References:

Fischer, J., Brosi, B., Daily, G. C., Ehrlich, P. R., Goldman, R., Goldstein, J., Lindenmayer, D. B., Manning, A. D., Mooney, H. A., Pejchar, L., Ranganathan, J. and Tallis, H. (2008), Should agricultural policies encourage land sparing or wildlife-friendly farming? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6: 380–385.

Fischer, J., Abson, D. J., Butsic, V., Chappell, M. J., Ekroos, J., Hanspach, J., Kuemmerle, T., Smith, H. G. and von Wehrden, H. (2014), Land Sparing Versus Land Sharing: Moving Forward. Conservation Letters, 7: 149–157.

Poster by: Andrea Kaim, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany

Land sparing and land sharing

Definition In a land sparing approach production and

conservation are separated: one part of the land is

intensively used for agricultural production while

another part is strictly set aside for conservation.

Land sparing Land sharing

In a land sharing (also: wildlife-friendly farming)

approach production and conservation are integrated:

land is used less intensively for agricultural production

and thus allows to maintain some biodiversity

simultaneously. Figure 1 Land sharing and land sparing represent the endpoints of a continuum. In land sparing (left)

land use changes are abrupt and coarse grained whereas in land sharing (right) they are spatially

continuous and fine grained. Many European landscapes can be classified within both extremes (Fischer

et al., 2008).

Characteristics Land sparing Land sharing

Strong contrast between areas that are used for agricultural production and

those that are set aside for conservation.

Land is used for agricultural production and biodiversity conservation

simultaneously.

Agricultural land is generally homogeneous. Agricultural land is generally heterogenious.

Land cover and its value for biodiversity vary at a coarse spatial scale (see Fig. 1,

left).

Land cover and its value for biodiversity vary at a fine spatial scale (see Fig. 1,

right).

Protected areas are excluded from human activities. Ecological interactions

between nature and agriculture are of minor concern.

Human activities and nature are both part of complex social-ecological

systems. Interactions between nature and agriculture are of high interest.

Examples

• Farmed land includes patches of native vegetation

• Areas that are structured similarly to native vegetation

• High level of heterogeneity, for example, by growing different crops on

multiple small fields

• Retain features of habitats within fields, e.g. scattered trees, or at their

margins, e.g. flower strips

• Large individual fields

• Low crop diversity

• High inputs of fertilizers and pesticides

• Main objective: maximize economic efficiency

• Biodiversity is restricted to nature reserves

Land sharing Land sparing

(Fischer et al., 2008; Fischer et al., 2014)

(Fischer et al., 2008)

(Fischer et al., 2008)

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