Perspektywy wykorzystania przez rolnictwo wynikow prac ekologicznych

The paper concerns three problems: 1) importance of the diversity of communities, 2) possibility of increasing the content of soil organic matter by invertebrates, and 3) effects of the management of agricultural landscape on cultivated fields. Microcosm experiments showed that the diversity of plants, animals, and microorganisms had a significant positive effect on productivity, decomposition processes, and resistance of crop systems to contamination. The important role of invertebrates in the functioning of ecosystems was emphasized, what is typically neglected. It has been found, for example, that phytophagous insects can increase soil moisture and the composition of soil invertebrate and microbial communities. Phytophagous and saprophagous invertebrates have a significant effect on soil structure due to dropping fecal pellets resistant to decomposition, which increase the content of organic matter and water-holding capacity in the soil. It has been found that intensive farming enhance so called pioneer species, usually small in size which can move fast over vast areas and reproduce rapidly. We argue that the diversity of faunal communities can be controlled by the landscape planning. Using one group of insects (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha) as an example, it has been found that immigration largely influences the composition of fauna in crops. Consequently, the size of crop fields and proximity of natural or semi-natural ecosystems determine not only the species diversity but also the functioning of cropland ecosystems.