Maintaining wide margins with high flowering plant richness, comprising perennial and shrub species, best supports a dense and diverse bee community. In more diverse landscapes, conservation efforts focused on maintaining the quality of existing natural patches may be most effective.

Trabajo presentado en el XVI Congreso de la Sociedad Espanola de Malherbologia (SEMh), celebrado en la Universidad Publica de Navarra (Pamplona- Iruna), entre los dias 25 y 27 de octubre de 2017.-- Coordinado por Mercedes Royuela Hernando y Ana Zabalza Aznarez.

Trabajo presentado en la 6th meeting of the EWRS working group “Weeds and biodiversity”, celebrada en Riga el 28 y 29 de septiembre de 2016.

Determining the daily flow rates and water use patterns of specific household fixtures and appliances is important for water use monitoring, deriving effective strategies for water demand management, designing onsite water reuse systems, and efficient planning and investment in the urban water sector. Currently, there are a limited number of publications which address the need to measure flow patterns and volumes of individual household water-using appliances, or which analyze the alternatives to do so. This paper critically reviews and compares different methods of obtaining the specific flow patterns and volumes of water used by individual household water-using microcomponents (i.e. toilet, bath/shower, washbasin, washing machine, kitchen sink, dishwasher, etc.) in order to make recommendations about the appropriateness of these methodologies for various applications.

There are few computer models that can simulate winter freeze–thaw conditions and spring snowmelt hydrology for agricultural tile drained lands. DRAINMOD, which is used widely to simulate tile drainage flows, has not been extensively applied during colder periods in eastern Canada. This study analyzes the performance of DRAINMOD for surface runoff and subsurface drainage predictions in southern Quebec during spring snowmelt. The model was tested with five years of field data. DRAINMOD was found to be adequate in predicting spring snowmelt hydrology, except for subsurface drainage at one site. It was found that soil characteristics had a major influence on model performance.

ABSTRACTAs global concerns surrounding water scarcity and food security escalate, there will be more demand for micro‐irrigation to meet growing food demands. Micro‐irrigation offers many advantages over conventional irrigation methods, including the ability to apply limited amounts of water directly to the crop root zone, incorporation of fertigation, reduced weed and pest infestation, and lower capital and operating costs. In recent decades, there has been considerable growth in the acreage under micro‐irrigation, mainly as a result of lower costs, improvements in filtration and emitter technology, and increased grower confidence in the technology. Research advances and technological improvements have made micro‐irrigation applicable to a more diverse set of applications, cropping systems, and water quality conditions. Cost and availability of water are also major drivers. Research in nano‐ and biofiltration techniques, soil moisture sensors, and precision irrigation shows great promise for the advancement of micro‐irrigation. Nevertheless, several technological challenges remain, especially for non‐row or non‐orchard crops, and in regions where water quality is severely impaired. Innovations in these areas are required, as well as a transfer of the technology to small farmers in water‐scarce regions who traditionally surface irrigate. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Tile drainage is a widely adopted water management practice in the eastern Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It aims to improve the productivity of poorly drained agricultural fields. Nevertheless, studies have also shown that subsurface drainage is a significant pollution pathway to surface water. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of tile drain spacing on surface runoff, subsurface drainage flows, and phosphorus (P) loss from two tile-drained agricultural fields located near Bedford, Quebec. Field data were used with the DRAINMOD model, and in developed regression models in order to perform the analysis. Both DRAINMOD and the regression models showed good performance. Simulation results indicated that when lateral tile drain spacing is increased, the volume of subsurface drain flow decreases, and the volume of surface runoff increases, at sites with sandy and clay loam soils. For every 5 m increase in drain spacing, total phosphorus (TP) loads in subsurface drainage decreased by 6% at a site with sandy loam soil, and increased by 20% at a site with clay loam soil. TP loads in surface runoff increased as a result of increased drain spacing.

Recent concerns about the global decline in pollinators, as a result of agricultural intensifi cation,has called for more knowledge about the drivers of bee diversity and abundance in agroecosystems. Weeds in fi eld margins play a signifi cant role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services, notably, by providing food sources and refuge for pollinators