Plöjningens påverkan på ekosystemtjänster i skånska jordbruksfält

Sammanfattning: Ecosystem services are a crucial part of humankind’s well-being and health. They are especially important in agriculture; without them the production of food would come to a halt. The intensification of agriculture has led to a deterioration of the soil health, which in turn has had negative consequences on the ecosystem services that agricultural ecosystems deliver. The aim of this study was to research how tillage affects ecosystem services in agricultural fields located in Scania, the southernmost part of Sweden. The following ecosystem services were studied: climate regulation in the form of carbon sequestration, soil formation, nutrient cycling, and water flow regulation. To conduct this study four pairs of farms were used, within the pairs one of the farms used tillage and one did not. Pairs were chosen to have similar soil parameters between the tilled and non-tilled fields. In total eight fields were sampled and indicators for the chosen ecosystem services were analysed. The result for all the indicators showed no correlation between tillage and no tillage in the pairs except for biological activity. The main conclusion of this study is that there is no correlation between tillage and impact on the studied ecosystem services, which contrasts with previous studies. Therefore, this study concluded that the method needs to be reassessed. The study area needs to be expanded and more ecosystem services in agriculture needs to be further researched to maintain sustainable agriculture today and for future generations.