Arable weeds as indicators of agricultural intensity – A case study from Finland

The study aimed at developing an agro-biodiversity indicator based on trophic interactions between 25 common arable weeds and individual groups of farmland birds, pollinators (wild bees), phytophagous insects and insect pests. Each weed species was weighted based on the number of reported linkages with each animal group. Four biodiversity indices based on these weights were constructed and applied to exploring the ecological consequences of long-term changes in weed populations in Finland. Data were used from weed surveys of Finnish spring cereal fields conducted in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. The relative importance of weed species varied according to animal groups. Annual weed species able to produce numerous seeds were important for the farmland birds and some perennial weed species were important for the pollinators. The highest number of linkages was established between weed species and phytophagous insects. The number of harmful pest species associated with broad-leaved weeds was low for all species. The general pattern of changes in values of indices over recent decades was similar: there was a marked decline in the values between the 1960s and the 1980s, and a slight increase between the 1980s and the 1990s. These changes were regarded as being a consequence of changes in the intensity of agricultural practices. The slowest recovery of the values was for pollinators. The results suggest that the ecological consequences of changes in the intensity of agriculture can be explored with the aid of a biodiversity indicator based on species interactions. Owing to the differences in the importance of weed species for different animal groups, maintaining weed species richness is necessary to ensure ecosystem services are provided for the higher trophic levels in farmland.