Sustainable Field Crops Program, IRTA-Amposta, Tarragona, Spain.
Marine and Continental Waters Program, IRTA-La Ràpita, Tarragona, Spain.
Proc Biol Sci. 2022 Oct 26;289(1985):20221081. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1081. Epub 2022 Oct 19.
Direct consequences of biological invasions on biodiversity and the environment have been largely documented. Yet collateral indirect effects mediated by changes in agri-environmental policies aimed at combating invasions remain little explored. Here we assessed the effects of recent changes in water management in rice farming, which are aimed at buffering the impact of the invasive apple snail ( Lamarck) on greenhouse gas emissions and diversity of waterbird communities. We used observational data from a 2-year field monitoring (2015-2016) performed at the Ebro Delta regional scale. We found that drying rice fields reduced methane emission rates by 82% (2015) and 51% (2016), thereby reflecting the contribution of rice farming to climate change. However, there was a marked reduction (75% in 2015 and 57% in 2016) in waterbird diversity in dry fields compared with flooded fields, thus suggesting that post-invasion policies might hinder biodiversity conservation. Our results highlight the need for accounting for potential collateral effects during the policy decision-making process to design efficient agricultural management plans that lessen undesirable agri-environmental outcomes.
生物入侵对生物多样性和环境的直接影响已得到充分证实。然而，旨在对抗入侵的农业环境政策变化所带来的间接影响却很少被探究。在这里，我们评估了最近在稻田水管理方面的变化对温室气体排放和水鸟群落多样性的影响，这些变化旨在缓冲入侵性苹果蜗牛（Lamarck）的影响。我们使用了在埃布罗三角洲地区进行的为期两年的实地监测（2015-2016 年）的观测数据。我们发现，稻田的干燥减少了 82%（2015 年）和 51%（2016 年）的甲烷排放率，从而反映了水稻种植对气候变化的贡献。然而，与水淹稻田相比，旱地的水鸟多样性明显减少（2015 年减少 75%，2016 年减少 57%），这表明入侵后政策可能会阻碍生物多样性保护。我们的研究结果强调了在政策决策过程中考虑潜在的间接影响的必要性，以设计更有效的农业管理计划，减少不利的农业环境结果。
