Sustainable Agriculture: Nutritional Benefits of Wheat–Soybean and Maize–Sunflower Associations for Hibernation and Reproduction of Endangered Common Hamsters

Mathilde Louise Tissier, Florian Kletty, Jean-Patrice Robin and Caroline Habold
Additional contact information
Mathilde Louise Tissier: Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
Florian Kletty: Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
Jean-Patrice Robin: Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France
Caroline Habold: Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-18

Abstract: Farmland species face many threats, including habitat loss and malnutrition during key periods of their life cycle. This is aggravated in conventionally managed monocultures, leading to nutrient deficiencies that impair the survival and reproduction of farmland wildlife. For instance, protein deficiencies in wheat or vitamin B3 deficiency in maize reduce by up to 87% the reproductive success of the critically endangered common hamster ( Cricetus cricetus ), a flagship species of European farmlands. It is urgent to identify and implement agricultural practices that can overcome these deficiencies and help restoring hamsters’ reproductive success. As part of a conservation program to diversify farming habitats in collaboration with farmers, we tested whether associations between wheat or maize and three supplemental crops (soybean, sunflower and fodder radish) supported hamsters’ performance during hibernation and reproduction. We observed that maize–sunflower, maize–radish and wheat–soybean associations minimized hamsters’ body mass loss during hibernation. The wheat–soybean association led to the highest reproductive success (N = 2 litters of 4.5 ± 0.7 pups with a 100% survival rate to weaning), followed by maize–sunflower and maize–radish. These crop associations offer promising opportunities to overcome nutritional deficiencies caused by cereal monocultures. Their agronomic potential should promote their implementation on a large scale and benefit farmland biodiversity beyond the common hamster.

Keywords: sustainable farming; intercrop; crop mixtures; reproduction; fitness; European hamster (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13521/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13521/ (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:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13521-:d:696741

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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