Sensitivity to agricultural inputs and dispersal limitation determine the response of arable plants to time since transition to organic farming

Transitioning to low-input agricultural systems such as organic farming has been acknowledged as a way to mitigate negative effects of agriculture on biodiversity. However, the speed, magnitude, and context dependence of biodiversity recovery after converting to organic farming remain uncertain. In this study, we explored the response of plant communities to time since transition to organic farming in a variety of production contexts.
Using a spatially replicated space-for-time substitution design, we surveyed plant communities in small-grain cereal and ley fields in conventional and organic farms, distributed along independent gradients of time since transition to organic farming and proportion of seminatural grasslands in the landscapes. We selected a set of response traits to explore the mechanism of potential time lag in that response to conversion. These traits were selected to characterize the sensitivity of plant species to agricultural inputs and their ability to respond swiftly..., , , Data about plant community and functional structure, collected in cereal and ley fields along a gradient of time since transition to organic farming and proportion of surrounding semi-natural grasslands, collected in summer 2020

Authors:

Name: Romain Carrié
Institution: Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail]) (corresponding author)

Name: Henrik Smith
Institution: Department of Biology, Lund University

Name: Johan Ekroos
Institution: Department of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Production Sciences, University of Helsinki

Two files:

```
- data_Carrie_et_al_JAPPL_dryad.xlsx: data used for the statistical tests presented in the manuscript
- data_Carrie_et_al_JAPPL_dryad_species_traits.xlsx: List of species and corresponding traits used in the analysis
```

Tabs for the file data_Carrie_et_al_JAPPL_dryad.xlsx :

```
- total diversity: Species richness and species evenness of plant communities in each ...