Field scale organic farming does not counteract landscape effects on butterfly trait composition

We tested how dispersal capacity, host plant specificity and reproductive rate influenced the effectsof farming system and landscape composition on butterfly species richness and abundance. In no casedid variation in these traits explain species responses to organic farming, indicating that all speciesbenefit equally. In contrast, butterflies with high mobility and reproductive rate were disproportionallymore abundant in landscapes dominated by arable land, and the species richness of butterflies with lowmobility tended to decrease with increasing proportion of arable land whereas those of high mobilityremained fairly constant. Hence, although organic farming increased biodiversity, it did not counteractlandscape effects on butterfly trait composition. As a trait dependent loss of biodiversity may result in alarger decline of functional trait diversity compared to species diversity, these results imply that organicfarming may not increase or restore functional agro-ecosystem diversity. Information provided by speciestraits, rather than biodiversity per se, may provide important information for successful revisions of futureagri-environment schemes.