Comparative biodiversity along a gradient of agricultural landscapes

The aim of this study is to compare biodivemity in contrasted landscape units within a small region. In western France agricultural intensification leads to changes in landscape structure: permanent grasslands are ploughed, fields enlarged and surrounding hedgerows removed or deteriorated, brooks are straightened and cleaned. South of Mont Saint Michel Bay, four landscape units have been identified along an intensi- fication gradient. Several taxonomic groups (small mammals, birds, insects and plants) have been used to evaluate the characteristics of biodiver- sity along this gradient. The hypothesis that intensification of agricultural practices lead to changes in biodiversity has been tested. Biodiversity is measured by the species richness, Shannon's diversity index, equitability and similarity indexes. Our results show that intensification of agriculture does not always lead to a decrease in species richness, but to several functional responses according to taxonomic groups, either no modification, or stability by replacement of species, or loss of species. For most of the studied taxo- nomic groups species richness does not vary greatly along the gradient. Depending on the landscape structure and farming systems this gradient is probably truncated and does not allow to show major changes in species richness. An alternative hypothesis is that used indexes are not sensitive enough to reveal changes in biodiversity. Nevertheless, similarity indexes reveal that sensitivity to changes varies, invertebrates being more likely to perceive the dynamics of the landscapes studied than vertebrates or plants. These points have to be taken into consideration when elaborating policies for sustainable agriculture or nature conservation. 0 Elsevier, Paris