Biodiversity monitoring in agricultural landscapes: Why it matters

Abstract

Although agricultural expansion and intensification have caused extensive biodiversity loss, agricultural landscapes remain central to global conservation outcomes. No country can conserve its entire biota exclusively within conservation units, even under ideal management. Consequently, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service provision, and food security increasingly depend on how agricultural landscapes are managed. We argue that quantitative, standardized biodiversity monitoring is paramount for aligning agricultural production with biodiversity conservation. We highlight a structural limitation in current crediting frameworks that renders long-term guardianship economically invisible relative to post-disturbance recovery. Using empirical evidence from regenerated forests, we show that guardianship can deliver substantially greater carbon benefits than additionality alone. Together, these perspectives provide a framework for integrating biodiversity conservation and agricultural sustainability in multifunctional landscapes.