Environmental monitoring program area: Agricultural land
The aim of the program area Agricultural land is to monitor changes in the agricultural landscape, for example regarding over-fertilization and diminishing biological diversity.
The term agricultural land in this context include areas that are currently, or recently, used for arable farming, pasture or meadowland farming. Smaller biotopes in or near such lands are also included.
Data for evaluations
The majority of our open as well as forested landscapes – especially in the southern and central parts of Sweden – have been used and altered by farmers for millennia. However, during the past 100-150 years, the natural fodder fields that characterized the older cultural landscape have been partially replaced by cropland.
In the last 50 years, farming methods have changed to such a degree that many formerly common plant and animal populations have decreased significantly, threatening biodiversity in these areas. The largest threats posed to biodiversity consist of the abandonment of farmland in sparsely populated areas parallel to an intensification of industrial scale farming. In addition, the decrease in customary use of land leads to biodiverse landscapes such as meadows becoming covered by overgrowth.
Use of industrial fertilizer, pesticides, modern farming machinery and rationalisation of farming has also contributed to loss of biodiversity. Run-off nutirents from farmland is one significant problem, causing eutrophication of water bodies.
The environmental monitoring of agricultural land provides data to evaluate the impact on nature of these environmental drivers. The monitoring program delivers data for the evaluation of the national environmental quality objectives A Varied Agricultural Landscape, A Non-Toxic Environment, and Zero Eutrophication. It also delivers data to the international climate convention and provides data to the OSPAR/HELCOM convention and Water Framework Directive.
Subprograms
- Arable soils and cereal crops inventory
- Nutrient losses from agricultural catchments
- Nutrient losses from arable fields
- Soil compaction
- Pesticides in the aquatic environment
Reference group
Reference groups are used to cooperate and exchange information with other stakeholders in the monitoring area, often relevant governmental agencies, municipalities and County Administrative Boards.
Three subprograms have reference groups: Pesticides, Arable monitoring fields and Agricultural monitoring catchments.
Revisions
The program was revised in 2008 and 2011.