Positive in-field impacts of regenerative agriculture on ground beetles in arable crop fields

Regenerative agriculture is seen as a potentially viable model for sustainable soil management. While boasting benefits for soil health, effects of regenerative agriculture on farmland biodiversity and ecosystem services remain poorly known. Ground beetles (family Carabidae) are important contributors to biocontrol in arable crop systems, valued for providing crop pest and weed seed regulation services, which may decline away from non-crop habitats. Regenerative crop management options that build healthier soils and enhance carabid populations and diversity would be highly valued. Understanding how these natural enemies respond to regenerative agriculture as a whole system, rather than individual regenerative farming practices, is an important step in supporting biodiversity conservation alongside biocontrol services in arable systems. We tested whether regenerative agriculture is associated with greater carabid activity-density, diversity (H’), and species richness, using data collected from 21 arable farms in the East Anglian Fens, United Kingdom. We quantified regenerative agriculture along a gradient, using a scoring system based on the consistency of farm adherence to widely accepted regenerative principles. Regenerative agriculture was associated with a doubling or greater in the activity-density of carnivores and omnivores, diversity (H’), and species richness at 40 m or more into the crop. Community species compositions did not vary with the degree of regenerative agriculture implementation or crop types and were more structured by spatial and temporal factors. This study demonstrates the potential for regenerative agriculture to deliver benefits for natural enemies and associated ecosystem service provision in the interior of crop fields, where biocontrol service provision may otherwise be limited.