Wild Biodiversity and Agricultural Production Systems

Dear Colleagues,

There is a growing need to understand the extent of interdependencies between agricultural production systems and wild biodiversity and associated risks and opportunities. Significant uncertainty exists regarding the contribution of the farming and livestock production systems and related land-use decisions to wild plant and animal biodiversity and their habitats across and beyond agricultural-producing landscapes. Gathering data on species from diverse taxonomic groups enables a more comprehensive picture of how agricultural and livestock farming practices interact with biodiversity as a whole, information that is critical to reaching biodiversity sustenance targets and sustainability goals for the agriculture sector under a changing climate and land use.

The agriculture sector is characterized by a diversity of extensive and intensive production systems that rely on a wide range of natural and cultivated land-use types. Habitat degradation and land conversion are considered the most pervasive effects of agriculture on wild biodiversity. However, it is also widely acknowledged that natural lands appropriately used for agricultural and livestock production maintain a much higher share of native species and habitats than cropped land and significantly contribute to creating biologically diverse farming landscapes that are essential for safeguarding agricultural systems from environmental changes and challenges. In addition, the agriculture sector can reduce its adverse effects on biodiversity by adapting environmentally beneficial farming practices throughout its production systems.

In this Special Issue, we invite the submission of original contributions (empirical and modelling studies and systematic reviews) that address and discuss these contrasting effects of agricultural and livestock production practices on wild biodiversity and habitats by reflecting one or more of the following:

• Agricultural and livestock production life cycle;
• Land-use footprints of farming production systems;
• Wild plant and animal biodiversity;
• Multi-species and multi-taxa biodiversity indicators;
• Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed biodiversity indicators;
• Terrestrial and aquatic habitats and biodiversity;
• Species and habitat monitoring, modelling, and mapping;
• Landscape heterogeneity and habitat suitability, configuration, and connectivity;
• Reference state, historic land use, and potential natural land cover and vegetation;
• Beneficial and detrimental effects of agricultural production across multiple scales;
• Land management and climate-resilient farming practices;
• Biodiversity assessment and performance of agricultural production systems;
• Biodiversity management policies and measures for agricultural sustainability and food security.

Dr. Majid Iravani
Prof. Dr. Tim A. McAllister
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• farming production systems
• agricultural productivity
• land-use decisions
• habitat degradation
• land conversion
• native and invasive species
• biodiversity and habitat loss
• biodiversity conservation and restoration
• beneficial practices
• environmental changes
• environmental sustainability