The effects of crop diversity and crop type on biological diversity in agricultural landscapes: a systematic review protocol [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

Abstract

Agricultural intensification is a well-known driver of biodiversity loss. Crop diversity and its changes over space and time drive land use intensity and impact biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, while meeting the growing demand for human food and nutrition resources. Loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes reduces primary productivity and soil health and erodes a range of other ecosystem services. At present, while having partial understanding of many processes, we lack a general synthesis of our knowledge of the links between crop diversity and biodiversity. We will therefore conduct a systematic review by searching multiple agriculture, ecology and environmental science databases (e.g. Web of Science, Geobase, Agris, AGRICOLA, GreenFILE) to identify studies reporting the impacts of crop diversity and crop type on the biological diversity of fauna and flora in agricultural landscapes. Response variables will include metrics of species richness, abundance, assemblage, community composition and species rarity. Screening, data coding and data extraction will be carried out by one researcher and a subset will be independently carried out by a second researcher for quality control. Study quality and risk of bias will be assessed. Evidence will first be mapped to species/taxa then assessed for further narrative or statistical synthesis based on comparability of results and likely robustness. Gaps in the evidence base will also be identified with a view toward future research and policy directions for nutrition, food systems and ecology.