Biodiversity Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes: the Importance of the Matrix

ABSTRACT Agricultural matrices can lead to landscape homogenization, culminating in losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Agricultural management is determinant for developing conservation strategies. In this review, we discuss the influence of the agricultural matrix on biodiversity at different scales. Intensive agriculture under agrochemicals and synthetic fertilizers aggravates forest fragmentation processes, compromising conservation habitats. On the other hand, managed matrixes with greater agricultural biodiversity and reduced synthetic inputs tend to favor species’ persistence. There is discord regarding the best model to conserve biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, but the land sharing system increases the landscape heterogeneity, ensures food production, and constitutes a safer approach from the socioecological perspective. Future studies should consider the matrix identity and management to assess fragmentation effects and its ability to harbor biodiversity.