Agriculture accounts for about 62% of total land use in Ireland. Due to intesification of the industry, there has been a drastic change in the farmed landscape since the second half of last century, and a widely perceived decline in Irish biodiversity similar to that experienced across much of Western Europe. This integrated study, informally known as the 'Ag-Biota' Project was funded to develop capacity and expertise in biodiversity research within the context of agriculture. This part of the Ag-Biota project made use of a range of existing agronomic field experiments at Teagasc Research Centres to assess the influences and relative merits of contrasting grassland husbandry practices on biological diversity. As the ecological benefits of alternative farming systems in Ireland remain relatively unquantified in any objective sense, the data provided by these quantitative studies provide much-needed information to support the formulation of policy regarding the future development and promotion of optimum production systems. The results demonstrate that surrogate indicators based on aspects of farm management and condition can be reflective 'drivers' of likely change in the status of biological populations within farmland. This insight has subseqently informed wider EU-funded research focused on the development of agri-environmental policy evaluation. There was also a demonstration of reduced arthropod diversity in agricultural grasslands under intensive management practice, and of the potential agronomic value and indispensable functional benefits of biodiversity in pasture swards. The project also made use of a range of existing formal agronomic experiments at a number of Teagasc Research Centres to provide statistically valid comparisons of the influences and relative merits of contrasting production systems on biological diversity. As the ecological consequences of adopting alternative farming systems in Ireland remain relatively unquantified in any objective sense, the data provided by these quantitative studies provide much-needed information to support the It is very important to stress at this point, that these experiments were not expressly designed to answer questions regarding biodiversity per se, but were originally established t formulation of policy regarding the future development and promotion of optimum production systems.

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There are currently 0 data files and/or information objects connected to this resource. You will need to contact the owners of this resource to enquire if data files and/or information objects will be made available to the public in the future. Contact information for the owners of this resource can be found in the Responsible Parties information section of the metadata.

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SAFER-Data Display URL	https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/display?isoID=113
Resource Keywords	Agricultural grassland, biodiversity, bioindicators, vegetation arthropods
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Code	2001-CD/B1-M1
EPA/ERTDI/STRIVE Project Theme	Biodiversity
Resource Availability:	Public-Open
Limitations on the use of this Resource	At present there are no datasets, data files, or information objects attached to this metadata resource. When datasets, data files, and information objects become available and are attached to this metadata resource anyone download and hence obtaining access to datasets corresponding to this resource any datasets, data, or information resources being used in a journal article or other means of publication the original authors should be informed of this usage and an appropriate acknowledgement or citation is included within the published article. The EPA advise that this acknowledgement should take one of the following forms dependent upon how heavily the published work relates to the downloaded data: * Co-Authorship(s) for the original author(s)* Written acknowledgement within the body of the article* Written acknowledgement by means of the inclusion of a bibliography entry which clearly cites the original authors. The EPA as a/the primary funder of the research should be acknowledged.
Number of Attached Files (Publicly and Openly Available for Download):	0
Project Start Date	Saturday 1st December 2001 (01-12-2001)
Earliest Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Thursday 1st May 2003 (01-05-2003)
Most Recent Recorded Date within any attached datasets or digital objects	Friday 30th September 2005 (30-09-2005)
Published on SAFER	Wednesday 6th May 2009 (06-05-2009)
Date of Last Edit	Wednesday 6th May 2009 at 14:17:59 (06-05-2009)
Datasets or Files Updated On	Wednesday 6th May 2009 at 14:17:59 (06-05-2009)

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Description of Geographical Characteristics of This Project or Dataset
The experimental site comparing REPS management with conventional farm management was undertaken at the Grange Teagasc Research centre in county Meath. Both the experiment investigating the effects of i) field margins and ii) nitrogen inputs on arthropods was conducted at the Johnstown Castle Teagasc Research Centre in county Wexford. "Araneae (Species), Coleoptera (Species), Diptera (Family), Hemiptera (Species), parasitic Hymenoptera (Genus) were collected using a Vortis suction sampler from 3 replicated field experiments investigating the effects of i) REPS; ii) nitrogen inputs and iii) field margins on these invertebrate groups Abundance and taxon richness were obtained for each of the above groups Grass height was also taken"

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The following is a list of similiar projects and resources on SAFER. Usually these resources share a similiar thematic area to the resource Ag-Biota: ACTION 2: Identification of the key factors, which define or limit biodiversity within contrasting farming systems you are currently viewing. You can view the full description for these projects and resources by using the links supplied.

• Ag-Biota: Monitoring, Functional Significance and Management for the Maintenance and Economic Utilisation of Biodiversity in the Intensively Farmed Landscape View Full Metadata Description
• MEIOFAUNA COMMUNITY VARIATION WITHIN IRISH TRANSITIONAL WATERS View Full Metadata Description
• SIMBIOSYS Project: Shift in benthic assemblages and organisms' diet at salmon farms: community structure and stable isotope analyses View Full Metadata Description
• SIMBIOSYS Project: Yield-biodiversity trade-off in fields of Miscanthus x giganteus View Full Metadata Description
• Ecological impact of entomopathogenic nematodes used to control the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) View Full Metadata Description

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