Native Grass Enhances Bird, Dragonfly, Butterfly and Plant Biodiversity Relative to Conventional Crops in Midwest, USA

Steven I. Apfelbaum (), Susan M. Lehnhardt, Michael Boston, Lea Daly, Gavin Pinnow, Kris Gillespie and Donald M. Waller
Additional contact information
Steven I. Apfelbaum: Applied Ecological Institute, Inc., N673 Mill Rd., Juda, WI 53550, USA
Susan M. Lehnhardt: Lower Sugar Watershed Association, N3941 Golf Course Rd., Brodhead, WI 53520, USA
Michael Boston: Lower Sugar Watershed Association, N3941 Golf Course Rd., Brodhead, WI 53520, USA
Lea Daly: Lower Sugar Watershed Association, N3941 Golf Course Rd., Brodhead, WI 53520, USA
Gavin Pinnow: Lower Sugar Watershed Association, N3941 Golf Course Rd., Brodhead, WI 53520, USA
Kris Gillespie: Lower Sugar Watershed Association, N3941 Golf Course Rd., Brodhead, WI 53520, USA
Donald M. Waller: Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-18

Abstract: Conspicuous declines in native grassland habitats have triggered sharp reductions in grassland birds, dragonflies, butterflies, and native plant populations and diversity. We compared these biotic groups among three crop type treatments: corn, alfalfa, and a perennial native grass, Virginia wild rye, ( Elymus virginicus L.) or VWR. This crop type had 2-3X higher bird, dragonfly, butterfly and plant species richness, diversity, and faunal abundance relative to alfalfa and corn types. VWR crop fields also support more obligate grassland bird species and higher populations of dragonfly and butterfly species associated with grasslands and wet meadows. In contrast, the corn and alfalfa types support few or no obligatory grassland birds and mostly non-native insects such as the white cabbage looper ( Artogeia rapae L.), the common yellow sulfur butterfly ( Colias philodice Godart. ), and the mobile and migratory common green darner dragonfly ( Anax junius Drury. ). In sum, the VWR perennial native grass crop type offers a special opportunity to improve the diversity and abundance of grassland bird species, beneficial insect species, and many native plant species within agricultural landscapes.

Keywords: perennial native grass crop; biodiversity; birds; dragonfly; butterfly; cropping systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/15/1666/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/15/1666/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:15:p:1666-:d:1715453

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().