Monocultural sowing in mesocosms decreases the species richness of weeds and invertebrates and critically reduces the fitness of the endangered European hamster

摘要: Intensive cereal monoculture is currently the main cause of biodiversity decline in Europe. However, it difficult to disentangle effects intensive (e.g. pesticide use, mechanical ploughing and reduced protective cover), let alone evaluate how far reduction crop diversity affects biodiversity. It remains unclear to which extent consequent decrease food resources farmland biodiversity, particularly vertebrate species. We therefore designed this study mesocosms investigate crops (organic wheat or corn seeds) mixed (a combination organic wheat, corn, sunflower alfalfa on (1) species richness weeds invertebrates (2) reproductive success European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), a critically endangered umbrella farmlands. found negative impact plant invertebrate richness, with values respectively 38% 28% lower than those obtained for crops. The hamsters was by 82% mesocosms. These results highlight that per se can be detrimental (i.e. from plants vertebrates), even before taking into account use mechanization. believe future research should further consider agroecosystems wildlife, including vertebrates. Moreover, we argue conservation actions must focus restoring reverse observed trend wildlife decline.