Ecological Modelling 222 (2011) 1002–1015 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecological Modelling journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolmodel Integrating farming techniques in an ecological matrix model: Implementation on the primrose (Primula vulgaris) A. Fargue-Lelièvre a,∗ , D. Le Cœur b , J. Baudry b a UMR SAD-APT, INRA, Bat. EGER, BP1, F-78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France b UR SAD-PAysage, 65 rue de St-Brieuc, CS 84215, F-35042 Rennes cedex, France article info Article history: Received 8 March 2010 Received in revised form 18 November 2010 Accepted 28 November 2010 Available online 23 December 2010 Keywords: Population dynamics Primula vulgaris Farm management Roadside management Leslie matrix model Population growth rate abstract Several studies have proven the importance of field margins in sustaining biodiversity and other work has been done on the effect of field management on field margin flora. However few models have been built to predict the effects of field management on the flora. Our project addresses this need for a model capable of predicting the effect of cropping techniques and their timing on the flora of field margins. Primula vulgaris is a biodiversity indicator, characteristic of undisturbed flora and found in field margins and woodlands: its population has been declining for several years. We created a temporal matrix model of P. vulgaris populations on field margins, taking into account the effects of field, field margin and roadside management based on literature and expert knowledge. We then analysed its sensitivity to demographic parameters by comparing lambda (growth rate) sensitivity and elasticity. We compared the management parameter effect using the relative growth rate of the population after 6 years of simulation. Sensitivity analysis to biological parameters showed the importance of adult survival and seed production and germination. Results show that P. vulgaris is particularly sensitive to broad-spectrum herbicides and that other management techniques like early mowing, scything and scrub-killer (diluted broad-spectrum herbicide or specific herbicide) are less aggressive. Our simulations show that management of cash crops in Brittany is too aggressive for P. vulgaris populations and that 4–5 years of grassland in the adjacent field are necessary to maintain populations. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction International agreements like the Rio Convention (United Nations, 1993) or the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, as well as national legislation and regional policies, require the management of the landscape both for agricultural production and for other uses (biodiversity conservation, water quality etc.) on a large scale. Landscape must be multifunctional and not devot- edly solely to agriculture (Pinto-Correia and Breman, 2009). New production methods like integrated, sustainable or organic agricul- ture can resolve some problems (Malezieux et al., 2009; Woodcock et al., 2007) but biodiversity management needs an understanding of the interactions between agricultural techniques, landscape het- erogeneity and species biology in order to define new management systems and environmental evaluation procedures (Le Roux et al., 2008). The role of field margins in sustaining plant and animal commu- nities is well-known (Boatman et al., 1994; Franck, 1997; McCollin et al., 2000; Pywell et al., 2006). Several projects in ecology and ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 144081689; fax: +33 144081657. E-mail address: agnes.lelievre@agroparistech.fr (A. Fargue-Lelièvre). agronomy have studied the effect of field margins on crops or field margin management on feral and wild plant populations within and beyond the field concerned (Smith et al., 1999; Moonen and Marshall, 2001; Marshall and Moonen, 2002); they show the impor- tance of agricultural landscape for biodiversity and the role of field margins (Asteraki et al., 2004; Le Coeur et al., 2002; Campagne et al., 2009). However few articles have been published on the effect of crop management on field margin flora (Kleijn, 1997; McCollin et al., 2000; Lennartsson and Oostermeijer, 2001; Le Coeur et al., 2002; Hovd and Skogen, 2005). These studies demonstrate that crop succession is a key factor for the field margin flora. Models of the effect of agricultural practices are common in agronomy. Simple models of crop development under the influ- ence of various cropping techniques are numerous and some are well-known like CERES-Wheat (Richie and Otter, 1985) and STICS (Brisson et al., 2003). Other models aim at evaluating the effects of cropping techniques on weeds in the field. Sensitivity analyses of these models enables the identification of sensitive stages and effective techniques to limit weed development (Gonzalez-Andujar and Fernandez-Quintanilla, 2004; Dicke et al., 2007). Others try to model the effect of cropping techniques on both crop and weeds interacting in the same field (Kropff et al., 2001; Aggarwal et al., 2006). Agronomic models focus on what happens in the field, 0304-3800/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.11.025