(Image: Pixabay CC0)In bocage landscapes, the hedgerows that border cultivated fields provide many services. However, they are often perceived as sources of weeds, those wild plants generally called "weeds" and considered undesirable. Scientists from INRAE, in partnership with teams from the University of Rennes 1, CNRS and ANSES, studied the impacts of bocage landscapes on weeds. Their results, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, show that bocage landscapes promote weed diversity without increasing their abundance in the fields. Through their beneficial effects on flora, hedgerows could therefore promote sustainable weed management and biodiversity conservation in fields.
Weed communities are more diverse, but not more abundant, in dense and complex bocage landscapes
Sébastien Boinot, Cendrine Mony, Guillaume Fried, Aude Ernoult, Stéphanie Aviron, Claire Ricono, Eloïse Couthouis, Audrey Alignier
Journal of Applied Ecology , November 2022 - DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14312
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